The information below includes resources for students in the PhD in Translational Health Sciences program.
For more information about the resources provided through the Office of Student Support, please visit the OSS Website.
- PhD in Translational Health Sciences Student Handbook
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The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Translational Health Sciences (THS) is an interdisciplinary program that strives to educate individuals dedicated to the health sciences, building on students’ own experience, disciplinary training, and interests. The Student Handbook for the PhD in Translational Health Sciences is a comprehensive resource for our students.
- PhD in Translational Health Sciences Student Guide to Planning the Dissertation Defense
- PhD in THS Style Guide
- Residency Weekend Dates & Program Academic Calendar
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Twice each semester during the first 5 semesters. As possible, these weekends are scheduled to occur from Friday through Saturday during approximately the 5th and 10th week of each semester. Actual dates for all 5 semesters are provided to each cohort upon matriculation. The weekends will be pre-determined and students will be notified far in advance of each semester and not based on student's availability per se. Attendance at each of the residency weekends is strictly required. The residency weekends are only during the didactic coursework portion of the program, not the dissertation phase.
The following weekend sessions have been scheduled:
Academic Year 2021-2022 Academic Year 2022-2023 Spring 2022 Summer 2022 Fall 2022 Spring 2023 Summer 2023 2/11-2/13 6/10-6/11 9/30-10/1 2/10-2/11 6/16-6/17 3/18-3/20 7/22-7/23 11/4-11/5 3/17-3/18 7/21-7/22 Academic Year 2023-2024 Academic Year 2024-2025 Fall 2023 Spring 2024 Summer 2024 Fall 2024 Spring 2025 Summer 2025 9/29-9/30 2/9-2/10 6/14-6/15 9/27-9/28 2/7-2/8 6/13-6/14 11/3-11/4 3/15-3/16 7/19-7/20 11/1-11/2 3/14-3/15 7/18-7/19 Academic Year 2025-2026 Fall 2025 Spring 2026 Summer 2026 9/19-9/20 2/13-2/14 6/12-6/13 10/24-10/25 3/20-3/21 7/17-7/18 The weekend sessions will begin on Friday and continue through Saturday. In addition to residency weekends, each new cohort should plan to attend an orientation in July prior to the start of their program. Dates for the upcoming orientations are listed below:
- Friday, July 19, 2024 and Saturday, July 20, 2024
- PhD in Translational Health Sciences Electives
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Course # Course Name Credit Hours Course Description Offered in Fall Semester Offered in Spring Semester Requires PD Approval CRA 6201 Critical Analysis of Clinical Research 3 Analyses of the essential components of clinical research including good clinical practice, human subject protection, study design, and trials administration. Yes Yes Yes CRA 6202 Medicines Development 3 Examination of nonclinical, clinical, commercial, regulatory and risk assessment strategies required to develop a clinical development plan for an approvable, marketable new therapeutic and propose life cycle management strategies. Yes Yes Yes CRA 6203 Partnerships with Human Subjects 3 Regulatory, policy, ethical, and practical considerations associated with the engagement, recruitment, retention, and interaction with human research subjects. Yes Yes Yes CRA 6204 The Clinical Research Industry 3 Integration of project management principles, decision making models, cross-cultural competency, and interdisciplinary team dynamics to facilitate effective and efficient conduct of clinical trials. Yes Yes Yes CRA 6205 Clinical Investigations 3 The purpose of this course is to build skills for developing rigorous study designs to address a range of clinically relevant questions. The course material is designed to help students develop the ability to pose conceptually-based and significant research questions that are grounded in the literature, and to choose appropriate designs and methods based on the specifics of the research question. Yes Yes Yes CTS 6201 Critical Analysis in Clinical Research 3 Analyses of the essential components of clinical research including good clinical practice, human subject protection, study design, and trials administration. No Yes Yes CTS 6203 Legal and Ethical Issues in Clinical and Translational Research 1 Legal and ethical issues that arise in the design and conduct of clinical and translational research. No Yes Yes CTS 6265 Grantsmanship in Translational Health Science 3 Writing grant proposals to fund clinical research, with an emphasis on translational research proposals; persuasive communication, conceptually-based hypotheses, and research methods and the grant application process. Yes Yes Yes HSCI 6223 Topics in Health Care Leadership 3 Theories and styles of leadership, including organizational management and values, strategic planning, communication strategies, managing change, and negotiating conflict in the context of the health care delivery system. Yes Yes No HSCI 6240 Issues and Trends in the Health Care System 3 Analysis of key contemporary issues in U.S. health and social policy that affect the design and structure of the health care system. The health policy process and initiatives that shape care delivery. Yes Yes No HSCI 6241 The Health Care Enterprise 3 An overview of global business principles related to health care systems: the management of patient-centered care delivery, marketing, finance and fiscal management principles, information technology, and quality improvement. Credit cannot be earned for this course and COHM 6245. Yes Yes No HSCI 6291 Advanced Topics in Health Sciences/Special Topics 3 Topics vary depending on current issues of interest and