Apr 20, 2024  
Graduate Record 2017-2018 
    
Catalog Navigation
  Catalog Home
  University of Virginia
  Board of Visitors and University Administration
  Academic Calendar
  University Regulations
  Dining, Housing, & Tuition & Fees
  Financial Aid
  Programs and Degrees Offered
  Course Numbering Information
  Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
  Graduate School of Architecture
  Darden Graduate School of Business Administration
  Graduate School of Commerce
  Curry School of Graduate Education
  School of Graduate Engineering and Applied Science
  School of Law
  School of Medicine
  Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
  School of Graduate Nursing
  School of Continuing and Professional Studies
  Centers and Institutes
  Course Descriptions
  Additional Academic Opportunities
  Student Services
  Archived Records
HELP
Graduate Record 2017-2018 [ARCHIVED RECORD]

Public Health

Return to: School of Medicine: Departments/Programs  

Admission

The Master in Public Health (M.P.H.) applicants must possess a minimum of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and must have taken the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), LSAT or Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Students who hold an M.D., Ph.D., Pharm.D., J.D., or D.V.M. from an accredited American university are exempt from the GRE/MCAT/LSAT requirement. Applications must be submitted through SOPHAS with supporting transcripts, Statement of Intent, and recommendations as described in the on-line application packet. Those whose first language is not English must pass the TOEFL with a score of at least 600 (paper-based test) or 250 (computer-based test).

Master of Public Health

The Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) is an interdisciplinary professional degree offered individually or as a dual program with other professional degrees (MD/MPH, JD/MPH, MBA/MPH, MPP/MPH). It is designed to provide students with an understanding of public health sciences and foundational knowledge, and with opportunities to develop the competencies and skills that are used in public health practice, population health research, and health care policy and management. The program draws upon the strengths of UVa faculty within the Schools of Medicine, Arts & Sciences, Nursing, Law, Education, and Architecture, as well as the larger university community. While the M.P.H. degree is designed to meet national accreditation requirements, it provides flexibility for students to tailor the program to their particular interests. UVa’s MPH program mission is to provide an interdisciplinary academic environment where students develop comprehensive public health knowledge, skills, and professional values; where students identify and pursue individualized educational and professional goals in research and practice; and where faculty and students collaborate with community partners on public health research and serve the community through public health interventions.

Degree Requirements

As defined by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), the Accreditation Criteria for the M.P.H. degree include course work in core areas of public health, additional course work in an area of concentration, and applied practice experience through practice-based courses and field placements.  In a final “integrative” experience that requires an independent project, students are required to synthesize their foundational and concentration-specific knowledge and to demonstrate their competencies.

Foundational Knowledge and Competencies

Core courses focus on the knowledge and competencies at the foundation of public health. Required courses provide knowledge in biostatistics; epidemiology; environmental health sciences; and behavioral, social, political and economic determinants of health. Students also develop competencies required by the CEPH Accreditation Criteria in evidence-based approaches to public health; health care systems; planning and management; policy; leadership; communication; interprofessional practice; and systems thinking.

Applied Practice and Field Placement

Each student must complete a planned, supervised and evaluated applied practice experience. Practical knowledge, skills, and competencies are considered an important component of a public health professional degree program; students must apply the knowledge and skills acquired through their courses of study. Placement opportunities will be available with a wide range of community agencies, including local and state public health agencies in the program’s geographic area, and federal agencies. The possession of a prior professional degree in another field or prior work experience that is not closely related to the academic objectives of the student’s degree program would not be sufficient reason for changing the Applied Practice requirement.

Final Integrative Learning Experience

Students must complete a final integrative learning experience that requires them to synthesize and integrate knowledge and competencies acquired in course work and other learning experiences and to apply theory and principles in a way that approximates some aspect of professional practice. Different models are possible, including a major paper such as a thesis or an applied practice or research project, or the development of case studies.

Required Courses and Tracks

The M.P.H. degree program requires students to complete 42 credits of course work:

  • at least 24 credits of required courses;
  • 12 credits of course work in a track or concentration;
  • and the remaining credits in electives.

Each student accepted into the M.P.H. program will identify a concentration and develop an individualized course of study with their advisor (and approved by an M.P.H. faculty steering committee) that addresses the student’s professional interests, needs, and goals.

Students also must complete up to 6 credits to satisfy the field placement and culminating experience.

Core Courses

Health Policy, Law, & Ethics Track

Research in Practice Track

Course Descriptions