Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)
“Transform your passion for health into impactful solutions and become a leader in tackling today’s most pressing health challenges!”
About the Programme
The Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program at the Adventist University of Africa (AUA) is designed to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of public health issues, preparing them to become highly skilled practitioners in the field. The program emphasizes the importance of promoting health, preventing diseases, and empowering individuals to manage their well-being effectively. With a focus on identifying root causes of health problems, students will learn to develop practical, innovative solutions that enhance the quality of life within communities.
AUA’s DrPH program also addresses emerging and resurging health challenges, ensuring that graduates are well-prepared to handle dynamic public health environments. Students will gain valuable knowledge and competencies necessary for leadership roles, fostering their ability to make meaningful contributions to the profession. Under the guidance of the university’s renowned faculty, graduates will emerge as influential public health leaders, dedicated to driving positive change and advancing health outcomes for populations worldwide.
What You May Become?
- An effective healthcare administrator
- An efficient public health project manager
- A competent healthcare consultant or lecturer
- A public health informatics specialist
- A well-rounded health and safety engineer
Specializations
- Health Promotion
- Nutrition and Wellness
- Environmental Health
Duration of the Programme
A minimum of three years.
Admission Requirements
Applicants seeking admission into the DrPH degree program must have the following qualifications:
- A Master’s degree in a health-related field (MPH or MSc) with a minimum of 41semester credits and a minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.33 (on a 4-point system).
- An applicant with a minimum of 41 semester credits in MPH or MSc and a minimum CGPA of 3.0 will be admitted on probationary status for one semester only.
- Successful completion of at least six (3) credits of research methods and (3) credits of statistics at the Master’s level in addition to a completed and accepted thesis/project done at the Master’s level. The applicant is expected to send his/her signed soft copy of the thesis or project for DrPH Committee approval before admission into the programme.
- A statement of purpose, career goals, and commitment to academic excellence are required. This statement should be a maximum of five (5) pages, typed and double-spaced. It should be submitted together with the other application materials.
- Submit secondary school certificate, bachelor’s degree certificate and transcript, master’s degree certificate and transcript, and copy of national identity card or passport.
- Non-English-speaking students are required to demonstrate their ability to study in English by achieving a minimum entry score on a recognized English proficiency test, such as TOEFL, IELTS, or the Michigan Test, as stipulated in table below.
- Complete three letters of recommendation from the following:
- One professional recommendation
- One academic recommendation
- One character recommendation
The applicant should seek the consent of the referee before submitting their details.
8. Potential students who are qualified to be admitted into the programme are those who have a Master’s degree in health-related areas and have written a thesis or projects. Other professionals may be considered after taking pre- requisite courses as needed from recognized and accredited universities. The following pre-requisite courses must be taken at the Master’s level before applicants are considered for admission into the DrPH programme. The co-requisite courses can be taken concurrently with the DrPH courses but must be completed before completing 50% of the coursework of the DrPH programme.
Curriculum
Core Courses
PHHP 749
Public Health Policy and Advocacy
This course will provide learners with skills to advocate for public health policies at all levels of government. The course will focus on the analysis of regulations and policies that impact health and health care. Learners will analyze health issues and the social, economic, and political implications of current and proposed policies. Learners will also compare health policies and health outcomes to evaluate alternative approaches to advancing health equity. They will learn to develop and pursue appropriate strategies to influence policymakers and educate others. A competence statement is to have in-depth knowledge about the principles and concepts of health policy in order to provide leadership to design, implement, and advocate for policies that advance health.
PHHP 723
Contemporary Public Health Issues
The course introduces public health advances to improve wellbeing by integrating approaches from public health principles. The course explores contemporary public health challenges at the local, national and global levels. The main focus will be on the epidemiologic basis of the public health issues, the public health institution and financing of health services in Africa and the global level, and existing approaches for progressing and resolving population wellbeing. The objective is to familiarize students with existing public health matters and recent public health research findings, evidence-based policies, and practices.