faculty availability. Yes Yes Yes HSCI 6297 Independent Study 3 Independent study involving analysis of a clinical topic, a patient education project, or an on-site mentored clinical research practicum. Yes Yes Yes PUBH 6442 Comparative Global Health Systems 2 Examination of national health systems, how they differ, and how they are performing. Health systems analyzed through four different lenses: health care organizations, health workforce development, health care financing, and health policy development. Comparison of health systems and health reforms in seven regions of the world and assessment of how health system performance might be improved. Course fee may apply. Yes No Yes THS 8127 Systematic Reviews of Healthcare Innovations 3 This elective is designed for students to refine their skills in developing a systematic review of the literature for healthcare innovations. Students will learn about various methods to conduct a systematic review. Students will use their own health-related question to design a protocol for a systematic review. Students will then conduct their literature searches, select studies for inclusion, appraise individual studies, and synthesize the results to produce a systematic review. No Yes No THS 8214 Information Literacy 3 This course will guide learners to enhance their critical thinking abilities related to use of the literature (information literacy) to engage in a rigorous review of knowledge and evidence in an identified health education topic area. Students will establish a framework for exploring the topic area, identify appropriate sources, critique literature, and synthesize information to determine what is known and what gaps exist. Learners will draft the literature review portion required for a dissertation Yes No No THS 8223 Advanced Qualitative Methods 3 An introduction to qualitative methods course required. Course is open to students in the doctoral program in Translational Health Sciences. Doctoral students in other GW
programs may enroll with instructor approval; Good program standing required.Yes No No THS 8225 Grounded Theory Research 3 Qualitative study design and coding using Grounded Theory situated in social constructivism. This course will require students to examine Grounded Theory research, apply methods and techniques frequently used in Grounded Theory research, and design elements of a Grounded Theory study. Yes No No - Student Dissertation Forms
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All forms are routed using AdobeSign. Please contact the Director of Doctoral Research by email to initiate the form. In the email, provide the information as specified below for the form you are requesting.
Form Purpose Requested by Signed by Provide DoDR with this information: Pre-Candidacy Phase – Didactic Semesters PCd1 Pre-Candidacy Phase – Proposal Semesters PCp1 Designation of Doctoral Dissertation Chair Select a chair Student Student
Chair
DoDR
- Student name & email
- Proposal topic
- Chair name & email
PCp2 Designation of Dissertation Committee Add committee members Student Student
Chair
Committee member
DoDR
- Committee member name & email
- Separate request for each member
PCp3 Change in Doctoral Dissertation Committee Member Remove & replace committee members Student Student
Chair
Committee members
DoDR
- Committee member name & email (retiring)
- Committee member name & email (new)
PCp4 Change in Doctoral Dissertation Chair Remove committee chair Student Student
Outgoing chair
Incoming Chair
Department chair
DoDR
- Committee Chair name & email (retiring)
- Committee Chair name & email (new)
PCp5 Request for Dissertation Proposal Defense Schedule proposal defense Student Student
Chair
Committee members
DoDR
- Full proposal title
- Date and time of proposal defense
PCp6 Outcome of Written Dissertation Proposal and Oral Examination Results of proposal defense and modifications needed Chair Chair
Committee members
DoDR
- DoDR will send to chair on day on proposal defense
PCp7 Final Approval of Requested Proposal Revisions Approval of any requested revisions Student Chair
Committee members
DoDR
- Request form be initiated
Candidacy Phase CP1 Request for Dissertation Defense Schedule dissertation defense Student Student
Chair
Committee members
DoDR
- Full dissertation title
- Date and time of dissertation defense
CP2 Designation of Dissertation Readers Invite readers to participate in dissertation defense Student Student
Chair
Committee members
DoDR
- Reader name & email
- Separate request for each reader
CP3 Outcome of Written Dissertation and Oral Examination Results of dissertation defense and modifications needed Chair Chair
Committee members
DoDR
- DoDR will send to chair on day on dissertation defense
CP4 Final Approval of Dissertation Revisions Approval of any requested revisions Student Chair
Committee members
DoDR
- Request form be initiated
Preparing for Graduation PG1 Request to Graduate Request to graduate Student Student - GW Banner
PG2 Graduation Checklist Assures student met all graduation requirements Student Program manager - Program Director
- Funding Opportunities
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There are several opportunities available for tuition awards available and funding for dissertation research. The tuition awards include: the Corcoran Mentored Scholarship Award, the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Award, and the Lotrecchiano-Moscatt Team Science Award. The dissertation research awards may be applied for any time after the student has successfully defended their dissertation proposal.
For student resources, please visit the Department of Clinical Research & Leadership Website.
Contact the Office of Student Services, for more information about the resources.