Accelerated Master of Public Health Program Overview
The accelerated MPH Program is a 42-credit course of study, designed for working health professionals who wish to incorporate public health skills into their current positions or to make a career change.
The 42-credit curricula have been designed to encourage the development of competence in key public health skills and to meet current developments in the field of public health, Council on Education in Public Health accreditation criteria, and the College’s mission, goals and objectives. The major characteristics are:
• One course in each of the five core areas (15 credits)
• Seminar in Contemporary Public Health Issues (1 credit)
• Core courses in an area of concentration (15-21 credits)
• Elective courses relevant to the chosen concentration and individual
career goals (0-6 credits)
• Public Health Internship (5 credits)
• Major paper and presentation (credit assigned through the Seminar
in Contemporary Public Health Issues)
Eligible candidates
The accelerated program is limited to health professionals who possess the terminal degree in their fields. This degree is typically at the doctoral level, but for some health disciplines, it may be at the master’s level.
Concentrations
MPH students are admitted into one of six concentration areas, from which the number and type of advanced specialty course credits are determined. The concentration areas are Biostatistics, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Public Health Management and Policy, Public Health Practice, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Accelerated MPH Core Coursework
Students take one course in each of the five core areas of Public Health. The core courses in Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Public Health Management and Policy, and Social and Behavioral Sciences are taken by all students. The core Biostatistics course varies across concentration areas. Students in the Biostatistics and Epidemiology concentrations must take STA 6166 Statistical Methods in Research I. All other MPH students must take PHC 6050 Statistical Methods for Health Science I.
The core courses are described briefly below.
PHC 6050—Statistical Methods for Health Science I (3)
Appropriate use of data summarization and presentation of basic statistical
methods, including ANOVA, nonparametric methods, inference on discrete data,
inference on survival data, and regression methods for continuous, binary,
and survival data. Click
here for a full syllabus
STA 6166--Statistical Methods in Research I (4)
Statistical inference based on t, F, and X 2 tests. Analysis
of variance for basic experimental designs. Factorial experiments. regression
analysis and analysis of covariance. Click
here for a full syllabus
PHC 6001—Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health (3)
Overview of epidemiology methods used in research studies that address disease
patterns in community and clinic-based populations. Includes distribution
and determinants of health-related states or events in specific populations
and application to control of health problems. Click
here for a full syllabus
PHC 6102—Introduction to Public Health Administrative Systems
(3)
Overview of the public health system, including public health concepts and
practice and health care delivery and financing. Focus on understanding
of organization and administration of health services, structure and functions
of U.S. public health system, and health insurance programs. Click
here for a full syllabus
PHC 6313—Environmental Health Concepts in Public Health (3)
Survey of major topics of environmental health. Sources, routes, media,
and health outcomes associated with biological, chemical, and physical agents
in environment. Effects of agents on disease, water quality, air quality,
food safety, and land resources. Current legal framework, policies, and
practices associated with environmental health and intended to improve public
health. Click here
for a full syllabus
PHC 6406—Psychological, Behavioral, and Social Issues in
Public Health (3)
Health behavior from an ecological perspective; includes primary, secondary
and tertiary prevention across a variety of settings; incorporates behavioral
science theory and methods. Click
here for a full syllabus
Concentration Coursework
Each student is admitted to a specific public health concentration area for in-depth study. Each concentration has unique requirements that have been designed to prepare students effectively to become public health professionals in their chosen area of interest. Please select a concentration below to review credit hours and course requirements. On the concentration page, be sure to select the 42-credit curriculum for that concentration.
- Biostatistics
- Epidemiology
- Environmental Health
- Health Management and Policy
- Public Health Practice
- Social and Behavioral Sciences
Public Health Internship
The concepts presented via coursework are integrated and assimilated through a last-semester internship, which provides an opportunity for each student to apply his or her knowledge in a real world practice setting. A wide range of settings and opportunities may be suitable for an internship. However, each internship is individually tailored to assure competence in key public health roles and to meet student goals, concentration criteria, and the needs of the agencies involved. Internship proposals must be approved by each student’s supervisory committee.
PHC 6946—Public Health Internship (1-9; max: 9)
Fieldwork at approved site. Focus on practical application of skills in
student’s specialty area. Includes a special project which serves
as the foundation for a major paper and presentation. See PHC 6931 below.
S/U. Click here
for a full syllabus
Major Paper and Presentation
Students may engage in many activities during an internship. However, each student must have one special project which serves as the basis for a major paper and a presentation. These culminating activities of the MPH program – major paper and presentation -- are intended to encourage students to understand their projects in the larger context of public health as a cross-disciplinary field. Student presentations are scheduled on one or two Public Health Days near the end of fall, spring and summer semesters. Three faculty members, including the supervisory committee chair, attend each presentation and are responsible for assessing whether the student has successfully demonstrated a broad-based knowledge in the field of public health and in the concentration area.
PHC 6931 – Seminar in Contemporary Public Health Issues (1)
Integration of public health topics, issues, and skills into a culminating
experience for the MPH program. Required final paper and oral presentation.
Click here for
full syllabus
MPH Competencies
All students in the MPH Program are expected to master a set of competencies during the course of their studies. The competencies that have been selected by the faculty of the College of Public Health and Health Professions are derived from recommendations of the Association of Schools of Public Health (www.asph.org) and the ten essential public health services. Beginning in 2008, these competencies will guide development of a national credentialing examination in public health. Click here to review the competencies expected of all of our MPH graduates and the courses that contribute to them. Additional competencies which cut across public health disciplines have also been developed to guide MPH education. Click here to view these competencies and the courses in which they are addressed.
