Dual Masters Program

The Dual Masters degree program allows students to pursue a concurrent program of study leading to both the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Applied Anthropology and the Master of Public Health (M.P.H) degree in one of 9 concentration areas within Public Health:

1. Environmental Health
2. Epidemiology
3. Global Communicable Disease
4. Global Health Practice
5. Health Care Organizations and Management
6. Health Policies and Programs
7. Maternal and Child Health
8. Public Health Education
9. Socio-Health Sciences

Students wishing to complete a dual degree involving a Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH degree) should take this up on a case-by-case basis with their committees. Students choose a concentration area and degree program when they apply to the program, but this can be changed once the student has been admitted, provided they qualify.

Doctoral/Masters Program

Students interested in combining a program of study leading to a doctorate plus master’s degree have two options: they may obtain a Ph.D. in Applied Anthropology with an M.P.H. in a public health concentration; or they may obtain a Ph.D. in Public Health with an M.A. in Applied Anthropology. For the doctoral/masters combination, students develop individual programs of study in consultation with an interdisciplinary academic advisory committee. The committee must approve the plan of study as well as the proposal to fulfill the thesis and dissertation requirements or dissertation and special project requirements through a single project. Students choose a concentration area when they apply to the program, but this can be changed once the student has been admitted to the program, provided they qualify.

For students who have previously earned an M.P.H., alone or as part of another dual degree program (e.g., Nursing and Public Health), the previous education at the Master’s level will fulfill the Ph.D. external specialization requirement in Anthropology. In this case, the student will take electives in Anthropology to complete the required number of credit hours in their program of study.

Curriculum

For both the dual Masters and Doctoral/Masters programs, similar principles of curriculum design are followed.

1. Both programs must accept students independently. Students should submit an application to one program, but indicate on the application that they are applying to the other program as well. Admissions officers from Anthropology and Public Health communicate with each other during the application and acceptance process.
2. Students must fulfill all the requirements of both programs, with the following exceptions:
1. Students may take either PHC 6050 Biostatistics I or ANG 5486 Quantitative Methods to fulfill the statistics course requirement for both programs. For students pursuing a Ph.D. in Anthropology and an M.P.H, if Biostatistics II is required for their Public Health concentration, they should take that course instead of the advanced statistics course offered in the Anthropology Department. If Biostatistics II is not required for their Public Health concentration, they should take the Anthropology advanced statistics course. Students pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Health and an M.A. in Anthropology should check with their advisors/committee as to whether the Anthropology advanced statistics course can be used for the required statistics course in their Public Health concentration.
2. 9 hours of electives will count towards both degrees. Typically, elective courses required for the M.P.H are fulfilled by courses taken in Anthropology.
3. For M.A./M.P.H students, the thesis (Anthropology requirement) and the special project (Public Health requirement) will be fulfilled by one project. For students pursuing a Ph.D. in Anthropology and an M.P.H, the dissertation (Anthropology requirement) and the special project (Public Health requirement) may be fulfilled by one project.  Additionally, the dissertation fieldwork (Anthropology requirement) may count as the student’s Field Experience (Public Health requirement) with approval of the student’s committee. For students pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Health and an M.A. in Anthropology, the dissertation (Public Health requirement) and the thesis (Anthropology requirement) may be fulfilled by one project with approval of the student’s committee.
4. The academic advisory committee will be made up of both Public Health and Anthropology faculty. For the M.A. /M.P.H, the committee should have at least 2 anthropologists (the advisor and 1 other) and the Public Health advisor. Additional people may serve on the committee as appropriate. Any substitutions for requirements must be approved by both advisors and the appropriate paperwork completed. A meeting of the two advisors and the student should be held before the internship/special project is finalized to be sure that all parties agree on the topic/methodology.

The total credit hours for the M.A. /M.P.H vary according to concentration areas.  Full-time students could complete the program in 7 semesters (28 months, including summers).

