MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics

These sequences are recommended for full-time students. Part-time students are encouraged to meet with a staff advisor to map out an appropriate plan of study.

For students who began matriculating in Spring 2019 or earlier, please review the previous course sequence for the MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics here.

*PUBH 601 should be completed during a student’s first semester. Students who have a CEPH-accredited undergraduate or graduate degree in public health can be waived from this requirement by submitting a Course Waiver Request.

For students who began matriculating in Spring 2019 or earlier, please review the previous competencies for the MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics here.

Core Competencies:

Evidence-based Approaches to Public Health

• 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

Public Health & Health Care Systems

• 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

Planning & Management to Promote Health

• 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 (“Resource management” refers to stewardship (planning, monitoring, etc.) of resources throughout a project, not simply preparing a budget statement that projects what resources will be required.)
• Select methods to evaluate public health programs

Policy in Public Health

• Discuss the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence (This competency refers to technical aspects of how public policies are created and adopted, including legislative and/or regulatory roles and processes, ethics in public policy making and the role of evidence in creating policy.)
• 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 (This competency refers to the ability to influence policy and/or decision making, such as through stakeholder mobilization, educating policy makers, etc. Ability to argue in support of (or in opposition to) a position, as in a standard debate, is not sufficient. Students must produce a product that would be part of an advocacy campaign or effort (e.g., legislative testimony, fact sheets, advocacy strategy outline, etc.).)
• Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity

Leadership

• Apply leadership and/or management principles to address a relevant issue (Such principles may include creating a vision, empowering others, fostering collaboration, and guiding decision making.)
• Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges (“Negotiation and mediation,” in this competency, refers to the set of skills needed when a common solution is required among parties with conflicting interests and/or different desired outcomes. Such skills extend beyond the level of negotiation required in a successful intra-group process; effective communication within a work group or team is more closely related to competency)

Communication

• 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

Interprofessional and/or Intersectoral Practice

• Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health (This competency requires direct engagement (in-person or online) between the student and an individual or individuals in a profession or sector other than public health; students must combine the external sector/profession’s perspective and/or knowledge with their own public health training to complete a task, solve a problem, etc.. Role-playing, in which public health students assume the identity of an individual from another profession or sector to which they do not already belong, is not an acceptable substitute for actual engagement with an individual or individuals from a profession or sector outside of public health.)
• Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than standard narrative (Systems thinking tools depict or map complex relationships, demonstrating, for example, how component parts of a system interact with and influence one another. Examples include causal loop diagrams, systems archetypes, network analyses and concept maps. Logic models and evidence tables are not sufficient to address this competency.)

Systems Thinking

• Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than standard narrative (Systems thinking tools depict or map complex relationships, demonstrating, for example, how component parts of a system interact with and influence one another. Examples include causal loop diagrams, systems archetypes, network analyses and concept maps. Logic models and evidence tables are not sufficient to address this competency.)

Environmental Sciences

• Apply concepts from relevant scientific disciplines, such as toxicology and physiology, to anticipate effects of environmental, occupational and nutritional exposures on both human health and overall planetary health

Concentration Competencies

• Identify epidemiologic study designs, data collection techniques, and key sources of data for analytic approaches suitable for public health inquiries
• Use measures of disease frequency and association to appropriately describe the distribution and determinants of disease, and characterize the statistical assumptions and uncertainty around such estimates
• Use information technology and computer software effectively for collection, management, statistical analysis and presentation of public health data
• Identify key threats to validity (internal and external) within and across epidemiologic studies
• Write and orally present epidemiological and statistical findings clearly and effectively
• Critically read and evaluate the strengths and limitations of epidemiologic studies and statistical analyses in the published literature