Master of Public Health

The Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program was established in 2010, and accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health in 2012, as the first professional degree of the UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health. The MPH program is an essential component of the graduate degree offerings here at Wen Public Health. The aim of the degree is to create public health practitioners who are trained to work independently and collaboratively to develop and implement effective strategies to reduce the burden of disease and disability in culturally diverse communities in Southern California and beyond.

Biostatistics

Designed for public health professionals seeking to develop advanced quantitative skills within the context of public health. It aims to equip students with expertise in managing, analyzing, and interpreting data relevant to diverse public health sectors.

Community Health and Health Equity

Prepares students to identify, assess, and address health inequities experienced by diverse communities in the U.S. and beyond. Specialists in this area recognize the social, historical, and structural drivers of health and apply their expertise to creating evidence based, culturally relevant interventions that promote health in communities.

Environmental and Occupational Health

Trains students to examine how the health of a population is affected by the exposure to chemical, physical, and biological factors present in the environment. Public health practitioners in this area evaluate workplaces, homes, and other environments for potential hazardous materials and human health risk factors.

Epidemiology

Study disease occurrence and health states in human populations as the basic science of public health, evidence-based medicine, and comparative effectiveness research. Learn to study the frequency, distribution, and causes of disease, disability and health states in human populations and use this information to develop prevention and control strategies for the improvement of population health.

Global Health

Prepares students to develop, participate, and lead projects and programs designed to reduce the burden of diseases caused by risk factors which transcend international boundaries through trained assessments of vulnerable populations and identification of appropriate and equitable intervention strategies.

Health Systems and Policy

Provides training in health politics and the policy process, health policy analysis, health economics, health insurance markets, policy and program evaluation, advocacy, and communication. Students in this concentration will learn how to leverage the health policy process to identify problems in our health care system, conduct analyses to inform debates or assess potential solutions, and advocate for evidence-based policymaking to change our health care and public health systems.

Foundational Competencies

The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) defines 22 competencies all MPH graduates must meet upon successful completion of the degree program. These competencies are informed by the traditional public health core knowledge areas as well as cross-cutting and emerging public health areas. As a CEPH accredited program, our curriculum is designed to provide opportunities for students to learn and demonstrate the following competencies:

Evidence-based Approaches to Public Health

1. Apply epidemiological methods to settings and situations in public health practice

2. Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context

3. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming, and software, as appropriate

4. Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy, or practice

Public Health & Health Care Systems

5. Compare the organization, structure, and function of health care, public health, and regulatory systems across national and international settings

6. Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities, and racism undermine health

and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community, and systemic levels

Planning & Management to Promote Health

7. Assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities’ health

8. Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design, implementation, or critique of public health policies or programs

9. Design a population-based policy, program, project, or intervention

10. Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management

11. Select methods to evaluate public health programs

Policy in Public Health

12. Discuss the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence

13. Propose strategies to identify relevant communities and individuals and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes

14. Advocate for political, social, or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations

15. Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity

Leadership

16. Apply leadership and/or management principles to address a relevant issue

17. Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges

Communication

18. Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors

19. Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation to a non-academic, non-peer audience with attention to factors such as literacy and health literacy

20. Describe the importance of cultural humility21 in communicating public health content

Interprofessional and/or Intersectoral Practice

21. Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health

Systems Thinking

22. Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than standard narrative

Time to Degree

Most MPH students complete all degree requirements in six (6) academic quarters. Part-time enrollment is also allowed upon approval from the department and UCI Graduate Division. For students enrolled part-time, the normative time for completion is nine quarters, and the maximum is fifteen quarters. To maintain residency, part-time students must enroll in four to eight units per quarter.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of the MPH program will find employment in both public and private agencies committed to preventing disease and promoting health and wellness in all aspects of society. Earning an MPH degree gives new professionals a competitive edge and will allow graduates to pursue supervisory positions and career advancement opportunities that may be unattainable without an advanced degree.

Many career opportunities will open up to our MPH graduates, including positions in behavioral sciences, health education, biomedical/laboratory practice, biostatistics, community health, environmental health science/advocacy, epidemiology, health services administration, public health practice and program management, and maternal and child health.

Coursework and practicum experiences in the MPH program can also prepare a student to pursue doctoral programs in public health. The Ph.D. is a research-based degree that prepares the candidate for research and teaching positions in institutions of higher education. Wen Public Health offers a PhD in Public Health with concentrations in Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Health, Disease Prevention, and Global Health. Students may also wish to combine an MPH with a medical or an MPH with a law degree to increase opportunities for employment.

Concentration Areas