PHEP 789
Applied Epidemiological Research
An overview of the conduct and analysis of epidemiologic studies. In this course, students are introduced to the conceptual foundations of essential issues in epidemiologic methodology. The how and why a given method, design, or approach is chosen for population health study will be explored. The course will emphasize the strengths, limitations, and potential alternates for a given approach. The background and the use of standard and cutting-edge methods are considered. More so, the course covers measures of disease occurrences; measures of effect, association, and causation; epidemiologic study designs, including experimental designs (e.g., randomized clinical trials), Quasi- experimental designs, cross-over designs, cohort and case-control studies, cross-sectional surveys, meta-analysis, and decision analysis. The delivery mode of the course will include a series of lectures and discussions designed to reinforce epidemiologic concepts
PHAD 724
Leadership and Administrative Practices in Health
This course centers on leadership competencies and strategic planning to prepare students for the public health administration profession. The students will familiarize themselves with the concepts, principles, management, and leadership practices in public health and development. The learner will be equipped in organizing public health interventions; assuming leadership positions and utilizing management systems to ensure health in populations. In addition, he/she will learn and practice the allocation of monetary and human resources, community organization, and building constituencies. Approaches that empower students to cooperate and collaborate with other sectors for policy development and evaluation as tools for promoting population and health will be reviewed. The course entails self-assessment of leadership competencies and an investigation of case studies to comprehend policy appraisal and systems thinking. Students will be encouraged to bring practical experiences to the class for discussions and share best practices in public health management, leadership, administration, and community organization.
PHRM 785
Advanced Biostatistics in Public Health
This course will focus on statistical methods and data analysis in health science research. Methods for comparing means such as t-tests and ANOVA will be first reviewed. Topics will cover categorical data analysis with contingency tables, including odds ratio and risk ratios estimation, Pearson’s and McNemar’s Chi-square tests, Kaplan-Meier and Life-table survival curve estimation, and multiple regression models. Regression models will include linear regression, logistic models, and Cox proportional hazard models. Interpretation and data analysis skills will be emphasized. The students are expected to be able to understand the commonly used statistical methods in literature and to analyze and interpret real data using statistical software packages STATA and/or SPSS after taking this course.
PHHP 813
Advanced Program Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
This course reviews current literature on implementation science and strategies used in innovative scientific methods and tools to promote health. The student will learn the significance and major initiatives associated with moving research into practice using conceptual and analytic tools that include theories, models, and frameworks to plan and execute intervention programs to support health promotion practice and disease prevention. Using implementation research, the learner will practice translating knowledge gained into disseminating it. The student will be equipped to steer adoption, adaptation, delivery, and sustainment of evidence-based interventions in the community. Moreover, the student will understand how interventions are delivered effectively in various contexts to promote public health.
PHRM 780
Doctoral Seminar in Public Health
This course will deliver different profiles of scientific writing to include types and requirements for scientific papers; orientation, logic, and five elements of successful expression. The parts of thesis writing-the outline deed; writing skills and artistry, evaluation, and analysis of selected papers by students, student writing exercises, oral report and publishing exercises, writing for peer-reviewed manuscripts, patent application, proposal for a grant application, and document preparation for technical transfer, quality analysis and evaluation of good scientific papers, and presentation practice of the individual student. Further, the course encourages the students to utilize available writing resources, improve their scientific writing skills, begin to write daily, and complete a solid draft of the specific aims and background/introduction sections of their PhD research proposal document (and possibly, additional sections, including methods) or another academic work, such as their first manuscript
MSSN 710
Biblical Foundations & Adventist Philosophy of Health
This course touches on the principles that govern the health of individuals and practical methods of keeping one’s health in ideal condition for the honor of God as reflected in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. The course emphasizes biblical principles for restoring humankind to the image of God using a wholistic approach. The concepts studied in this course will cover Christian living, social relationships, lifestyle choices, ethical issues, stewardship, health, and spiritual growth. Students are encouraged to discover biblical principles relating to these concepts and apply them to their lives. The course will also reveal an understanding of the moral nature of humankind, their inherent value, and the ethical issues surrounding illness, suffering, and pain. The course will explore the Adventist contribution to health and wellbeing. The course will be taught collaboratively with a Professor from the Seminary.
