MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics

About the Program

IN-PERSON, ONLINE  FULL-TIME, PART-TIME  
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

The MPH in Epidemiology & Biostatistics trains students to design impactful population health studies and to translate research into tangible urban health improvements. Students explore the nuances of epidemiologic methods, collaborate on applied research and master the art of interpreting and communicating findings to facilitate the development of evidence-based interventions. Students can choose either the epidemiology or biostatistic concentration in this degree program.

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

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Is this degree right for you?

This program is designed for students who want to design impactful population studies that inform evidence-based epidemiological interventions to improve the health of urban populations.

What will you learn?

Epidemiology students learn to understand the principles, methods, strengths and limitations of epidemiological study designs. Biostatistics students gain an awareness and basic understanding of advanced statistical methods and learn to apply core and intermediate level statistical methods to public health data management, statistical analysis and interpretation.

Where to after graduation?

Graduates of both specializations are employed in government and private health agencies, industry and research institutions as research administrators, analytics managers, safety directors and trial coordinators, along with positions that rely heavily on data integrity.

Admissions Information

Admissions Requirements

  • Completed SOPHAS application
  • Undergraduate degree from an accredited university with GPA (overall and major) of at least 3.0 preferred.
  • Personal statement/statement of interest explaining why you are interested in pursuing an MPH in general, and specifically why in Epidemiology and Biostatistics (recommended length is 500 words)
  • Background in the field: paid or volunteer experience in epidemiology, biostatistics, health-related research, or other public health related field
  • Resume
  • 2 Letters of recommendation, at least one from a professor
  • Evidence of preparedness for the quantitative coursework involved in an MPH program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics that will include computer programming and statistics. Applicants who have not completed any college-level math (e.g. calculus) with a grade of B or better must provide alternative evidence of preparation for quantitative coursework involving math, statistics, and computer programming.  Submitting GRE scores is an alternative way to meet the requirement for evidence of preparedness for quantitative coursework.  Applicants with no evidence of quantitative preparedness will be deemed ineligible for this program.
  • Optional GREs (Graduate Record Exam (General Test)) – use SOPHAS code 7914-CUNY Sch Pub Hlth SOPHAS. Applicants who did not take any math in college or who took math but did not receive a B grade or better, have the option to submit GRE scores to demonstrate their quantitative abilities, which may increase their chances for admission.
  • TOEFL scores are required if language of instruction for prior degrees was not English
  • Transcript evaluation from WES or ECE for foreign transcripts.
  • Strong foundation in social or natural sciences and quantitative training in statistics and math strongly recommended.

Application Deadlines

  • Fall 2024: April 1, 2024 (April 1, 2024 for international students seeking an F-1 student visa)
Curriculum icon

Curriculum

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

Foundational Knowledge (0 credits) PUBH 601 Foundations of Public Health Knowledge*
Core Coursework (15 credits) PUBH 610 Public Health Leadership & Management
PUBH 611 Health Equity, Communication, and Advocacy
PUBH 612 Designing and Evaluating Public Health Interventions
PUBH 613 Designs, Concepts, and Methods in Public Health Research
PUBH 614 Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis Methods in Public Health Research
Required Coursework (15 credits) BIOS 620 Applied Biostatistics I
BIOS 621 Applied Biostatistics II
EPID 620 Epidemiological Methods I
EPID 621 Epidemiological Methods II
EPID 622 Applied Research: Data Management and Analysis
Elective Coursework (6 credits) Two (2) electives chosen in consultation with faculty advisor
Practice Experience (3 credits) PUBH 696: Supervised Fieldwork
Culminating Experience (3 credits) PUBH 698: Capstone Project
Total Credits Required 42

*Students who have a CEPH-accredited undergraduate or graduate degree in public health can be waived from PUBH 601 by submitting a Course Waiver Request.

Course sequence icon

Recommended Course Sequence

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.

For students beginning their program during the fall semester:
Semester Course Credits
Year 1 Fall PUBH 601: Foundations of Public Health Knowledge* 0
PUBH 613: Designs, Concepts, and Methods in Public Health Research 3
PUBH 614: Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis Methods in Public Health Research 3
PUBH 611: Health Equity, Communication, and Advocacy 3
PUBH 612: Designing and Evaluating Public Health Interventions 3
Year 1 Spring PUBH 610: Public Health Leadership and Management 3
BIOS 620: Applied Biostatistics I 3
EPID 620: Epidemiological Methods I 3
Elective I 3
Year 2 Fall PUBH 696: Supervised Fieldwork 3
BIOS 621: Applied Biostatistics II 3
EPID 621: Epidemiological Methods II 3
Elective II 3
Year 2 Spring PUBH 698: Capstone Project 3
EPID 622: Applied Research: Data Management and Analysis 3

 

For students beginning their program during the spring semester:
Semester Course Credits
Year 1 Spring PUBH 601: Foundations of Public Health Knowledge* 0
PUBH 613: Designs, Concepts, and Methods in Public Health Research 3
PUBH 614: Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis Methods in Public Health Research 3
PUBH 610: Public Health Leadership and Management 3
PUBH 612: Designing and Evaluating Public Health Interventions 3
Year 1 Summer BIOS 620: Applied Biostatistics I 3
EPID 620: Epidemiological Methods I 3
Year 1 Fall BIOS 621: Applied Biostatistics II 3
EPID 621: Epidemiological Methods II 3
PUBH 611: Health Equity, Communication, and Advocacy 3
PUBH 696: Supervised Fieldwork 3
Year 2 Spring Elective I 3
Elective II 3
EPID 622: Applied Research: Data Management and Analysis 3
PUBH 698: Capstone Project 3

*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.

Competencies

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
  1. Critically evaluate the strengths, limitations and assumptions of epidemiologic, statistical, and other research methods in the public health literature.
  2. Identify key threats to validity within and across epidemiologic studies and analytic approaches
  3. Use information technology and computer software effectively for collection, management, retrieval, analysis, summarization and presentation of public health data.
  4. Effectively describe, interpret, and synthesize health research findings and disseminate them in written and oral formats appropriate for diverse audiences
  5. Correctly apply epidemiologic and statistical methods to examine public health outcomes including developing research questions, conducting literature reviews, applying causal inference, utilizing surveillance data, and developing prediction/risk stratification models.

Alumni Outcomes

Alumni outcomes data was collected via surveys of CUNY SPH alumni one year after graduation from 2016 to 2022. See more program outcomes here.

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