Health Management and Policy MPH

Degree Awarded: Master of Public Health (MPH)
Minimum Required Credits: 42.0
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 51.0701
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 11-9111

About the Program

Students in the Master of Public Health in Health Management and Policy program learn the skills necessary to take on management and policy-making roles to improve healthcare delivery and population health at the local, state, and national levels. The program trains the next generation of public health practitioners and leaders to become agents for positive change in a dynamic and complex world who will lead in the following domains:

Urban Health: Manage a diverse set of healthcare and public health programs aimed at advancing the health status of people living in America’s cities.

Human Rights: Assure that organizational priorities and strategies focus on improving and maintaining health as a basic human right.

Policy and Management Integration: Direct organizations and programs with a clear vision of how the interests of institutions and society must be considered as mutually dependent.

The curriculum provides engaging and challenging learning experiences that prepare students to lead purposeful lives in the service of healthcare and public health. Students learn to plan, implement, operate, and evaluate programs and organizations that are responsive to rapidly changing needs and entrenched in longstanding societal problems. Recognizing that health should be a component of all public policy, faculty help students to develop professional skills in management, organization, finance, advocacy, political action, research, public policy analysis, and evaluation.

In teaching, research, and service, students, faculty, and staff engage with many community partners in common cause to contribute responsible, sustainable solutions that improve the quality of life in the region and beyond.

Graduates of the HMP MPH program pursue diverse careers in healthcare organizations, government agencies, consulting firms, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions. Common roles include healthcare administrators, policy analysts, program directors, health equity officers, and public health consultants working to address complex health challenges at local, state, and national levels.

Additional Information

For more information about this program, please contact the Dornsife School of Public Health 

Admission Requirements

Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health admissions requirements can be found at: https://drexel.edu/dornsife/admissions/overview/

Degree Requirements

¹

Foundational Public Health Knowledge: Public Health Foundations is only required for students who do not have a degree from a CEPH accredited school. Students who have a degree from a CEPH accredited school will take an elective in place of Public Health Foundations.  

²

Students can take additional 5000-9999 level electives across the university with Program Director approval.

Students may be able to use elective credits to further focus their academic work 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.

Program Learning Outcomes

• 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 stakeholders 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 (i.e., non-academic, non-peer audience) public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation 
• Describe the importance of cultural competence 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  
• Assess emerging issues in the organization, financing, and delivery of public health and health care services in the U.S. and their significance for population health. 
• Develop an evidence-informed program or policy proposal that addresses an important urban public health problem.  
• Develop evidence-based recommendations to address complex management and organizational issues in health care and public health. 
• Assess and apply ethical and legal principles related to public health and health care services to improve health in and of communities. 
• Assess how public policy and programs can counteract the roles of history, power, privilege, and structural racism in producing health inequities.