Maternal and Child Health, MPH

Maternal and Child Health (48 SCH)

The MPH concentration in Maternal and Child Health is designed to prepare professionals from a variety of backgrounds (medicine, biology, nursing, nutrition, women’s studies, anthropology, social work, sociology, psychology) for leadership roles in organizations that focus on promoting the health of women, children, and families. This interdisciplinary concentration provides knowledge of the major determinants of maternal health and child health, and strategies for improving the health of mothers and children, including program planning and evaluation, research methods, and policy analysis at the local, state, national and international levels.

Students in the MPH degree program in Maternal and Child Health are admitted once a year as a cohort. Full-time enrollment is required and students are expected to graduate in five semesters. Students follow a weekly calendar of curricular and co-curricular activity that occupies 8-hour blocks of time, Monday through Friday (9 am - 6 pm). Students are prohibited from holding employment while in the program. 

The Maternal Child Health MPH 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

• MACH 5330 Introduction to Maternal and Child Health
• BIOS 5300 Principles of Biostatistics
• EPID 5300 Principles of Epidemiology
• BACH 5300 Theoretical Foundations of Individual and Community Health
• MACH 5335 Human Sexuality and Reproductive Health
• MACH 5334 Maternal and Child Health Across the Life Course
• EPID 5313 Introduction to Data Management and Statistical Computing
• HMAP 5300 Introduction to Health Management and Policy
• EOHS 5300 Environmental Determinants of Health I
• PHED 5297 Practice Experience
• MACH 5333 Maternal and Child Nutrition
• BACH 5321 Injury and Violence Prevention
• BACH 5340 Community Assessment and Program Planning
• PHED 5000 CPH Comprehensive Examination
• EPID 5391 Special Topics in Epidemiology
• BACH 6310 Qualitative Methods

• -or- BACH 5350 Community Health Program Evaluation

• BACH 5328 Introduction to Global Health

• -or- BACH 5345 Community Based Participatory Approaches to Health 

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.