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PhD in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences
   
Program News Minimize    

IHS PhD Student
Presents at SOPHE
Mid-Year Meeting

Holly Dempsey, right, and one
of her advisors, Dr. Sharon Thompson
See article below.
   
Welcome to the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Website Minimize    

As Director of the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Ph.D. Program at the College of Health Sciences and School of Nursing at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) its is my honor to welcome and thank you for your interest in our program.

 

Our interdisciplinary program is designed to produce graduates who will serve as the next generation of health professions’ educators.  Our students receive an education that models and facilitates skills to work synergistically within and between diverse fields of inquiry to make significant contributions to knowledge in our increasingly complex health prevention and health care environment.  

 

The program’s education focus is on the design and conduct of rigorous research, grounded in the context of the U.S.-Mexico border region. This approach prepares students for research and academic careers—typically as faculty in the high demand areas of Public Health, Rehabilitation Sciences and Nursing. We strive to provide the highest quality education and training to ensure that each graduate enters this challenging realm of research and practice with competence and confidence.

 

The average student load of three doctoral students per faculty member ensures students’ individualized attention and faculty involvement in the students’ research and teaching careers. Furthermore, through their association with the faculty throughout UTEP, students explore the intersection of theory and practice applied to the dynamic and exciting US-Mexico border environment.

 

The Ph.D. program's greatest resource is its faculty’s research and teaching expertise, combined with access to the UTEP library’s physical and electronic book and journal collections, and the University’s state-of-the-art computing facilities with Internet-2 connection and Web 2.0 applications. Financial support is usually available for our doctoral students in the form of financial aid, loans and scholarships. Opportunities exist for work as teaching and research assistants, to work alongside faculty researchers, and to co-teach some courses thereby gaining valuable teaching experience. Finally, the most important source of strength for doctoral students is their colleagues’ academic and personal support, which helps to form life-long friendships and professional bonds. 

 

If your goal is to become a creative and productive researcher working with a dynamic and skilled faculty who are committed to decrease health disparities and increase health equity among underserved populations, you should consider the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Ph.D. Program at the College of Health Sciences and School of Nursing at UTEP.

 

 

If you are admitted into our program, you can look forward to a challenging and stimulating experience.

  

 

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Gloria McKee Lopez, Ph.D., Program Director
Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program
1101 No. Campbell St., Room 312
915-747-7234
gmckee@utep.edu
   
Program News Minimize    

Holly Dempsey, right, and one of her advisors, Dr. Sharon Thompson, participated in the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) Midyear Scientific Conference held in Chicago, in May, 2008. Holly made a podium presentation on her paper, “Correlations between smoking and binge drinking: enhancing an existing theory-based intervention.” As first author, Holly co-authored the paper/presentation with her advisors, Drs. Sharon Thompson and Joe Tomaka. At the conclusion of her session’s presentations, she also participated in a panel discussion with her fellow presenters to an enthusiastic audience.

 

 

At the same conference, she also conducted a poster presentation, “Perceptions of cervical cancer and screening among low income Hispanic women on the U.S.-Mexico border.” She was third author along with Dr. Thompson, and master’s student, S. Ross and undergraduate student E. Anguiano. She was able to visit with over 35 people during the two-hour poster session and learned many of them were already familiar with and very interested in UTEP’s research. She was also successful in recruiting a student into the IHS doctoral program.

About her experience Holly said, “As a neophyte researcher (both my academic and work experiences prior to UTEP were clinical) I was thrilled to be exposed to such a wide variety of research endeavors and perspectives within the Health Education field. I made a lot of good contacts, heard a lot of good information and ideas, and gained some great experience. It was clear to me that UTEP is ‘leading the pack’ in terms of interdisciplinary communication, health equity advocacy, and implementation of effective and culturally responsive models of health sciences research.”