EPIDM-MS - Epidemiology and Clinical Research (MS)

See Graduate Degrees for the university requirements for a Master of Science (MS) degree.

The Master’s Degree in Epidemiology and Clinical Research provides students with the skills essential to population-based study and patient-oriented clinical research, including epidemiologic methods and statistical analysis. Many students are clinical investigators with an MD or comparable clinical degree, often in the fellowship stages of their training or are already junior faculty members. The program also considers applicants from doctoral programs in the social, behavioral, or biological sciences who are interested in a concurrent master’s degree and wish to apply epidemiologic techniques in their areas of research interest. The program also serves as a rigorous introduction to epidemiology and clinical research for students with baccalaureate degrees or Stanford co-term students (below) who anticipate careers in clinical epidemiology or medicine. Many go on to PhD and MD degrees or pursue careers in public health and other disciplines.

Address inquiries to epiadmissions@stanford.edu.

Successful applicants for admission are expected to have a solid academic record, high Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores obtained within the past five years (optional), strong letters of recommendation, and an appropriate personal statement of purpose. Preference is accorded to applicants with research interests aligned with those of faculty available to serve as research mentors.

See Epidemiology & Population Health for additional information on the MS Epidemiology & Clinical Research program and admission application deadline.

Mentors

MS students in the Graduate Program in Epidemiology and Clinical Research have two mentors. Upon entering the program, each student is assigned an academic program advisor , usually a core faculty member. In addition, the student will choose a research mentor. Research mentors are typically members of the Stanford University professoriate but need not be designated as faculty in EPH. For physicians in our graduate programs, this mentor is usually from the discipline of the student’s clinical affiliation. For example, physicians who maintain an affiliation with another university can often arrange to include a research mentor from the other university if the student’s research takes place, in part, at that university. If the research mentor is from EPH, then the same faculty member may serve as both academic program advisor and research mentor with permission of the program director.

The academic program advisor also serves as the student’s methodology mentor and is responsible for advising in the selection of courses, approving a thesis research topic, monitoring the student’s progress through the program, and helping with other program-related issues that may arise. If a student’s thesis research requires additional expertise not covered by those of the methodology or research mentors (e.g., outcomes research or advanced statistical methods), a third mentor may be appointed with the approval of the methodology mentor.

Coterminal Master’s Program

The Department of Epidemiology and Population Health also offers a coterminal Master’s program in Epidemiology and Clinical Research for current Stanford undergraduates. Students who desire to concentrate in a specific area can participate in one of the track areas (Infectious Diseases, Health Equity and Community-Engaged Research, Global Health ). Coterminal students are enrolled full-time, and courses are ordinarily taken on campus. Graduates of this program are prepared to contribute creatively to basic or applied projects in epidemiology and clinical research. Many go on to PhD and MD degrees or pursue careers in public health and other disciplines.

Please note that coterminal students must have at least one-quarter overlap in their undergraduate and graduate careers before the undergraduate degree can be conferred. See the Stanford Bulletin co-terminal page for additional details.

See Coterminal Master's Degrees or the department coterm webpage for admission and program details.

Master's Program Admissions: https://med.stanford.edu/epidemiology-dept/MS-overview2/MS-apply.html

Coterminal Master's Program Admissions: https://med.stanford.edu/epidemiology-dept/co-term2/coterm-application.html