Epidemiology (EPI) students must refer to the following conditions:

• Register for the comprehensive examination four months prior to sitting the written component (Part 1) of the exam;
• Both components of the comprehensive examination must be completed by the end of 6^th term of enrolment in the program.

Description

The Comprehensive Exam consists of a two-part exam used to evaluate whether a student has the knowledge and skills to be successful as a PhD candidate.

Both components of the comprehensive examination are graded separately.

• Written component (Part 1) is a half-day in-class written examination on core epidemiology concepts and methods.
• Oral component (Part 2) is a one-hour oral examination on topics that are relevant to the student’s thesis, based on a specific journal article, to be selected in advance by the examining committee.
• Students must pass the written component before being eligible to sit the oral component.
• Only two attempts (for each part) are allowed: if a student fails the same part of the examination twice, the student will be asked to withdraw from the PhD program.

Timing

• Students must register for the comprehensive exam four months prior to sitting the written component.
• Both parts of the comprehensive examination must be completed by the end of 6^th term of enrolment in the program. Students who have not passed both parts of the comprehensive examination by the end of the 6th term will be asked to withdraw from the program.
• The timing of the oral component is coordinated with the written component. Typically, the oral component will be scheduled to take place 2 to 4 weeks after the written component.

Scheduling

At least 4 months prior to sitting the written component, a student must submit by email:

A brief Letter of Intent (LOI; maximum 2 pages) to the Chair and Co-Chair of the SEPH Comprehensive Examination Committee, copying the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office. The LOI should outline the student’s proposed thesis project in sufficient detail to allow part 2 (oral component) examiners to prepare. The student’s Supervisor, Co-Supervisor (if applicable), and all TAC members should be listed on this document.

Students must be enrolled to EPI 9998 in order to take the written component.

Comprehensive examination dates

Students who started their program during fall 2019, winter or spring summer 2020 terms

Spring/Summer

• No comprehensive exams will take place.

Students who started their program during the Fall 2020, winter or spring-summer 2021 terms

Winter 2022

• No comprehensive exams will take place.

Spring/Summer

• No comprehensive exams will take place.

Examination Committee

The examination committee for the written component (Part 1) of the comprehensive exam is comprised by the 5 or 6 faculty members with appointments in the School of Epidemiology & Public Health who make up that year’s comprehensive exam committee.

The examination committee for the oral component (Part 2) of the comprehensive exam will comprise two members:

• The first examiner will be a faculty member with an appointment in the School of Epidemiology & Public Health who is a member of that year’s comprehensive exam committee.
• The second examiner will be a content expert with supervisory rights in the PhD program in Epidemiology, chosen by the first examiner (in consultation with members of the comprehensive examination committee), and based on the student’s letter of intent.

All examiners are required to be present during the oral examination.

Written Examination - Part 1

General Requirements

• At least 4 months prior to sitting the written component, a student must submit:
  • Letter of Intent Approval form.
  • A brief letter of intent (maximum 2 pages) to the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office, outlining his/her proposed thesis project in sufficient detail to allow examiners to prepare.
• Students must be enrolled to EPI 9998 in order to take the written component.
• Half-day in-class written examination on core epidemiology concepts and methods.
• The questions for the written examination are developed by the comprehensive examination committee.
• Occurs on the same date for all students who are sitting the examination in a given term. It is offered whenever at least one student has registered to sit the examination.
• Covers material that all strong MSc-trained epidemiologists can be expected to have mastered.
• A reading list is provided in advance as a resource to students in their preparations

Assessment and Evaluation

• The written examination is graded as pass/fail. A grading rubric prepared by the examiners in advance is used. The exam will be aproximatively 50% on epidemiological concepts and 50% on biostatistical concepts. Examiners are blinded to which student’s exam they are grading.
• Only two attempts are allowed: if a student fails this part of the examination twice, the student will be asked to withdraw from the PhD program.

Part 2: Oral Exam

The oral component is a one-hour oral examination on topics that are relevant to the student’s thesis, based on a specific and relevant journal article.

The timing of part 2 is coordinated with part 1. Typically, part 2 will be scheduled to take place 2-4 weeks after part 1.

The examination committee of the comprehensive exam will comprise two members:

• The first examiner will be a faculty member with an appointment in the School of Epidemiology & Public Health who is a member of that year’s comprehensive exam committee.
• The second examiner will be a content expert, chosen by the first examiner (in consultation with members of the comprehensive examination committee), and based on the student’s letter of intent.

The examiners collaborate to select a journal article of relevance to the student’s thesis topic; a different article is selected for each student sitting the comprehensive examination.

The article is submitted to the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office and must be approved by the Graduate Studies Director.

The student is provided with the journal article 7 days prior to the Oral Component - part 2 examination date.

The examiners pose a series of questions to the student during the examination. The questions are founded on the journal article but may extend to topics within the student’s general research area. The student does not receive the questions in advance; the examiners may adjust the line of questioning during the examination.

All examiners are required to be present during the oral examination.

The oral examination is a closed examination.

Assessment and Evaluation

The Oral Component of the comprehensive examination is evaluated as pass/fail.

Only two attempts are allowed: if a student fails this part of the examination twice, the student will be asked to withdraw from the PhD program.

Final Approval from the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office

Once the Comprehensive Examination is successfully completed and the required approvals have been received, a final grade of S (satisfactory) will be added for the candidate’s file.