MSSN 711
Public Health and Religious Issues
This course is designed for students with both research and professional interests in Religion and Public Health. Students are introduced to broad theoretical issues in the academic study of religion and Public Health. Students are encouraged to explore real contemporary issues such as cultural, apocalyptic, and religious facing the church through research. The course will afford students the ability to engage with complex public health and religious problems present in the congregation while cultivating an awareness of the spiritual realities of the church and its members. The course will be taught collaboratively with a Professor from the Seminary.
PHRM 823
Doctoral Internship
This course will provide the student an opportunity to experience and practice the knowledge and skills learned in class in a structured employment situation in the career field. The student will undertake a significant experiential learning opportunity with government, non-government, private, or community-based organizations to translate knowledge into practice. The student will be expected to invest a minimum of 300 hours to meet the required core learning objectives. The student will be evaluated by a proctor at the worksite in corroboration with the faculty internship advisor. After completion, the student is required to produce a portfolio highlighting his/her critical reflections of the internship experience demonstrating how specific learning goals were addressed. 3
PHRM 890
Doctoral Dissertation 1
This is an independent research study that prepares students for their proposal defense. The students must present to meet the standard required by the advisory committee on the research problem in the area of concentration. The course focuses on chapter 1 to 3 which makes up the research proposal of the Doctoral Dissertation and must be done in consultation with an advisory committee. The study must give confirmation that the student has conducted the research study that reveal outstanding academic competence and a substantial contribution to knowledge.
PHRM 892
Doctoral Dissertation 2
This is an independent research study that prepares students for their final oral defense. The students must present to meet the standard required by the advisory committee on the research problem in the area of concentration. The course focuses on chapter 4 to 5 which makes up the final Doctoral Dissertation and must be done in consultation with an advisory committee. The study must give confirmation that the student has conducted a research study that reveals outstanding academic competence and a substantial contribution to knowledge. A prerequisite is to successfully defend a research proposal (PHRM 890 Doctoral Dissertation 1).
Research Courses
PHRM 611
Biostatistics
The course will deal with data collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of numerical data for health sciences. The course will also provide students with an understanding of statistical reasoning in public health research in order to develop their ability to read and critically evaluate the statistical section of journal articles. Additionally, the course introduces students to the application of various statistical concepts and procedures and their associated technical and computing aspects to enable them to analyze a set of data. The topics discussed throughout this course are presented in an order which allows the development, analysis, and interpretation of statistical knowledge in a stepwise fashion, which progresses from the basics to the more complex.
PHRM 612
Research Methods in Public Health
This course introduces the fundamentals of the research study. The course explores research design, collection and reporting of data, interpretation of findings, inferential procedures, and current public health research. It expands students’ knowledge in both qualitative, and quantitative research and mixed methods and techniques that introduce them to postgraduate research methods, challenges, and organization, including creative practice. Students will also be introduced to a range of research tools and will be equipped to plan and organize their research and their mode of inquiry, as well as to communicate their findings. Ethical issues in conducting research will be introduced
PHEM 645
Epidemiological Methods
The purpose of this course is to present epidemiological methods and inferences to Public Health professionals with little prior experience and produce graduates with an understanding of epidemiological concepts and the ability to critically interpret reports from epidemiological studies. This course enables the learner to comprehend the general principles involved in understanding the frequency, distribution, and etiology of acute and chronic diseases, and the methods for disease surveillance and control. The student learns the epidemiological principles, and procedures for surveillance and their application in the occurrence of health-related events in the population. An introductory overview of biostatistics concepts and skills that are necessary for epidemiological practice are addressed. The learner will be empowered to work through epidemiological studies to identify, describe and measure the distribution of health and disease, and their determinants, in a specific population. By collecting data and analyzing disease incidence and prevalence, effective interventions and prevention can be realized. An emphasis is put on the epidemiology of lifestyle-related diseases.
