MPH Curriculum

Planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion and health education programs are key skills for functioning effectively as a public health professional. These skills are outlined by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing and supported by organizations such as the Institute of Medicine. Making decisions about the types of theory-based programs or strategies to implement based on both the community’s perspective as well as need (evidence), enhances the likelihood of their effectiveness

The purpose of this course is to acquaint the student with the fundamentals of health promotion program evaluation and research methods related to behavioral science and health education. Although the course emphasizes general evaluation and research methodology, specific health program and health policy applications are used as illustrations.

In this course, students will develop an understanding of the basic principles of how health-related policies are developed, implemented, and evaluated by governmental and community-based agencies and organizations. Throughout the course, students develop skills in the use of "systems thinking" methods to analyze how policy and other factors influence the effectiveness of the public health system's responsiveness to a particular public health issue.

Rural health disparities examines rural and underserved populations and the specific health issues that are prevalent in various rural populations. Students will learn about cultural factors that may impact the health of rural populations and programs that are being used to address rural health disparities. In this course, students will have the opportunity to study a rural or underserved population and a health disparity of the students choosing, to then apply their knowledge to formulating programs that may impact the disparity at a community level.

This course will focus on providing students with foundational knowledge of public health. Topics that will be addressed include definitions of public health, organizational structure, history, ethics, essential services, global programs, and future public health.

Social and behavioral science concepts, diversity issues, theories of health education and promotion, applications to public health issues, and interventions in reference to communication, collaboration, and strategies.

The course will facilitate students’ understanding of fundamental epidemiological concepts (such as principles of causality), methods (such as epidemiologic study designs), and their practical applications (such as the concept of screening for disease; public health applications of the measures of disease frequency and the measures of exposure-disease association; and their role in public health decision-making).

Principles of biostatistics in the context of multiple public health applications including basic and advanced statistical techniques for analyzing and investigating public health issues including disparities.

In this course, students will learn about the role of the environment in public health. They will do this by examining environmental policies and their impact on public health, learn about environmental health injustices and how they impact public health, and examine the interconnectedness of human health, ecosystem health, and animal health.  Students will also have the opportunity to study one environmental health issue of their choosing at length and determine some strategies to address it.

This course will examine grant language, research versus program grants, funders, different sections of common grants, and the writing of a comprehensive grant proposal. Methods and techniques for writing and managing grant proposals to support public health programs. Emphasis on development of grant proposals, including narrative, program plan, evaluation design, timeline, budget justifications, identifying grant resources, managing funded projects, and developing requests for proposals.

The epidemiology of heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung diseases, chronic neurologic disorders, and musculoskeletal diseases will be studied. Risk factors, extent, and modern public health approaches to prevention and control of major chronic diseases will be covered. The public health burden of chronic disease will also be discussed.

This special topics course combines many of the interactional competencies that are vital to successful professional practice. Students will focus on weekly topics like interprofessional health teamwork, leadership, negotiation, budget and resource management, and communicating public health content through written, spoken, and visual formats. Students will apply these concepts by working together in teams, responding to case studies, writing reflections, and creating portfolio assignments that demonstrate mastery of information and applied professional skills.

The Applied Practice Experience is the internship for the MPH program. During this course, students work in an applied community-based agency or organization of that aligns with their professional goals.  Under the supervision of a staff member in that organization, students will complete 200 hours of work focused on specific tasks that help them to further develop the knowledge and skills that they have learned in their coursework. This is typically completed during the fifth semester for part-time online students and at the beginning of the second year for residential students

The Integrative Learning Experience (ILE) Project is completed in the last semester of the Master of Public Health (MPH) program and represents the final major capstone project. Through a series of major written projects, students will integrate the knowledge and skills they have gained throughout the program to prepare a portfolio of products typically expected in today's public health organizations.