Master of Public Health (MPH)
The mission of the Master of Public Health program is to prepare dynamic public health leaders to work collaboratively with diverse communities to prioritize and investigate health concerns to achieve lasting social change, and foster health equity to promote the health and well-being of all people.
The Master of Public Health program has two concentrations, community health practice and social epidemiology. The program provides a collaborative, applied approach to education, focusing on health promotion and disease prevention with individuals, families, communities, and organizations. The objective of the program is to provide students with the professional knowledge and practical skills they will need to identify and address community health needs as a working public health practitioner.
MPH in Community Health Practice
The community health practice concentration prepares students to be leaders, innovators, and advocates in addressing community health problems and reducing health disparities. This concentration applies an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving and focuses on skill development around community health assessment, program design, and program evaluation. Students learn to appraise community health needs and design, implement, and evaluate interventions to address those needs. The objective is to provide students with the professional knowledge and practical skills to become effective public health leaders.
MPH in Social Epidemiology
The social epidemiology concentration prepares students to be public health leaders that use the methodological approaches of biostatistics and epidemiology to investigate and reduce health inequalities. This concentration focuses on social determinants of health as causes of health disparities and examines the role of concepts such as power and social context. Students learn to use data to inform research, policy, and intervention efforts that lead to effective action aimed at eliminating health inequalities.
Real-World Experience
During the final year of instruction, students gain practical experience working in the public health field while completing the required practicum. The practicum includes nine months of professional practice and provides students with a structured and integrated application of their coursework. There are a variety of practicum site opportunities available to students that represent a range of settings (e.g. governmental agencies, community-based organizations, health care delivery systems) and public health topics (e.g. sexual/reproductive health, childhood nutrition, refugee and immigrant health). Students choose from an approved list of opportunities and are matched to a practicum site based on their interests and career goals.
During the practicum, students work on a project that address a need or fills a gap at their practicum site. Students receive mentoring and guidance on their project from their site supervisor (public health professional at the practicum site) and faculty advisor. The project serves as the foundation for the capstone thesis, which is developed over a three-course sequence that runs concurrently with the practicum.
Faculty
Douglas Bruce, PhD, MSW
Associate Professor
University of Illinois at Chicago
Suzanne Carlberg-Racich, PhD, MSPH
Assistant Professor
University of Illinois at Chicago
Fernando De Maio, PhD
Associate Professor
Director of the Center for Community Health Equity
University of Essex
John Mazzeo, PhD
Director of the Master of Public Health Program
Associate Professor
University of Arizona
Victoria Rivkina, MPH, CHES
Program Manager and Instructor
DePaul University
Daniel Schober, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor
University of Kansas