Work and Health (PhD)

Program overview

The PhD program in Work and Health is offered by the three academic units that comprise the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences: School of Public Health and Health Systems, Department of Kinesiology, and the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. The collaborative nature of this program allows you to cross departmental and disciplinary boundaries to access courses and resources that add different perspectives to current research problems.

The Faculty of Applied Health Sciences is committed to the prevention of illness and injury, optimisation of health, and quality of life. You'll have the opportunity to investigate these issues as they relate to safe, healthy work environments and to achieving a work-life balance.

Sample research areas

Risk management and disease prevention in occupational health
Workplace interventions to reduce injury risk
Work-leisure-family balance
Health issues and non-traditional work arrangements
Epidemiology of workplace injuries, illness, and disease
Return to work after injury

Research units

Healthy futures

As a graduate of the Work and Health program, you'll be prepared for careers in academic settings, industry, Government Ministries of Labour or Health, health and safety associations, and policy analysis.

Admission requirements

Minimal requirement for admission to the collaborative PhD program in Work and Health is normally a Master's degree in a field that is relevant to the area of work and health. This commonly includes kinesiology, recreation and leisure studies, or health studies and gerontology. Other disciplines that may be suitable include engineering, management sciences, psychology, sociology, and epidemiology.

Applicants must have a minimum overall university average of 75%. Supplementary requirements include a Statement of Interest, examples of written work, and a current resume.

Application process

Interested students should first apply to the Applied Health Sciences academic unit of their choice (School of Public Health and Health Systems, Department of Kinesiology, or Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies) via the online application form. Applications for September admission are normally due February 1st. For information regarding applications process and deadlines, contact gradinfo@uwaterloo.ca.

Applications of students who indicate an interest in the Work and Health program and who have been deemed admissible by the relevant home department will then be reviewed by an executive committee composed of one member from each of the three home departments.

Degree requirements

Students must fulfill the minimum requirements of their home department (including period of enrolment, continuous enrolment, comprehensive examination, dissertation submission and defense, etc.). See the Graduate Studies Calendar for further information:

Kinesiology

Public Health and Health Systems

Recreation and Leisure Studies

The PhD program may be completed either on a full-time or part-time basis, but must be completed within the following time periods from completion of the MA degree unless an extension has been granted. See Graduate Studies Calendar - Regulations - Enrolment and Time Limits:

Full-time - 12 terms
Part-time - 18 terms

Course requirements

Students must obtain credit for each of the courses listed below. They will normally complete a minimum of four half (0.50 credit) courses, consisting of two core/fundamentals courses, a graduate level statistics/research methods course, and an elective which will be related to work and health. In addition, students will participate in the doctoral research seminar in work and health.

Foundational Knowledge on Work and Health
Approaches to Research in Work and Health
A Graduate Level Course in Research Methods or Statistics
One elective course (see list of electives below)
Work and Health Seminar (graded on credit basis)

Elective courses

REC 601 Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Leisure Research
REC 603 Leisure and Social Policy
REC 605 Social and Psychological Analysis of Leisure
REC 608 Gender, Leisure & the Use of Time
REC 610 Administrative Practice in Recreational Service
REC 672 The Analysis and Interpretation of Leisure Research Data
REC 673 Qualitative Research Data Analysis and Interpretation
REC 792 Advanced Research Methods (PhD only)
REC 798 Advanced Topics in Leisure Studies (PhD only)
KIN 601 Muscle Physiology in Work
KIN 602 Respiratory and Cardiovascular Physiology in Work
KIN 616 Neural Control of Human Movement
KIN 620 Ergonomic Aspects of Occupational Musculoskeletal Injuries
KIN 631A Introduction to Statistics
KIN 631C Correlation and Regression
KIN 631 E Analysis of Variance I
KIN 631F Analysis of Variance II
KIN 631G Biological Deterministic Modeling and Signal Processing
KIN 651 Motor Learning
KIN 656 Neurobehavioural Analyses of Perceptual and Motor Deficits
KIN 727 Low Back Disorders: Optimizing Prevention, Rehabilitation and Performance
HSG 601 Lifespan Approaches to Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
HSG 604 Evaluation of Health and Human Services Programs
HSG 605A Introduction to Statistics
HSG 605C Correlation and Regression
HSG 605E E Analysis of Variance I
HSG 605F Analysis of Variance II
HSG 606 Epidemiological Methods
PHS 604 Public Health and the Environment (On-line course format)

Student evaluation

A review of each student's progress takes place during the month of May each year. Students are evaluated on several criteria, including performance in courses, progress with regard to the comprehensive examination and thesis work and, where appropriate, reports submitted by the students regarding their research and teaching assistantship activity. A grade average of at least 75% must be maintained.

Comprehensive examinations

Students will complete the comprehensive examinations as required by their home department. At least one of the comprehensive examination committee members will be appointed from a department other than the home department but within the collaborative program in Work and Health. The comprehensive examinations will normally occur on completion of the students course work and will begin during the fourth term of their program.

Dissertation

The PhD dissertation will be on a topic in an area relevant to work and health.

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