PHRM 695
Research Thesis/Project
For the culminating phase of the coursework, each student is required to write either a thesis or a project. The thesis course requires conceptualizing and carrying on a complete empirical study. It requires a proposal defense before data collection and a final defense to present the findings of the study. The project course is more practical in nature. It does not require a systematic empirical study.
Specialization Courses: Health Promotion
PHHP 734
Preventive & Therapeutic Nutrition
The course highlights the nutritional basis for the various types of dietary modifications as they relate to the prevention and treatment of nutrition- related diseases. Currently, therapeutic nutrition continues to evolve; hence this course empowers the student with knowledge and skills necessary to enable application of evidence-based practices to prevent and treat diseases. The course explores preventive nutrition science practices that focus on preventing or delaying or reducing the negative impact of disease and disease-related aspects. It emphases on adopting healthy eating habits that aim at preventing or reducing lifestyle-related disease risk factors and explores the role of functional foods. The course examines qualitative and quantitative modifications that can be applied to a regular diet (basic, balanced diet which meets the need of an individual) and tailor them to suit the changing nutritional needs of an individual to improve a specific health condition. In addition, looking at the pathophysiology of specific diseases, the course explores ways that planned diets can be used as part of therapy in nutritional management to supplement medical or surgical treatment.
PHHP 745
Pathophysiology of Human Systems & Treatment
This course introduces advanced theories of the normal physiology of major body systems and underlines relationships among the systems. It teaches the students to recognize the complex physiologic changes that occur due to disease processes altering normal functions of the human body systems for persons through the lifecycle. In-depth hypothetical and scientific principles of illnesses ensuing from hereditary, environmental, and stress-associated sources are included. Understanding of normal physiology offers the student a basis for interpreting health departures. Assessment and interferences specific to designated health difficulties are studied to develop critical thinking abilities for pathophysiologic causes and treatments of given disease processes.
PHHP 739
Methods of Disease Surveillance & Prevention
This course provides the conceptual foundations and practical skills for designing and implementing surveillance systems, and for using surveillance data for the conduct and evaluation of public health programs and research. A primary focus will be at the national/regional/district level; surveillance/control of acute infectious diseases; public health vs. individual rights. Bridging epidemiological concepts with community activities and real-world health department issues. This course will also cover theories, concepts, study designs, and analytical methods of particular importance in studying infectious outcomes. Teaching methods include lectures, hands-on computer practical, article discussions, and written assignments.
PHHP 736
Communication Strategies in Public Health
This course will employ communication strategies to enlighten and impact both communities/societies and individuals on decisions that affect health. Topics will include; social cognitive and communication theories, marketing, and public relations, disease prevention, communication skills in health promotion, analysis of successful and unsuccessful health promotion interventions, and quality of life.3
PHHP 735
Evidence-Based Health Promotion
This course is intended to examine the concept of evidence-based health promotion practices. Topics will include the history and concept of Evidence- Based Health Promotion, Interventional health promotion and strategies, and how to construct/identify a topic. Students will enhance their skills in the searching and review of evidence and the formative of quality of evidence by the use of existing literature.