For the Doctoral/Masters program, a minimum of 90 credit hours beyond the baccalaureate degree is required. The exact number of credits is determined by the student’s doctoral advisory committee. Full-time students could complete the program in a minimum of 4 years.

Admission Process

Admission requirements for the M.P.H. include at least a 3.0 GPA or a minimum of 450 on the verbal and 550 on the quantitative sections of the GRE.  Some concentrations require higher GRE scores so students need to check with the College about the required scores.  There is no minimum GPA or GRE score for admission to the M.A. program in Applied Anthropology.

Admission requirements for the Ph.D. in Public Health include at least a 3.0 GPA at the graduate level, and a minimum of 480 on the verbal and 620 on the quantitative sections of the GRE.  Some concentrations require higher GRE scores so students need to check with the College about the required scores.  There is no minimum GPA or GRE score for admission to the Ph.D. program in Applied Anthropology.  Admission decisions to any of the dual degree programs will also take under consideration letters of recommendation, past experience, goal statement and availability of faculty. Upon completion of all requirements for the dual degree program, the student submits separate applications for graduation to Anthropology and Public Health, is certified for graduation by both programs, and receives two diplomas.

The two programs review applicants independently. A single graduate school application form is completed, listing both Anthropology and Public Health as major areas of study. The review process may begin in either college. The timing of application should take into consideration that the COPH admits students three times per year (Fall, Spring, and Summer) and the Department of Anthropology admits students annually in the Fall. Once the applicant has been accepted into one program, the application folder is forwarded to the other program for review. After admission to both programs, the Graduate Admissions office instructs the Registrars Office to classify the student as dually enrolled in Anthropology and Public Health. In choosing which program to apply to first, students should take into consideration the following: requirements in Anthropology for admission are different than in Public Health, admission to one program doesn’t guarantee admission to the other, and of course, the student’s interests and career plans.

Advising

For the dual Anthropology and Public Health degree programs, each student will have a primary advisor from his/her home department and a secondary advisor from the department of the other degree program. The primary advisor will be responsible for the overall tracking and programmatic issues for the student.

M.A./M.P.H.
Guidelines for the Anthropology Department call for an advisor and 2 additional members of a student’s thesis committee. Guidelines for the Special Project of the COPH call for a second reader in addition to the advisor. Students in the Dual Degree program will have an advisor from both Anthropology and COPH, and one additional Anthropology faculty member serves as a member of their thesis/special project committee.

Ph.D./M.P.H.
Three members of the Anthropology Department will serve on the committee, one as major advisor. The other member(s) of the committee will be from Public Health. Since these students will be required to take comprehensive examinations in Public Health, their qualifying examinations in Anthropology should focus primarily on Medical Anthropology topics.

Ph.D./M.A.
Three members of the committee will be from Public Health, one of whom will be the major advisor. The other member(s) of the committee will be from Anthropology.

Availability of Field Schools for Dual Degree Students:
The University of South Florida offers various field schools that might be relevant to the training of dual degree students. For example, the Department of Anthropology offers the “Globalization and Community Health Summer Field School.”  This six-credit field school may be taken in place of ANG 6766 (Research Methods in Applied Anthropology) and count toward one elective in anthropology.  Alternatively, it could be used to fulfill the Field Experience and/or Special Project in Public Health.  In addition, the College of Public Health offers the Social Marketing Field School that includes courses that may be counted towards the degree program.  Students should check with their advisors/committees before enrolling in any field schools that they intend to count toward their degree.

Availability of Graduate Assistantships for Dual Degree Students:
Students enrolled in the dual degree Anthropology and Public Health degree programs may receive paid graduate assistantships from the College of Public Health and the Department of Anthropology. The College of Public Health agrees to provide qualified students graduate assistantships for three semesters the first year of their program and the Department of Anthropology agrees to provide assistantships for the fall and spring semesters in the second year of their program. Recipients will be selected based on recommendations from each degree program. In the past, four students per academic year have received these awards.

