Master of Public Health
Courses
The MPH program requires completion of 56 credit hours. All courses are offered during the evening. The program is designed as a cohort program based on thirteen required courses and one elective course. All thirteen courses are four credit hour courses. The course offerings are scheduled so that a student could complete the program over a two year, three year, or four year period. During the final year, regardless of the number of years it takes the student to complete the program, the student is expected to gain practical experience working in the field and completing a field based final project as described below.
MPH 501: Introduction to Public Health Concepts and Practice
This course introduces students to the concepts, principles, and case outcomes of public health practice. It outlines theories of health, illness behavior, and health education. It considers community health data sources, classical health intervention approaches, the planning and evaluation of community health interventions. (4 credits)MPH 502: Introduction to Epidemiology
This course will focus on the theories and methods used in the field of epidemiology to study the occurrence, distribution and determinants of infectious and non-infectious diseases, other forms of illness (particularly those impacted by social and environmental forces), and injury in human populations. The focus will be on determining the impact, magnitude, and patterns of disease/illness/injury frequency so that causal agents can be identified and effective prevention, treatment and control measures can be designed and implemented. The course will explore variations of disease/illness/injury in relation to such factors as age, sex, race/ethnicity, occupational and social characteristics, place of residence, social inequality, susceptibility, exposure to specific agents, and other pertinent characteristics. Also of concern will be the temporal distribution of disease, examination of trends, cyclical patterns, and intervals between exposure to causative factors and onset of disease. (4 credits)MPH 511/PSY 511: Health and Behavior Theories and Community Intervention
This course will examine various theories and models that have been developed to identify the range of psychosocial factors that impact participation in both health-threatening and health-enhancing behaviors, and provide guidance for the modification of such behaviors. The theories and models will be explored from multidisciplinary perspectives and will be applied to an array of health issues. Practical applications of these theories to the development and implementations of theory-based public health interventions that can be applied with multiple populations (e.g., women, adolescents, elderly, people of color) within multiple settings (e.g., communities, schools, health care settings) at various levels of change (e.g., individual, community, social, policy) will also be explored. (4 credits)MPH 503: Introduction to Environmental Health
Study of the environment factors that influence health. Topics include air and water pollution, global population and local community dynamics, toxicology, infectious and chemical agents, radiation, and management. Prerequisite: Biology 121 or consent of the instructor. (4 credits)MPH 541/MAT 441: Applied Statistics for Public Health I
The course emphasizes the application of statistical methods to problems of human health and disease. It covers parametric and non-parametric statistical inferential methods for the univariate and bivariate situations using popular statistical software such as SAS, SPSS or MINITAB. Specific topics include classical and exploratory graphical and numerical methods of data description, inference about means, medians, and association including analysis of variance and linear regression. Emphasis in the course is on data analytic projects based on large data sets from published government surveys, the Internet, or students’ workplace. Prerequisite: One statistics course or consent of instructor. (4 credits)MPH 542/ MAT 442: Applied Statistics for Public Health II
This is a continuation of Applied Statistics I. The course covers multivariate relationships, repeated measures designs, analysis of covariance including model building and diagnostics. Methods of categorical data analysis for the two- and three-way contingency tables, including the generalized linear model, logistic regression and loglinear models are studied. Emphasis in the course is on data analytic projects of health and environmental data using statistical software packages. Prerequisite: Applied Statistics I (4 credits)MPH 512: Case Studies in Community Public Health
This course introduces students to members of the public health community and the work they are doing. A series of guest speakers is to be invited to discuss their work. The speakers are asked to discuss the factors that led to the project they are engaged in, the problems they have confronted in carrying it out, and the expectations they have regarding a successful outcome. The range of activities may include assessment of community needs, intervention projects, and studies designed to evaluate a variety of public health projects. (4 credits)MPH 521: Special Topics in Health and Disease
This course will provide a multidisciplinary examination of present and emerging diseases in the context of current societal concerns, with a focus on biomedical and psychological aspects of each disease. For each health issue that is addressed, students will first explore the biological mechanisms underlying the diseases, current treatments and biomedical prevention strategies. Following this, students will examine an array of psychosocial prevention and education strategies implemented within multiple settings (e.g., communities, schools, health care settings) at various levels of change (e.g., individual, community, social, policy), as well as psychological interventions aimed at improving the health and functioning of those impacted by the disease. (4 credits)MPH 513: Principles of Public Health Administration
This course considers the conceptual and theoretical foundation underlying managerial decision-making. The course introduces students to such basic managerial tools as basic accounting, cost-benefit analysis, budgeting, and marketing. Principles of strategic planning and forecasting are examined. The course goes on to examine the legal framework that governs public health practice, organizations, human resources, research activities, and community as well as individual patient intervention efforts. (4 credits)MPH 515: Public Health Ethics
This course is designed to analyze the ethical basis in which public health practice is grounded. It reviews concepts and ideas developed by a number of disciplines including philosophy, law, political science, and economics. (4 credits)MPH 602: Practicum in Community Health Assessment and Evaluation
This course is part of a three-course practicum sequence that is designed to provide the student with practical experience in the field based on skills acquired in class. The course introduces students to methods of data collection and analysis of epidemiological data. It focuses on community health indicators and research tools used to assess health data. Emphasis is on the research methods that are employed to identify community assets and goals; this step serves as the basic step in the process of community needs assessment which leads to the final objective, that is, program planning. The fundamentals of various types of community health interventions will be explored. (4 credits)MPH 603: Practicum in Program Planning and Implementation
This is the second course of the three-course practicum sequence. Students are expected to engage in the following tasks: (1) assess the community health profile documenting incidence and prevalence of disease and other health problems; (2) use the findings identified in step one to plan a population-specific community-based health program designed to reduce assessed risk; (3) develop an evaluation instrument designed to determine how successful the plan is in reducing health risk. Prerequisite: Community Health Assessment and Evaluation. (4 credits)MPH 604: Capstone Seminar in Community Public Health Practice
This is the third course of the three course practicum sequence. Students are expected to participate in a seminar, which provides the academic counterpart to the practicum experience. This course focuses on questions that arise related the data collection process, data analysis and /or interpretation of findings, and the effort to translate findings into the planning of community-based public health programs. ***The goal of the final capstone project is to integrate the information that has been learned in the students’ MPH academic courses with the applied community experience. Therefore, even though the paper will be focused on the applied work that the students are conducting in their community health setting, this document should also incorporate various elements of the didactic courses that have been taken within the MPH program. Prerequisite: Practicum in Program Planning and Implementation.
The exact format and length of the paper may vary depending on the nature of the applied experience, but should include the following general sections:
I. Community Health Profile and Background
II. Statement of the Targeted Health Issue (including specific health determinants and/or risk factors)
III. Description of the Health Intervention or Program
IV. Evaluation or Monitoring Plan and Results
V. Implications of Findings
VI. Future Directions (including future funding of health initiatives)
Students should have an outline project approved by the instructor of the Capstone Seminar prior to writing the final product. This project should demonstrate that the student is able to integrate the knowledge and skills that they have obtained throughout their MPH training to an applied community health issue and setting, and express this integration in a structure written format. Prerequisites: Community Health Assessment and Evaluation and Practicum in Program Planning and Implementation. (4 credits)