The M.D./M.P.H. is a five-year program designed for medical students who wish to acquire competencies in public health and understand the broader determinants of health, including the environment, health promotion, preventive medicine, and health policy. Students in this program pursue a combined curriculum for an M.D. from the UC Irvine School of Medicine and an M.P.H. from the Program in Public Health.

In order to apply, students must be currently enrolled in the M.D. program. The MCAT, along with the completion of three years of medical school training in good standing, serves as a waiver for the GRE entrance examination usually required for application to the M.P.H. program. During their second or third year of medical school, interested students submit both the Application for Graduate Admission and the School of Public Health Application Service (SOPHAS) application in order to be considered for admission. Final acceptance to the program is granted by the Program in Public Health.

The total number of units required to graduate from each program separately are satisfied in the M.D./M.P.H. program. Enrollment in the M.D. program does not guarantee acceptance into the M.P.H. program.

M.P.H. coursework begins after the student's third year of medical school, and ends during their fourth year of medical school. Students begin the accelerated M.P.H. degree track, which includes three full-time quarters (18 units during the fall and winter quarters, and 16 units during the spring quarter), and one full-time or part-time quarter the following year's winter quarter where Graduate Practicum is taken.

Once all core competencies are complete, students take the M.P.H. comprehensive exam to advance to candidacy. Students incorporate their M.D. projects into their practicum requirement, which they present and write a report on during the spring quarter. Courses taken as part of a student's medical school training cannot apply towards a student's M.P.H. degree.

The only emphases allowed in an accelerated M.P.H. degree program are Environmental Health, Epidemiology, or Sociocultural Diversity and Health. These are the only three emphases eligible for dual degree, joint, or concurrent programs.

Medical school students in the Prime LC program are allowed, by the School of Medicine, to complete the remaining units of their M.P.H. degree during the winter quarter of their last year in the School of Medicine.

For more information, please contact the M.P.H. Academic Advisor at phgo@uci.edu.