NCA's Doctoral Program Guide

The Ph.D. program in health communication at IUPUI includes the following main program objectives. Students will: (1) obtain competency for teaching and research in areas that include: health interpersonal relationships, intercultural health, and mediated communication in healthcare including health campaign development. Ethical questions regarding each of these health communication contexts will be explored as well. (2) initiate, participate, and develop competency in research on health and medical communication issues; (3) gain skills in understanding clinical problems affected by communication; (4) develop the capabilities necessary to translate research on clinical problems impacted by communication into practice; (5) receive training for academic jobs and healthcare professional positions.

Admission Requirements

• Have at least a Master’s degree (minimum of 30 credit hours) in a related social science or health discipline, completed with a GPA of 3.5 or higher (on a 4.0 scale). Preference will be given to those students with degrees from communication studies programs. 
• Take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test (Quantitative, Verbal, and Analytical Writing). 
• Submit a written statement of purpose for entering into this Ph.D. program. 
• Provide three letters of recommendation from individuals in professional positions able to judge success. 
• Submit a curriculum vitae. 
• Provide graduate and undergraduate transcripts. 
• Submit a writing sample demonstrating academic writing ability. 
• Non-native English speakers who did not complete a degree at a college or university in the U.S. must also take an English competency test, either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS).  

Graduate Faculty

• Professor Charles R. Bantz, Ph.D., Ohio State University 
• Associate Professor Maria Brann, Ph.D., University of Kentucky
• Associate Professor Jennifer Bute, Ph.D., University of Illinois 
• Associate Professor Catherine A. Dobris, Ph.D., Indiana University 
• Professor Elizabeth Goering, Ph.D., Purdue University 
• Assistant Professor Katharine J. Head, Ph.D., University of Kentucky
• Assistant Professor Krista Hoffmann-Longtin, Ph.D., Indiana University
• Associate Professor Kristine Brunovska Karnick, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin 
• Associate Professor Marianne S. Matthias, Ph.D., Purdue University
• Professor Sandra Petronio, Ph.D., University of Michigan 
• Professor John Parrish-Sprowl, Ph.D., Bowling Green University 
• Professor Kristina Horn Sheeler, Ph.D., Indiana University 
• Associate Professor Kim White-Mills, Ph.D., Ohio University