health psychology

The screening process for Fall 2008 will begin on April 15th.

The Ph.D. program in Health Psychology has a strong research focus on behavioral risk factors that impact health, such as stress, at-risk sexual practices, drug use, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, noncompliance with treatment regimens, etc. This program focuses on health service provision disparities in minority communities for diseases such as mental health, cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and hypertension, as well as effective health promotion education and planning for those communities. The program has two specialized areas of study: clinical health; and behavioral and community health sciences (BCHS). The clinical health specialization will prepares students to work in applied settings, such as hospitals, physical rehabilitation settings, outpatient clinics, and other health services settings as members of multidisciplinary teams. The BCHS specialization trains students to conduct research and to develop and implement community interventions. Both areas of study emphasize research and grant-writing, as well as offer opportunities for students to develop teaching skills.

Admission Requirements

The PhD program requires:

official transcripts of undergraduate & graduate coursework,
a minimum of 15 semester hours in psychology, including at least one course in each of the following: 1) social, personality, cognitive, or developmental psychology, 2) research methods, quantitative methods, or experimental psychology, and 3) physiological psychology;
official GRE Verbal & Quantitative Scores,
three letters of recommendation, two of which should be from psychologists
a VSU Graduate School Application, and the Psychology Department Supplemental Application form (click here to download the form). The supplemental application can be downloaded and completed in Microsoft Word.
The department does not yet have an "average" GRE or GPA standard for admission. However, students who are most competitive for the doctoral program will have approximate scores of a 3.2 GPA and a combined GRE score (V + Q) of 1000. All completed application packets will be reviewed.