Public Health, M.S.
The distinctive mission of the Master of Science in Public Health is to prepare the next generation of public health researchers in order to reduce the burden of disease, especially in the world’s most vulnerable and risk-associated populations. Graduates of the M.S. program will be prepared to contribute to the improvement of public health.
Only students in our existing Public Health Ph.D. program who determine that the Ph.D. track is not fit for them, or due to extenuating circumstances are not able to continue toward the Ph.D. would be able to earn the M.S. Public Health. Students cannot apply to the M.S. program.
Thesis
M.S. students will engage in thesis research with their faculty advisor. The students’ final thesis will be submitted to a M.S. 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.
Program Requirements
All M.S. students are required to complete 56 quarter-units according to the following modules:
| A. Complete the Preparatory Module: 1 | |
| PUBHLTH 206B | Intermediate Epidemiology |
| PUBHLTH 204A | Biostatistics I: Introduction to Statistical Methods |
| PUBHLTH 204B | Biostatistics II: Intermediate Statistical Methods |
| PUBHLTH 294 | Research Communication in Public Health |
| PUBHLTH 298 | Directed Studies in Public Health |
| PUBHLTH 246 | Social Research Methods |
| B. Students must complete one of the following Concentration modules: | |
| Concentration Module: Disease Prevention | |
| Select four courses from the following: | |
| Advances in Social Epidemiology | |
| Health Behavior Theory | |
| Health Promotion Planning | |
| Theories of Health Communication | |
| Risk Communication | |
| Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention | |
| Special Topics in Public Health 2 | |
| or | |
| Concentration Module: Global Health | |
| Select four courses from the following: | |
| Epidemiology in Global Health | |
| Global Burden of Disease | |
| Advanced Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Epidemiology | |
| Special Topics in Global Health and Disease Prevention 2 | |
| Climate Change and Global Health | |
| Special Topics in Public Health 2 | |
| Global Physical Climatology | |
| or | |
| Concentration Module: Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Health | |
| Select four courses from the following: | |
| Health Psychology | |
| Health Behavior Theory | |
| Fundamentals of Maternal and Child Health - Programs, Problems, and Policy | |
| Special Topics in Public Health 2 | |
| Genetic Epidemiology | |
| Cancer Epidemiology | |
| Psychoneuroimmunology | |
| Biobehavioral Aspects of Health and Illness | |
| C. Complete the Methods Module | |
| Select four courses from the following: | |
| Geographic Information Systems for Public Health 3 | |
| Advanced Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Epidemiology | |
| Qualitative Research Methods in Public Health | |
| Program Evaluation | |
| Methods of Demographic Analysis | |
| Advanced Epidemiologic Methods | |
| Theory-Driven Secondary Data Analysis | |
| Biostatistics III: Advanced Statistical Methods | |
| Models of Practice and Intervention at the Community Level | |
| Foundations of Clinical and Translational Science | |
| Measurement and Psychometrics | |
| Applied Regression Analysis for Education and Social Scientific Research | |
| Design-Based Implementation Research | |
| Research Methods: Hierarchical Linear Modeling | |
| Special Topics in Epidemiology | |
| Special Topics in Public Health | |
- 1
Students who entered the program without a Master's level degree from a Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)-accredited program must complete PUBHLTH 200 as part of their preparatory module.
- 2
Special topics courses must be approved by the program director(s) as satisfying concentration requirements.
- 3
Required for students in the Global Health Concentration.
The M.S. 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.