Community Health and Prevention MPH

Major: Community Health and Prevention
Degrees Awarded: Master of Public Health (MPH)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 56.0
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 51.2212
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 21-1094

About the Program

Students in the Master of Public Health in Community Health and Prevention program learn about the major drivers of community health and gain skills to design, implement and evaluate public health interventions in collaboration with community stakeholders. Through coursework and applied experiences, students develop a strong foundation in public health ethics, health behavior theory, and the individual, social, and structural determinants of health.

The program emphasizes the use of mixed methods—integrating both quantitative and qualitative approaches—to understand, promote and sustain community health. Faculty in the Department of Community Health and Prevention conduct research and teach across a broad range of topics, including health promotion, policy evaluation, and community-based participatory approaches.

Graduates of the program are prepared to lead in health education, community organizing and advocacy. They go on to design, manage, and evaluate health promotion programs and policies that improve health in both domestic and global settings.

Additional Information

For more information about this program, please contact:

Additional information can be found on the Dornsife School of Public Health website, including admissions criteria and how to apply.

Degree Requirements

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Students can take a methods class at the master's or doctoral level from across the university. Additional classes may count with program approval. 800-level courses may require professor's permission.

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Students can take additional 500-level or above electives across the university as long as they meet prerequisite and restriction requirements. Students can contact their faculty mentor to discuss elective options.

Students may be able to use elective credits to further focus their academic work by completing a graduate minor or by coupling a DSPH graduate certificate. Students must have enough applicable elective credits to complete the certificate program without going beyond the required credits for the program. Students can contact their academic advisor for more information.

Sample Plan of Study (MPH)

12-Month (4-Quarter) Full-Time

18-Month (5-Quarter) Full-Time

21-Month (6-Quarter) Full-Time

Program Level Outcomes

Foundational Competencies

• Apply epidemiological methods to settings and situations in public health practice
• Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context
• Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming, and software, as appropriate
• Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy, or practice
• Compare the organization, structure, and function of health care, public health, and regulatory systems across national and international settings
• 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
• Assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities’ health
• Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design, implementation, or critique of public health policies or programs
• Design a population-based policy, program, project, or intervention
• Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management
• Select methods to evaluate public health programs
• Discuss the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence
• Propose strategies to identify relevant communities and individuals and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes
• Advocate for political, social, or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations
• Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity
• Apply leadership and/or management principles to address a relevant issue
• Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges
• Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors
• 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
• Describe the importance of cultural humility in communicating public health content
• Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health
• Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than standard narrative

Major Competencies

• Use appropriate qualitative and quantitative mixed-methods for community-oriented research design
• Conduct community-engaged public health research and practice that recognizes intersectional perspectives from theory in response to multi-dimensional processes
• Create a community health program implementation and evaluation plan that is ethical, socially just, and culturally responsive
• Partner with communities to contextually assess health problems and propose solutions to public health issues and inequities that recognize the role of power
• Advocate for human rights-based values in public health research, practice, and policy