Biostatistics Ph.D. Competencies Map

Biostatistics Ph.D. / Required Courses and Learning Experiences
Emphasis
All / None / Bioinformatics / All
One of: / All of:
Mapping of Competencies to Curriculum / PHST-703 / PHST-710 / PHST-762 / PHST-781 / PHST-691 / PHST-724 / PHST-780 / PHST-782 / PHST-783 / BIOC-545 / MBIO-667 / CESC-660 / PHST-750 / PHST-751 / PHST-752 / Comprehensive exam / * / Dissertation / Dissertation defense
Competency
Competency for All
Read, interpret, and critically review the biostatistics content of scientific and biomedical journal articles / R / R / R / R / R / R / P / P / P / P /
Analyze moderately complex research data using statistical methods involving common linear statistical models / P / R / P / R / R / R / R / P / P / R /
Analyze dichotomous, count, and time-to-event data using appropriate statistical methods, including logistic regression, log-linear models, Kaplan-Meier curves, and Cox proportional hazards models / P / R / R / R / P / P / R /
Assist researchers in planning research studies, proposing and evaluating statistical methods and computing power analyses / P / P / P / P / P / P /
Write statistical methods sections for grant proposals, clinical trial protocols, and journal articles / P / P / P / P / P /
Manage data using spreadsheet and database software / P / P / R / R / R / P / P /
Use standard statistical and graphics computer packages including SAS, R, and SPSS / P / P / R / R / P / R / R / R / P / P / P / R /
Keep abreast of statistical methods literature to evaluate and utilize new statistical methods / P / R / R / P / P / P / P / R / P / P / P / P /
Thoroughly understand the broad discipline of biostatistics, including its theoretic underpinnings, its history of development, current applications, and areas of active inquiry / R / P / P / P / R / P / P / R / P / P / P / R / P / R /
Understand advanced biostatistical operations / P / P / P / P / P / P / P / P / P / P / P / R / P / R /
Conduct independent research / P / R / P / R / P / R / R / P / R /
Advance the field of biostatistics through original research / R / R / P / R / R / R / R / P / R /
Competency for Emphasis on Decision Science
Advance the field of decision science through original research / R / R / P / R /
Competency for Emphasis on Bioinformatics
Analyze high-throughput, biological data, such as microarrays, SNP chips, and mass spectrometer data, and understand the special statistical considerations that such data require / R / R / P /
Retrieve and leverage various types of biological information from online repositories / R / P / R / R /
Understand the basic biological principles that underlie our biological knowledge, and how the various forms of high-throughput data are used to address specific biological questions and expand our knowledge / P / P / R /
Advance the field of statistics in bioinformatics through original research / R / R / P / R /

P=Primary, R=Reinforcing

Required courses and learning experiences:

BIOC-545 Graduate Cell Biology / PHST-780 Advanced Nonparametrics
CECS-660 Introduction to Bioinformatics / PHST-781 Advanced Linear Models
MBIO-667 Advanced Biochemistry I / PHST-782 Generalized Linear Models
PHST-750 Statistics for Bioinformatics / PHST-691 Bayesian Statistics / PHST-783 Advanced Survival Analysis
PHST-751 High-Throughput Data Analysis / PHST-703 Doctoral Practicum in Consulting / Comprehensive exam
PHST-752 Statistical Genetics / PHST-710 Advanced Statistical Computing I / *Dissertation Proposal
PHST-724 Advanced Clinical Trials / Dissertation
PHST-762 Advanced Statistical Inference / Dissertation defense