Specialization Courses: Nutrition and Wellness
PHNU 755
Clinical Nutrition
This course will equip the student with skills and knowledge on methods of nutritional assessment, measurement and interpretation of physical examination and laboratory parameters, and diagnosis of nutrition deficiencies. In this course, students will be introduced to the fundamentals of human metabolism and its role in health and disease, disorders of energy metabolism (e.g. obesity, Type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus, and starvation), body composition, and energy assessment. Students will cover the biochemistry and physiology of micronutrients (review of roles of vitamins and mineral elements in the metabolic process and their role in human metabolism) and macronutrients (utilization of these nutrients in the metabolic process and their roles in human metabolism). Students will also be introduced to geriatric nutrition (relationship between nutrition and physiological aging and impact of aging on nutrient requirements and intervention support) and pediatric nutrition (management of moderate and severe acute malnutrition in children), advanced nutrition interventions (parenteral and enteral nutrition), and various methods of assessing nutritional status of individuals including eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and bulimia) and other nutrition-related diseases and conditions.
PHNU 756
Nutritional Epidemiology
This course is designed to provide the learner with an understanding of the theoretical and practical considerations in the conduct of epidemiologic studies related to nutrition. The course will focus on conducting and interpreting epidemiological studies relating to diet and nutritional status to disease (especially chronic diseases as opposed to infectious or foodborne diseases) and health. Methodologies used in nutritional epidemiological studies will be examined and current knowledge regarding diet and other nutritional indicators as etiologic factors of disease will be reviewed. This course aims at increasing the learner’s skills to equip him/her to take part in and understand research that is based on knowledge of the relationship between diet and health. Moreover, it will also examine key concepts and methods in nutrition epidemiology to equip learners with the tools required to design, analyze, and critically evaluate population-based nutrition research. This course provides learners with hands-on experience in selecting nutritional measures, analyzing, and interpreting data so as to fulfill the overall objective of enabling learners to investigate relationships between diet and disease.
PHNU 757
Topics in Nutrition and Disease
This course explores various topics in human nutrition. It builds on prior studies in nutrition science. it examines the metabolism of nutrients including macronutrients and micronutrients. In addition, studies the effects of diet on health as well as claims and evidence for use of megadose of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that are associated with healing and wellness.
The learner will be equipped to examine in depth the scientific basis for nutrient reference standards and guidelines. She/he will also be empowered to assess evidence-based nutritional information from epidemiological literature to analyze the impact of food, diets, and nutritional supplements on people’s health. Food preparation and cooking demonstrations will be done to facilitate the adoption of nutritional principles knowledge into practice. Generally, emerging issues in nutrition science, food sources of nutrients, metabolism of nutrients, and scientific basis for common nutrition tools will be discussed. The content will extend prior studies leading to a deeper understanding of nutrition as well as address contemporary nutrition science topics.
PHNU 758
Nutrition in the Life Cycle
This course is designed with the aim of promoting optimal health by utilizing adequate nutrition throughout the human lifespan. The learner will be empowered to assess the nutritional needs of individuals as they move through the life cycle from conception or prior to conception up to their senior years. It also examines other factors that may modify or considerably affect nutrition at these stages. More so, programs that provide food for support, as well as nutritional education strategies at various life cycle stages, will be reviewed. The learner will be equipped to assess adequacy of diets and consequently design diets that meet the needs of people in the various life cycle stages. In addition, he/she will be skilled in nutritional research that will enable him/her to use data from case studies to assess nutritional issues so as to create effective intervention programs.
PHNU 750
Advanced Nutritional Assessment
This course will introduce students to direct and indirect methods of assessing nutritional status in humans. Students will learn about body measurements (anthropometric assessment), biochemical or laboratory assessment, physical assessment (clinical assessment), and dietary intake assessments to determine whether a person or groups of people are well-nourished or malnourished (over- nourished or under-nourished). The course will entail a detailed overview of the nutritional assessment methods, their strengths and limitations, evaluation and interpretation of assessment data, sources of measurement errors, the validity of assessment methods, and basic analytical approaches used to interpret assessment data. Students will learn to apply the principles and methods of nutrition assessment to monitor nutritional status and trends, identify at-risk individuals and groups, and investigate diet and disease relationships as well as monitor the progress of programs.
