Curriculum
The curriculum is organized in four modules: The preparatory, elective and concentration modules stimulate students to generate research hypotheses in the context of risk factors, vulnerable populations, and disease outcomes. Additionally, students will engage in thesis research with their faculty advisor and submit their final masters-level thesis to a MS thesis committee.
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.
The degree program requires a total of 64 units: 10 core courses, 4 required courses specific to each concentration (Global Health or Disease Prevention), and additional units for approved electives. Our core courses include courses in research design; research proposal development; ethics and responsible conduct of research; epidemiologic methods; quantitative methods; qualitative methods; research communication; and directed research.
Please note that the courses listed in the UCI Course Catalogue may vary. For the most accurate and up-to-date list of classes, please consult with your academic counselor.
Preparatory Module
All MS students are required to complete the following courses.
Pubhlth 200
Foundations in Public Health
4 UNITS
Presents the overarching framework, principles, and core responsibilities of public health research and practice from a multidisciplinary perspective. Provides necessary foundation for further studies toward advanced cross-cutting approaches essential for public health practice.
Pubhlth 204
Biostatistics I: Introduction to Statistical Methods
4 UNITS
Designed to help students develop an appreciation for statistician’s view of the research process, emphasizing biomedical research. Instills an understanding of how statistical models are used to yield insights about data that form evidence-based understanding of the world around us.
Pubhlth 204B
Biostatistics II: Intermediate Statistical Methods
4 UNITS
Intended for graduate students in epidemiology, public health, and clinical research fields. Covers common regression-modeling techniques frequently used in biologic and medical applications.
Pubhlth 206A
Principles of Epidemiology
4 UNITS
Fundamental principles of epidemiology, biostatistics, and epidemiological research. Topics include research methods of measuring health problems in populations, disease control and prevention in populations, how epidemiology contributes to knowledge of disease etiology, and biostatistical analysis and interpretation of epidemiologic data.
Pubhlth 206B
Intermediate Epidemiology
4 UNITS
Learn to design and conduct epidemiologic studies using common designs. Determine why bias and measurement error arise in observational studies, and how they influence effect estimates. Perform and interpret epidemiologic data analyses using statistical software.
PubHlth 283
Geographic Information Systems for Public Health
4 UNITS
Provides a broad introduction to the use of Geographic Information Systems software to carry out projects for visualizing and analyzing spatial data to address significant issues of health care and policy-planning.
Pubhlth 287
Qualitative Research Methods in Public Health
4 UNITS
General introduction to qualitative research methods for investigating public health questions at various scales from community level to global populations. Emphasizes systematic approaches to the collection, analysis, interpretation of qualitative data.
Pubhlth 292
Ethics & Responsible Conduct of Research
4 UNITS
Issues of scientific integrity and satisfies the requirements for training in public health ethics. Includes guidelines for responsible conduct of research, federal and international codes, administrative review and approval, conflict of interest, and privacy and safety of research participants.
Pubhlth 294
Research Communication in Public Health
4 UNITS
Strategies for effective writing and oral presentation of research characteristics and results to various audiences. Includes exercises in writing for the public, for scholarly journals, and at conferences.
Pubhlth 297
Research Design and Proposal Writing
4 UNITS
Evaluate strengths of research findings based on methods used by researchers to develop research proposals. Components such as collaborative agreements, guidelines for proposal writing, budgeting, peer-review process, and transitioning from proposal to research project implementation are addressed.
Pubhlth 298
Directed Studies in Public Health
4 UNITS
Directed study with Public Health faculty. Please note, unit amounts for this course will vary
Concentration Module Requirements – Global Health
MS students with a concentration in Global Health must take the following four courses to fulfill their concentration module courses.
Pubhlth 213
Epidemiology in Global Health
4 UNITS
Examines major topics in epidemiology and global health. Research topics within these two disciplines are focused on resource-poor communities, with an application to the global world.
Pubhlth 280
Global Burden of Disease
4 UNITS
Introduces composite measures of disease burden, including Disability Adjusted Life Years and their use in prioritizing disease burden at local, regional, and global levels. Focuses on WHO’s landmark assessments and introduces DISMOD software for specific analyses.
Pubhlth 286
Advanced Geographic Information Systems
4 UNITS
Students expand their current knowledge of the ArcGIS software to develop advanced geographic-related research questions, learn how to apply spatial epidemiologic methods to public health data, and integrate their skills in a GIS project of their design.
Pubhlth 289
Special Topics in Global Health
4 UNITS
Current research in global health and disease prevention. Topics vary from quarter to quarter.
Concentration Module Requirements – Disease Prevention
Doctoral students with a concentration in Disease Prevention must take the following four courses to fulfill their concentration module courses.
Pubhlth 208
Advances in Social Epidemiology
4 UNITS
Advances understanding of social distribution and social determinants of disease through multiple risk factor models and mechanisms that emphasize developmental and socio-environmental risk factors on mental and physical health across the life span.
Pubhlth 244
Health Behavior Theory
4 UNITS
Introduces the field of Health Behavior and segues into major theoretical perspectives. Focus on health behavior change from the vantage point of individual health behavior and theoretical abstraction. Explores how to relate theory to behavior-change intervention programs.
Pubhlth 245
Health Promotion Planning
4 UNITS
Introduces strategic planning integral to intervention planning in public health practice and research, emphasizing the fundamental domains of social and behavioral health science and practices. Students develop an intervention plan for a specific health problem, health behavior, and target population.
Pubhlth 246
Social Research Methods
4 UNITS
An interactive graduate seminar covering topics related to the research process and study design. Begins with conceptualizing research questions, hypotheses, and then turns to topics in measurement and concludes with experimental, quasi-experimental, and observational study designs.
Elective Module Requirements
All Doctoral students are required to take three courses (12 units) within the Risk Factors and Vulnerable Populations Cluster courses.
Thesis Requirement
MS students will engage in thesis research with their faculty advisor. The students’ final thesis will be submitted to a MS thesis committee. Students must submit thesis committee members and thesis topic to their faculty mentor for approval, before advancement to candidacy will be approved. The thesis should reflect an original research investigation and must be approved by a thesis committee of at least three full-time faculty members, all of which must be public health faculty. The final examination is an oral presentation of the thesis to the committee.
If you are a current student and you want to check your degree progress, please visit our Office of Students Affairs to reach out to your program advisor.