For more information about any of these programs, please contact:

E. Christian Wells, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Graduate Director
Department of Anthropology
cwells@cas.usf.edu
(813/974-2337)

or

Karen D. Liller, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Academic and Student Affairs and Professor
USF College of Public Health
kliller@hsc.usf.edu
(813/974-6685)

For specific questions related to the application process or forms, please contact:

Daisy Matos
Department of Anthropology
dmatos@cas.usf.edu
(813/974-2726)

or

Beverly Sanchez
College of Public Health
bsanchez@hsc.usf.edu
(813/974-6609)

 

APPENDIX

Requirements for MA in Applied Anthropology

Contact: Dr. E. Christian Wells	Email: cwells@cas.usf.edu
ANG 6931 Foundations of Applied Anthropology		3
ANT 6701 Contemporary Applied Anthropology		3
ANT 6766 Research Methods in Applied Anthropology		3
Graduate level statistics course fulfilled by either ANG 5488 Quantitative Methods or PHC 6050 Biostatistics I		3
4 graduate level seminars (variable topics) in Anthropology, at least two in the area of medical/biological anthropology (usually ANG 6469 Selected Topics in Medical Anthropology)—these must be approved in advance by the student’s anthropology advisor.		12
One graduate level course outside the Department of Anthropology fulfilled by public health courses		3
ANG 6915 Internship - one semester, full-time after completion of course requirements, in the field of public health, to dually fulfill MPH requirement for Supervised Field Experience. However for students in the College of Public Health’s Global Health Practice concentration, 6 hours of an international field experience are required. Therefore the ANG 6915 Internship can count for 4 hours and the students will need to do an additional 2 hours of a supervised international public health field experience or 2 additional hours of an international Anthropology Internship.		4 with 2 added hours for Global Health
ANG 6971 Thesis - dually fulfills MPH requirement for Special Project		6
Comprehensive exam requirement met by completing ANG 6931 with a “B” or above		n/c
Total requirements for MA in Applied Anthropology		37

Requirements for MPH in Public Health

Requirements include public health core courses, concentration area courses, electives, supervised field placement, comprehensive exam, and special project.

College Core Courses (15 credits)

PHC 6000 Epidemiology	3
PHC 6050 Biostatistics I	3
PHC 6102 Principles of Health Policy & Management	3
PHC 6357 Environmental & Occupational Health	3
PHC 6410 Social & Behavioral Sciences Applied to Health (Dual students are strongly encouraged to substitute PHC 6931 Advanced Seminar in Social and Behavioral Sciences Applied to Health)	3

Other Requirements

Concentration Requirements* (see next page)	12-24
Electives	Min. 3
PHC 6945 Supervised Field Experience fulfilled by ANG 6915-Internship	4
PHC 6977 Special Project fulfilled by ANG 6971-Thesis	6
Public Health Core Comprehensive Exam (Some departments may also require a concentration comprehensive exam). Students must be registered for at least 2 graduate credit hours the semester they sign up for the comprehensive exam.	n/a
Minimum Hours Required for the MPH	42

* see below

*For Specific Information on the Requirements for Individual Concentrations in the College of Public Health, please refer to the College of Public Health website under departments and their specific programs (http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/homepage.html) and/or contact the following professors:

Environmental Health:	Dr. Thomas Bernard (tbernard@health.usf.edu)
Epidemiology:	Dr. Heather Stockwell (stockwel@health.usf.edu)
Global Communicable Disease:	Dr. Boo Kwa (bkwa@health.usf.edu)
Global Health Practice:	Dr. Wayne Westhoff (wwesthof@health.usf.edu)
Health Care Organizations & Management:	Dr. Barbara Orban (borban@health.usf.edu)
Health Policy & Programs:	Dr. Barbara Orban (borban@health.usf.edu)
Maternal and Child Health:	Dr. Julie Baldwin (jbaldwin@health.usf.edu)
Public Health Education:	Dr. Julie Baldwin (jbaldwin@health.usf.edu)
Socio-Health Sciences:	Dr. Jeannine Coreil (jcoreil@health.usf.edu)