Public Health Practice, MPH

Public Health Practice, MPH (48 SCH)

The Master of Public Health in Public Health Practice is a skill-based program designed to prepare students to work in a variety of governmental and non-governmental settings including local, county and state health departments, community health centers, human services agencies, and other non-profit organizations. Students learn to work effectively as part of inter-professional teams to develop, manage and evaluate public health programs. Graduates are prepared to effectively engage communities as partners to strengthen their capacity to change social and environmental conditions that undermine public health and maintain health disparities.

Full-time enrollment is required for all cohort programs, i.e., MPH, MS, and MHA. Students in the MPH and MS programs are expected to graduate in five consecutive semesters. Students in the MHA program are expected to graduate in either five or six consecutive semesters, depending upon when they decide, with advising, to complete their internship. Students follow a weekly calendar of curricular and co-curricular activity that occupies 8-hour blocks of time, Monday through Friday. Students are strictly prohibited from holding employment off-campus during semesters in which they are enrolled in courses.

The MPH Public Health Practice 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 Public Health Practice MPH 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.

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.