Overview
The MPH degree program provides a broad didactic experience in public health and preventive medicine. It is a rigorous curriculum with a quantitative focus, is sequenced to be completed within 12 months, and is primarily designed for individuals planning to practice preventive medicine, occupational medicine or public health within, or in conjunction with the uniformed services. An MPH degree or its academic equivalent is a specific requirement for physicians seeking board certification in Aerospace Medicine, General Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and several other public health specialties. Matriculants may include physicians and other academically qualified health professionals, such as veterinarians, dentists, sanitary engineers, microbiologists, entomologists, environmental scientists, nurses, and pharmacists, who wish to apply the core disciplines of public health to their career field. Uniformed personnel with education or experience in a health-related discipline are given priority as candidates for admission.
Graduates are expected to use their acquired quantitative and analytical skills in biostatistics and epidemiology to identify and measure community health needs and to investigate the impact of biological, environmental, and/or behavioral factors to solve public health problems. Each graduate will understand the components, operations, and financing of healthcare delivery services, particularly those in the public sector, and have the administrative skills to plan, analyze, manage, and improve public health programs for the uniformed services. In addition, many graduates will complete an “area of concentration” with required and elective course work in a specific area of public health and demonstrate the ability to apply appropriate specialized knowledge and skills to their chosen field.
The MPH degree program consists of a minimum of 60 quarter credit hours, to include 38 quarter credit hours from core required courses within the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics. Core requirements include coursework in epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, health services administration, and social and behavioral sciences. The minimum credit load per quarter required for a full-time student is 12, the maximum allowed is 22, and the typical load is 16-18. The satisfactory completion of an independent project and a practicum experience is required, and the courses related to these requirements are part of the core curriculum. The independent project is the capstone of the program and should represent the synthesis, integration, and application of core public health concepts and principles to solve or advance our understanding of a public health problem.
Outcomes
Biostatistics: Upon completion of the core courses in this discipline, students will be able to collect, analyze, and interpret data of public health importance using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, including both bivariate and multivariate methods. In addition, students will become familiar with the use of a statistical program, such as Stata or SPSS.
Environmental and Occupational Health: Upon completion of the core courses in this discipline, students will be able to identify, measure, and analyze environmental and occupational factors affecting health. Students will have the ability to (1) describe the factors that may impact health in the community, home, and workplace, (2) effectively communicate risk, and (3) explain the standards and controls necessary to mitigate these factors.
Epidemiology: Upon completion of the core courses in this discipline, students will be able to (1) discuss the basic concepts pertaining to the natural history of disease in populations, (2) identify and list the strengths and weaknesses of various sources of data, (3) define measures of disease in populations, and (4) critically assess the validity and relevance of descriptive and analytical studies. Students will develop an understanding of the basic concepts of epidemiology and be able to apply them to the analysis and interpretation of epidemiologic data.
Health Services Administration: Upon completion of the core courses in HSA, students will acquire the necessary skills to critically analyze the organization, structure, function, and effectiveness of health care systems and be able to (1) describe and compare the variety of health services in developed countries, (2) discuss, in depth, the current policy issues that impact the United States healthcare system, and (3) explain the behavioral and economic foundations for health promotion and disease prevention strategies in the United States. Students completing the HSA concentration will be equipped to become leaders and managers able to create, develop, and continuously improve high quality health systems.
Social and Behavioral Sciences: Upon completion of the core courses in this discipline, students will be able to (1) list and explain the behaviors and social factors associated with morbidity and mortality, and (2) describe behavior-related theories and prevention strategies for modification and reduction of injuries and illnesses. Students will develop the ability to identify and utilize the relationship of human behavior and social factors in public health practice.
Concentrations
Epidemiology and Biostatistics: Students completing this concentration will be able to function as epidemiologists in the Uniformed Services. They will acquire and understanding of advanced concepts in acute and chronic disease epidemiology, and have the ability to select and apply appropriate epidemiological and biostatistical methods in planning and carrying out epidemiological investigations.
Health Services Administration: Students completing this concentration will be able to apply the necessary skills to design and develop, implement and evaluate, and continuously improve programs and systems related to promotion and health education and health care delivery in the Uniformed Services. Students will also understand and be able to apply concepts of financial management, decision making, and quality assessment to health systems and be able to develop broad policy statements concerning health care programs in the public sector as a Health Services Officer in the Uniformed Services.
