Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) in Dental Public Health
Changes to this program will take effect in the 2024–2025 academic year.
Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine provides a 12-month (full-time) or 24-month (part-time) program for individuals interested in careers in academia, state and federal health departments, community health programs, and health maintenance organizations. Dentists who hold a CEPH-accredited Master of Public Health (MPH) degree, or equivalent, are eligible to apply (dentists without a CEPH-accredited MPH are encouraged to apply for the combined Master of Science in Dentistry (MSD) in Dental Public Health and CAGS program). Based upon the program director’s review of the student’s self-assessment, transcripts, and the student’s proposed plan of study, an individualized program will be developed. This CAGS program includes selected coursework in combination with two research projects and a dental public health field project. This CAGS program is designed to fulfill the residency requirements and meet the eligibility requirements of the American Board of Dental Public Health (ABDPH), preparing the students for the ABDPH Qualifying and Certifying Examinations.
Curriculum
The educational goal of the Dental Public Health (DPH) program is to prepare graduates to become leaders in the practice of DPH. The program curriculum is tailored to each student’s previous education and experience. Students take selected courses from the course list below. In addition, all students are required to complete one or more dental public health projects and participate in field experience in DPH.
The following courses are available to choose from, based on the need of each student:
- SDM OB 830 Research Writing
- SDM PH 763 Bioethics and Law
- SDM PH 803 Biostatistics
- SDM PH 804 Applied Statistical Analysis in Dental Public Health
- SDM PH 806 Environmental Health
- SDM PH 808 Health Care Management and Finance
- SDM PH 810 Fundamentals of Dental Public Health
- SDM PH 812 Oral Epidemiology
- SDM PH 821 Dental Public Health Literature Review*
- SDM PH 822 Dental Public Health Literature Review**
- SDM PH 872 Dental Public Health Policies, Programs and Advocacy
- SDM PH 888 Seminars in Dental Public Health
- SDM PH 892 Dental Public Health Grand Rounds
- SDM PH 911 Public Health Project
- SPH PH 720 Individual Community and Population Health***
*Only offered to year 1 CAGS.
**Only offered to year 2 CAGS in the combined MSD/CAGS program.
***See the School of Public Health Bulletin for a detailed description. Course selection may vary according to the School of Public Health schedule.
Completion is not tracked by unit accumulation but by successful completion of individual courses and duration requirements.
