Mechanics of advisement. The Department of Epidemiology has a large number of students so we have to make this process as efficient as possible. We need you to help us with the process. These are some of the things we request you to become familiar with before setting up an appointment.

There are several possible pathways that are fully developed and ready for you to adapt to your needs.

Know who your advisor is! You will be assigned to an advisor by the SPH staff, but that individual may be changed. This change, should it occur, will be within the first month or two after your initial registration. We promise not to do this more than once. You are encouraged to stay with your advisor throughout your program of study. (Of course, for small things, such as signing of a registration card with a straightforward course choice, it is okay to have another advisor within the department sign-off.)
Please be patient with respect to appointments. When our department was small, it was relatively easy to just spot an advisor in the hallway and ask him or her for some help with a particular question. However, now with the increased load of students, we need to be a little more formalized with our appointments. We ask that you call or email us for an appointment for your advisement and that you bring a copy of your transcript. Most of us do have certain days when we are more available to meet with students.

Declaration of Departmental Concentration: After the completion of 18 credits you are asked to make a selection of a department. The student must fulfill the following requirements in order to be accepted into the department of epidemiology:

You must have at least a 'B' grade in both Principles of Epidemiology AND Introduction to Biostatistics.
This requirement applies to both matriculating and non-matriculating students on admission.

Dual-Concentration Status: There are several dual-concentration programs. To declare any of these that include epidemiology, the department requires that you obtain a GPA of 3.4 with a minimum of 12 credits (including Principles of Epidemiology AND Introduction to Biostatistics).
Credit Transfer: The maximum number of credits that you can transfer from another institution is 12. Also, for each course that you would like to transfer, you must do the following:

Obtain curriculum documentation (course syllabus and transcript with the grade). The grade must be a B or better.
The course must be taken at an accredited US or Canadian university.
Get the credit transfer form from the administration office (Ms. Tina Greco).
Identify the UMDNJ-SPH course equivalent on the form
Bring the above material to the instructor of the class who is teaching the equivalent course in the UMDNJ-SPH.
If he or she approves, then obtain the signature of the instructor followed by the signature of the department chair and the associate Dean.
Return the form to Ms. Greco's office.

Please think about possible fieldwork ideas BEFORE you come in to discuss. Alix Garzero has a file cabinet full of prior fieldwork projects that you can browse through to get familiar with the type and amount of work required.

Department Info

Faculty Staff