Professional Option (48 Credit Hour), MPH

Professional Option (48 SCH)

The Master of Public Health Online (48 credit hours) is an interdisciplinary degree that provides education and training for part-time or full-time students who wish to begin a career or complete an MPH degree while employed. Students gain foundational knowledge and skills in program planning, budgeting, management, policy, and ethics. In addition, students complete one of two tracks, thereby simultaneously completing requirements for the MPH degree and a Graduate Certificate in either Global Health or Geographic Information Systems. Program graduates will contribute to the expansion and enhancement of a competent public health workforce that is needed for advancing the health of the population in Texas and beyond. The MPH online student will gain foundational public health knowledge and competency in the learning objectives:

1. Profession & Science of Public Health - History, philosophy, values, functions and tools of public health practice
2. Factors Related to Human Health - Effects of a variety of of factors on a population’s health

By the conclusion of the MPH program, a student in the online MPH (48 credit hour) will possess the following competencies:

1. Evidence-Based Approaches to Public Health - Identify and use sources of data, data collection, data analysis and resultant information and knowledge as the basis for research and evidence-based program development;
2. Public Health & Health Care Systems - Compare organization, structure and function of health care, public health and regulatory systems across national and international settings while assessing impacts and challenges to health equity at organizational, community and societal levels;
3. Planning & Management to Promote Health - Perform community needs assessment incorporating cultural competency in planning population-based policies, programs, projects or interventions to meet needs with given resources while evaluating efficacy of program impact for continuous improvement;
4. Policy in Public Health - Identify and use sources of data, information and knowledge as the basis for evidence-based advocacy and policy development;
5. Leadership - Apply principles of leadership, governance and management to achieve organizational goals and objectives as well as utilize negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges;
6. Communication - Effectively communicate epidemiologic information in a linguistically and culturally appropriate manner to the general public, professionals, policy makers, across social sectors and academic disciplines;
7. Interprofessional Practice - Perform effectively on interprofessional teams;
8. Systems Thinking - Apply systems thinking tools to public health issues.

• BACH 5300 Theoretical Foundations of Individual and Community Health
• BIOS 5300 Principles of Biostatistics
• EOHS 5300 Environmental Determinants of Health I
• EPID 5300 Principles of Epidemiology
• HMAP 5300 Introduction to Health Management and Policy
• HMAP 5320 Health Services Management
• HMAP 6320 Organizational Leadership
• HMAP 6360 Ethical Issues in Public Health
• BACH 5340 Community Assessment and Program Planning
• PHED 5302 MPH-PO Capstone
• HMAP 5312 Health Politics and Policy
• PHED 5000 CPH Comprehensive Examination
• PHED 5297 Practice Experience

Elective Tracks

Students in the MPH Online 48 credit hour program will then choose to complete either the Global Health Track which will fulfill the graduate certificate in global health or the Geographic Informations Systems Track which fulfills the graduate certificate in GIS. Upon approval from advisor, they may also complete the Food Security certificate.

MPH Practice Experience

All MPH students are required to complete a Public Health practice experience. This requirement is based upon the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accreditation.

This course provides students with experience in public health practice through directed work in practice settings. The public health practice experience involves different goals and activities aimed at providing opportunities for the student to gain hands-on experience addressing the MPH foundation and concentration competencies. Students are required to commit to a minimum of 600 cumulative hours total over three semesters, earning a minimum of 100 hours each semester of enrollment. Students are required to complete a project that is specific and beneficial to the organization, produce a poster presentation of their practice experience, complete weekly reflection assignments, and other assignments as detailed in the course. Placements and practice activities are selected to complement the students’ academic and professional goals. Students must attend all required practice experience sessions and obtain approval of their placement before enrolling in the course. 

Prerequisite: Students must be in good academic standing with the university and have completed all required courses during the first year cohort program or have completed at least 21 SCH as an online student. 

The practice experience is designed as a supervised experience based upon the application of competencies gained during the MPH program. As such, prior work experience does not qualify as a MPH Practice Experience. For more information, please see the Public Health Practice Experience website.