Admission Requirements
Application deadlines
Applications available on the UNLV Graduate College website.
All domestic and international applicants must review and follow the Graduate College Admission and Registration Requirements.
Students will be admitted into the program by the IHS Executive Governing Committee. Review of applicants for admission by this committee will occur after screening by the student’s mentor. Note the mentor is to be identified prior to program admission.
The minimum requirements of the Ph.D. in IHS are:
- GPA requirements: - Undergraduates: An overall undergraduate GPA of 3.25 or higher - Graduates: An overall graduate GPA of 3.25 or higher
- Three letters of recommendation. One letter must be solicited by the applicant from their proposed mentor.
- Kira interview
- A curriculum vitae. The CV should include a list of the applicant’s published manuscripts, grant applications, conference presentations (posters and talks), honors and awards (academic, professional, and research-related), professional development (seminars, memberships, conference attendance), and professional experience (clinician, practitioner in discipline and university teaching).
- A personal statement. The statement should include a description of the applicant’s research skills (devices, methods, statistics and writing), career aspiration, and specific justification for studying in the UNLV IHS program.
- If the applicant is from a country where English is not an official language, then the applicant must demonstrate English proficiency by following the requirements in the UNLV English Proficiency page.
Applicants must have graduated from a regionally accredited institution or equivalent in a related field (e.g., biology, engineering, kinesiology/exercise science, nutrition, health physics, medical physics, physical therapy, psychology, occupational therapy) at the Master’s or first-professional clinical doctoral level.
Applicants with Bachelor degrees may be admitted to the program but are required to take an additional 30 credits of elective, degree-appropriate coursework.
Students are accepted into a degree program as described in the Graduate Catalog. The faculty and corresponding sub-disciplines and sub-plans within the described programs are subject to change at any time.
Degree Requirements
1. Students must complete 30 credits in the interdisciplinary health sciences core (15 of which are dissertation-related credits) and must complete 60 elective credits (BS-prepared students) or 30 elective credits (MS-prepared students) as defined above. A minimum of 90 credits is required for graduation from the IHS PhD program (60 credits for students admitted with a masters degree).
2. Students must complete the degree with a cumulative GPA ≥3.0 and graduation must occur preferably within 6 years for students enrolling with master’s degrees and 8 years for students enrolling with bachelor’s degrees.
3. Students must obtain a B (not B-) or better in all core coursework and maintain an overall grade point average of 3.0 across all coursework with no single course grade dropping below a C. A grade below B in a core class is unacceptable and, as such, the student must retake the class. If a core class is not satisfactorily passed on two attempts, the student will be dismissed from the program. If the grade is in an elective class, then the class can be retaken or replaced with another elective class.
4. Students will complete a comprehensive examination which will consist of a written and an oral examination as outlined in the program handbook. If a student fails the comprehensive examination, at least four weeks (but no more than eight weeks) must pass before scheduling a retake of the exam. If the student fails a second time, they will be separated from the program.
5. Students will also be required to complete a prospectus prior to dissertation in a focused research area. The dissertation committee will have an interdisciplinary element in that the Chair and two of the committee members will be faculty with Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Graduate Faculty status. The fourth committee member must be from outside the IHS Graduate Faculty and serves as the Graduate College Representative. Additional committee members may be added as appropriate.
6. Students will complete at least one national/international presentation as a platform or a poster from research generated during their Ph.D. program or present research generated during PhD program in HSC 710 (Interdisciplinary Seminar) or other approved venue to faculty and students.
Plan Graduation Requirements
The student must adhere to the following dissertation requirements:
3. Dissertation Format: - In consultation with their advisor, the student has two options for the structure and associated content of the dissertation. These will be termed “traditional” and “multiple-projects”. - All dissertations will include a title page, acknowledgements, table of contents, references, and appendices as appropriate. - Minimum content and suggested structure for the specific categories of dissertations are outlined below.
3.1. Traditional Dissertation: - This form of the dissertation is organized around one particular experiment. Specifically this should be an in-depth examination of a specific question/topic involving a single, comprehensive experiment. - The structure of this document will consist of a minimum of an abstract, bibliography and five chapters to include: - Introduction (background, statement of the problem(s), purpose of the study, hypotheses, limitations, delimitations) - Review of the Literature Methods - Results - Discussion/Conclusion/Recommendations Optional appendices, figures, and tables are also to be included. The oral defense will be that of this single research experiment.
3.2. Multiple-Projects Dissertation: - The dissertation must align with the graduate college guidelines for alternative dissertations.
- The form of the dissertation may be either
1) a linear progression of at least three topically developing research deliverables, or
2) a series of a minimum of three experiments designed around a theme or topical area of inquiry.
- The exact structure of the document may vary based upon choice of linear or circular design. It is imperative that each experiment is of adequate scientific merit to stand on its own as an independent publication.
- Packaging of the multiple-projects dissertation should include:
- Introduction (background, statement of the problem(s), hypotheses, limitations, delimitations)
Experiment 1: Written in the format required by the target journal, which is typically Introduction, - Methods, Results and - Discussion/Summary/Conclusions.
Experiment 2: Written in the format required by the target journal which is typically Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion/Summary/Conclusions
Experiment 3: Written in the format required by the target journal which is typically Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion/Summary/Conclusions Each “Experimental Section” should be preceded with an introduction to the project and/or bridge section that leads from one experiment to the next. Summary / Future Directions This example suggests three experiments; however additional experiments may be proposed and completed.
The number of projects to be completed will be proposed by the student with final approval given from the doctoral advisor and dissertation committee.
Optional appendices, figures and tables are also to be included. The oral defense will include the entire document, inclusive of all experiments conducted.
Outcomes include:
Pass: student is recommended to the Graduate College for granting of the Ph.D. degree
Fail: student advised of status and that the oral defense will be repeated to provide an opportunity to correct errors, clarify nebulous areas and/or expand on superficial presentation of information or data. At least four weeks (but no more than 8 weeks) must pass before scheduling a re-take of the oral defense. If a student fails the oral defense a second time, they will be separated from the program.
The student must submit and successfully defend their dissertation by the posted deadline. The defense must be advertised and is open to the public. The student must submit their approved, properly formatted dissertation to the Graduate College, and submit the approved electronic version to ProQuest by the posted deadline.
Students may apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing their degree requirements. All required forms must be submitted to the graduate college via the Grad Rebel Gateway.