New PhD Stream in Clinical Epidemiology
The Graduate Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation's new PhD stream in
Clinical Epidemiology is off to a great start with ten students (six new, four transfer)
entering the stream this fall. The Clinical Epidemiology stream is targeted at
students with clinical training, (e.g. Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Rehabilitation).
It draws upon the disciplines of epidemiology health outcomes and services
research, biostatistics, decision sciences, and health economics. It trains students
to examine the outcomes of health interventions, and will produce well-trained researchers
who can function as independent investigators in hospitals, research institutes, and
universities. The program consists of 10 half courses and a thesis. The
program can be taken on a either full-time or flex-time basis.
The HPME Student Funding Policy: A Draft for
Discussion
The University of Toronto has recommended that all graduate units "work towards
providing a guaranteed minimum level of financial support to all its full time doctoral
stream students equivalent to $12,000 per year (indexed according to cost of living) plus
tuition (domestic or visa) for the first 5 years of study, including, where necessary, 1
year at the master's level". "Doctoral students" refers to students
in doctoral stream graduate studies, i.e. MSc and PhD students.
When constituting the packages, the policy suggests "units should ensure that, to
the greatest extent possible, individual students are funded through a mixture of
different sources of funding, including internal/external awards, TA-ships and research
grants. Student loans, such as OSAP, should not be part of these guaranteed funding
packages. It is also important that there is consistency in the allocation of TA
assignments across a department's student population, to ensure that students are not
overburdened by the demands of their TA responsibilities. In departments in which
faculty hold research grants, it is expected that graduate supervisors will provide some
level of funding from their grants to help support graduate students".
For post-4 PhD students, the policy suggests that such students will be provided with
an as-of-right completion grant for years 5 and 6 of their program, equivalent to $2,500
per annum (effective September 2000 for a four year period, after which its efficacy will
be assessed). These grants are not tied to unit funding.
The policy also recommends that "units should establish a policy for funding that
is well advertised, transparent, and which is monitored" and that "students
should be made aware of these policies prior to their admission".
The Faculty of Medicine, in adopting the University of Toronto's Student Funding
Policy, has prepared their own policy statement on student funding, enrollment planning
and disbursement of U of T Open Fellowship funds. This policy is in accordance with
the University of Toronto policy, but allows for the exemption of students who are engaged
in employment and earning $15,000/annum plus tuition or over, from the funded cohort.
Many graduate units in the Faculty of Medicine have also agreed to bonuses of
$2,000 to $3,000 for students who obtain external competitive awards of significant value.
THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH POLICY, MANAGEMENT AND EVALUATION FUNDING POLICY - DRAFT
- The minimum stipend for all new and continuing full time graduate students (with the
exception of students in the MHSc program) is $12,000 plus tuition per annum, effective
September 1, 2001.
- Students who receive an external, competitively reviewed award valued at or over
$15,000/annum (CIHR, NHRDP, OGS) will be awarded a bonus of $2,500 per year.
- Full funding will be guaranteed for a minimum of 1 year for students in the MSc program
and 4 years for students in the PhD program.
- Students who are engaged in employment who are earning at least $12,000 plus tuition per
annum will NOT be eligible for graduate funding. Licensed MDs who are involved in
clinical training or duties on a full time basis are NOT eligible for graduate funding.
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