About
The distinctive mission of the Master of Science in Public Health is to prepare the next generation of researchers for global health and disease prevention around the world in order to advance global health research and reduce the burden of disease, especially in the worlds’ most vulnerable and risk associated populations. Graduates of the MS program will be prepared to contribute to the improvement of global health and the solution of disease prevention.
Please note: Only students in our existing Public Health PhD program who determine that the PhD track is not fit for them, or due to extenuating circumstances and are not able to continue toward the PhD, would be able to earn the MS in Public Health degree.
Students who wish to pursue fields outside of education can transfer from the PhD in Public Health to the MS in Public Health upon mastery of the required courses in the preparatory and concentration modules.
Learning Outcomes for the Concentration in Disease Prevention:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the major theoretical underpinnings of strategies for disease prevention.
- Explain the relationship between theory and research methods focused on understanding the association of risk, behavior, and vulnerability with respect to disease pathways.
- Analyze interrelationships among the determinants of illness and maladaptive health behaviors using theories of health behavior.
- Formulate research hypotheses in the intersection of health risk factors, health behavior, and health promotion and policies toward disease prevention.
- Compose research proposals and conduct original research resulting in discoveries that contribute to improved understanding of the role of behavior and health promotion strategies in mitigating the vulnerability to health risk factors in specific populations, with the goals of applying the knowledge to disease prevention.
Learning Outcomes for the Concentration in Global Health:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the major theoretical underpinnings of advances in global health research.
- Explain the relationship between theory and research methods focused on understanding the association of risk, vulnerability, and outcome in global health.
- Compare and contrast the health status of different populations with respect to their burden of disease.
- Formulate research hypotheses in the intersection of risk factors, vulnerable populations, and burden of disease.
- Compose research proposals and conduct original research resulting in discoveries that contribute to improved understanding of risk factors and variations in disease burden in a population, and strategies to alleviate the burden at the global level.
Time to Degree
Students cannot apply to the MS program and therefore there is no expected time to degree. Only students in our existing Public Health PhD program who determine that the PhD track is not fit for them, or due to extenuating circumstances are not able to continue toward the PhD would be able to earn the MS in Public Health degree.
Career Opportunities
The MS in Public Health prepares graduates to pursue careers in policy analysis, monitoring and evaluation of public health programs, and academic and programmatic research. They will engage and develop global health research at national and international government agencies, NGOs, the private sector and academic institutions.
