Master of Public Health

MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM

The Master of Public Health Program (MPH) is a 45 credit hour, specialized professional master degree program designed to prepare graduates for work in public health. Core courses, consistent with accreditation standards, focus on the areas of knowledge basic to public health. This value-based academic program will emphasize the areas of prevention, scientific knowledge base, inter-dependency with other areas of knowledge and practice, and social justice.

The MPH program has concentrations in the following:

Biostatistics (On-Campus or Online Program)
Community Oriented Primary Care
Environmental and Occupational Health (On-Campus or Online Program)
Epidemiology
Health Policy
Health Promotion
Maternal and Child Health
Public Health Administration
Public Health Practice  (Online Program)
Social Marketing and Health Communication

MPH Core Curriculum

A total of 45 credit hours are required for completion of the Master of Public Health Program.

MPH Core Courses

Biostatistics

The Biostatistics concentration provides the basic biostatistical and quantitative skills and knowledge to prepare students for careers in public health practice and public health research. This area of study is designed to meet the needs of those individuals who work in public health and who desire to broaden their training by learning the statistical/quantitative evaluation of public health research and programs. The concentration provides the tools needed to conceptualize and define a public health problem in multidimensional terms, to develop an appropriate study design, to plan and implement proper statistical analyses, and to interpret and report the results of a study. The course work and applications focus on methodology typically used to analyze different types of public health data and provide the opportunity to apply these methods to real-world problems.

12 credit hours from these courses:

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Community Oriented Primary Care

The MPH concentration in community-oriented primary care (COPC) is designed to provide students with knowledge, tools, and skills in community orientation of health services, necessary for the application of the COPC approach. The COPC approach integrates clinical individual care and public health, allowing both actions to be implemented and carried out by a single team. The conceptual framework of COPC and the curriculum of this concentration are oriented to the implementation of community health care programs as a component of public health.

12 credit hours from these courses:

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Environmental and Occupational Health

The Environmental and Occupational Health concentration provides (1) basic knowledge in ecological, environmental, agricultural and occupational health, as well as toxicology; (2) a broad understanding of relevant problems in the various areas of ecological health, environmental health, occupational health, and safety or toxicology, with particular emphasis on agriculture; and (3) the ability to apply this information to important problems in these areas.  This area of study is designed to meet the needs of individuals who work in public health and who desire to broaden their training in environmental health, occupational health, toxicology, and related fields.

12 credit hours from these courses:

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Epidemiology

The Epidemiology concentration provides the basic epidemiological skills and knowledge to prepare students for careers in public health. This area of study is designed to meet the needs of those individuals who currently work in public health as well as those who wish to embark on a career in public health. The concentration provides the tools needed to conceptualize a public health problem, to design an epidemiological study, to collect and analyze data, and to interpret and report the results of a study. The course work and applications focus on the determinants, distribution, dynamics, and etiology of disease in populations and include proposal and report writing, the promotion of good health practices, the prevention of disease, and the evaluation of public health policy and programs.

13 credit hours from these courses:

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Health Policy

The Health Policy concentration is designed to train policy analysts in health care and public health that can evaluate and analyze the effectiveness of health policy. Students in this concentration will acquire a unique set of skills, knowledge and abilities that will enable them to prioritize health concerns, develop evidence based policies, and address major public health issues.

12 credit hours from these courses:

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Health Promotion

The Health Promotion concentration prepares students for implementing effective interventions directly with clients, determining a community's health needs, promoting healthy lifestyles, and carrying out health surveys.

12 credit hours from these courses:

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Maternal and Child Health

The MPH concentration in maternal and child health (MCH) takes a life course approach to the study of MCH through the lifespan, from preconception through pregnancy, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and senescence. Such an approach addresses not only the health status at each stage of the lifespan, but the influence that health in one stage has in subsequent stages. A life course approach also considers the determinants of health — biological, behavioral, socio-cultural, and environmental — as well as the influence of policies and politics on the health status of mothers, children, adolescents, and families. The MCH concentration focuses on equity, social justice, and human rights.
Students are prepared as MCH professionals in practice (program planning and management, advocacy, policy making) and research that has an impact locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.

12 credit hours from these courses:

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Public Health Administration

The Public Health Administration concentration prepares students for an administrative, managerial, or supervisory role, with an emphasis on community organizing, policy development, planning, and program evaluation.

12 credit hours from these courses:

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Public Health Practice  (online program)

The Public Health Practice concentration prepares students for the planning, evaluation and management of programs and organizations in public health practice.

12 credit hours from these courses:

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Social Marketing and Health Communication

The Social Marketing and Health Communication concentration prepares students to design and apply social marketing and health communication processes to public health programs and health behavior interventions.

12 credit hours from these courses:

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The UNMC College of Public Health is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).  

For more information on the accreditation process and documents, please click here to go to the Accreditation page.