General Preventive Public Health: Students completing this concentration will be able to function as preventive medicine specialists in the Uniformed Services. They will acquire an understanding of advanced concepts in acute and chronic disease epidemiology, have the ability to select and apply appropriate epidemiological and biostatistical methods in planning and carrying out epidemiological investigations, be able to plan programs to improve health and reduce disease and injury, demonstrate principles of healthcare management.
Global Health: This concentration will prepare globally minded military professionals who will be able to plan and execute health engagement in support of security cooperation, stability operations, complex humanitarian emergencies and medical crises around the world, in wartime and peacetime. This area of concentration incorporates the global health competencies of capacity strengthening, collaborating and partnering, ethical reasoning and professional practice, health equity and social justice, program management, socio-cultural and political awareness, and strategic analysis as described by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. This concentration also provides a strategic and operational perspective of global and international health issues as applicable to the US national security. Health systems are examined from the international perspective looking at resources, access, policies, current challenges, potential solutions and opportunities for reform. The student will have a whole knowledge of US government global health policy and engagement through both the lenses of civil society and joint operator.
Occupational and Environmental Health Science: This concentration provides students with fundamental concepts and principles of environmental and occupational health, to include advanced methodologies and approaches in this area. Students completing this concentration will be able to independently function in and manage related programmatic areas.
Tropical Health: This concentration will enable students to function effectively worldwide as Preventive Medicine, Public Health, and Medical Officers in the Uniformed Services. Graduates will be able to apply the basic concepts and principles of tropical medicine, malaria control, and vector biology to the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control of tropical diseases.
Core Requirements
Core Requirements
| PMO 530 | Social And Behavioral Sciences Applied To Public Health | 3 |
| PMO 540 | Introduction To Environmental And Occupational Health | 3 |
| PMO 599 | Introduction To Health Risk Communication | 1.5 |
| PMO 503 | Biostatistics I | 3 |
| PMO 511 | Introduction To Epidemiology | 3 |
| PMO 526 | Health Systems | 3 |
| PMO 504 | Biostatistics II | 3 |
| PMO 527 | Principles Of Health Care Management | 1.5 |
| PMO 680 | Introduction To Public Health | 0.75 |
| PMO 671 | Introduction to MPH Project and Practicum | 0.75 |
| PMO 672 | MPH Project/Practicum Design and Development | 0.75 |
| PMO 673 | Mph Project/Practicum Implementation And Evaluation | 0.75 |
| PMO 670 | Public Health Practicum | 2.25 |
| PMO 674 | Mph Independent Project | 2.25 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 28.50 |
Epidemiology and Biostatistics Concentration Requirements
Concentration Requirements
| PMO 1030 | An Introduction To Data Management | 0.75 |
| PMO 512 | Epidemiologic Methods | 3 |
| PMO 513 | Advanced Epidemiologic Methods | 3 |
General Preventive Concentration Requirements
Concentration Requirements
| PMO 512 | Epidemiologic Methods | 3 |
| PMO 513 | Advanced Epidemiologic Methods | 3 |
| PMO 514 | Epidemiology And Control Of Infectious Diseases | 2.25 |
| PMO 515 | Chronic Disease Epidemiology And Control | 1.5 |
| PMO 531 | Program Planning And Development | 2.25 |
| PMO 1030 | An Introduction To Data Management | 0.75 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 12.75 |
Global Health Concentration Requirements
Concentration Requirements
| PMO 528 | Global Health I | 3 |
| PMO 531 | Program Planning And Development | 2.25 |
| PMO 539 | Global Health II | 3 |
| PMO 548 | Joint Health Operations | 3.75 |
| PMO 613 | Public Health Issues Of Disasters In Developing Countries | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 15.00 |
Health Services Administration Concentration Requirements
Concentration Requirements
| PMO 523 | Fundamentals Of U.S. Health Policy | 2.25 |
| PMO 533 | Decision Making In Health Services | 1.5 |
Occupational and Environmental Health Science Concentration Requirements
Concentration Requirements
| PMO 541 | Advanced Environmental Health | 2.25 |
| PMO 549 | Principles Of Toxicology | 2.25 |
| PMO 550 | Industrial Hygiene I And Laboratory | 3 |
| PMO 601 | Environmental Health Risk Assessment | 1.5 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 9.00 |
Tropical Public Health Concentration Requirements
Concentration Requirements
| PMO 512 | Epidemiologic Methods | 3 |
| PMO 560 | Principles And Practice Of Tropical Medicine | 4.5 |
| PMO 565 | Vector Biology | 1.5 |
| PMO 569 | Malaria Epidemiology And Control | 2.25 |
| PMO 1030 | An Introduction To Data Management | 0.75 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 12.00 |