Specialization Courses: Environmental Health
PHEH 714
Environmental Hazards and Global Public Health
This is a multidisciplinary course that will examine the global risks of environmental disasters. It will review theories, case studies, and current research. Public health, environmental, human service, psychosocial and public policy implications of toxic disasters will be deliberated on. Students will examine emerging public health challenges posed by disasters and incidents involving chemicals, radiation, and biological agents as well as climate-related disasters and global control strategies are given the opportunity to start guided research on current topics in the field. The current situation in low- and middle- income countries will be addressed. Consideration will be given to increasing global urbanization challenges and implications
PHEH 720
Practice of Environmental Monitoring & Risk Exposure Assessment
This course focuses on the development and extension of monitoring systems,
as well as techniques for assessing pollution risk and examining the synthesis of monitoring data with toxicological and epidemiological data. It delves into the chemical, physical, microbiological, and engineering elements of occupational and environmental exposures, as well as the identification and characterization of human and environmental contaminants. Air and water quality monitoring will be discussed including the key components of the issues related to global warming and climate change. It also develops ways to reduce environmental dangers, allergens, and infections by predicting their fate and movement.
PHEH 715
Environmental Policy and Risk Management
This course is intended to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the government’s environmental health structure, environmental law and policy, economic assessment environmental planning, resource Management risk communication, compliance and enforcement, environmental policymaking processes, important environmental policies, and application of these policies through risk assessment and management techniques to protect the public and the environment.
PHEH 716
Assessment of Environmental Risk and Health Impacts
The course introduces applied modeling of environmental health impact assessment for graduate students and health professionals by focusing on the environmental burden of diseases, transmission and control of environmentally mediated infectious pathogens using statistical and mathematical tools, exposure assessment, dose-response & risk characterization, and one health and complex systems thinking & approaches in environmental health. Environmental Impact Assessment regulation and case studies will also be handled together in this course. Environmental Impact Assessment regulation and case studies will also be handled together in this course. The course combines lectures, computer labs, discussions, and a class project.
PHEH 717
Environmental & Occupational Epidemiology
The course will focus on the concepts of epidemiologic methods as they are applied in environmental and occupational epidemiology. The course will be an open structure that students determine learning methods throughout the course. Such as classical instructor oriented lectures, directed readings, and classroom exercises. Throughout the course, student will learn from research topic development, epidemiologic study designs, exposure assessment, ascertainment of health outcomes, approaches to analysis, special considerations for studying the health of a working population or the effects of environmental exposures, and dissemination. By the end of the course, students will gain a sufficient understanding of the application of epidemiologic methods to the study of occupational and environmental exposure disease relationships to facilitate their comprehension of published epidemiologic literature and assist in the design and conduct of original research.
Programme Coordinator
Daniel Ganu, DrPH
Professor, Public Health
Education
- DrPH (Preventive and Lifestyle Medicine), Adventist University of the Philippines, 2002
- MPH (Health Promotion), Adventist University of the Philippines, 1998
- BA Theology/Health Sciences, Andrews University, Michigan, 1995
Areas of Expertise
African Health Study
Mental Health
Biography
Professor Ganu brings over 18 years of rich experience as an ordained minister, educator, and a public health practitioner, integrating his diverse background into his work in health promotion and research. He has lectured at various esteemed institutions, including the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, Valley View University, University of Ghana, Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies, and the Adventist University of the Philippines. Currently, he serves as the Principal Investigator for the African Health Study, where he leads efforts to tackle pressing health issues across the continent. As the Editor-in-Chief of the Pan African Journal of Health and Environmental Science, he is committed to advancing scholarly research in the field. Additionally, he holds the position of President of the Adventist Human Subject Researchers Association’s African Chapter, focusing on promoting ethical research practices. Renowned as an outstanding researcher, Professor Ganu has an impressive portfolio of publications that reflects his dedication to improving public health outcomes.