2020-2021 Academic Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2020-2021 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Public Health, MPH


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Program Description:

Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine is pleased to offer the Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree, a graduate program for leaders in public health. Two concentrations are available: Health Promotion & Education and Population Health. The M.P.H. program is founded on the principles of community-academic partnership, with the strength of seven Colleges/Schools at Wright State University and participation with 24 health districts throughout southwest and central Ohio.

As Southwest Ohio’s first M.P.H. program, the program is responsive to the educational needs of working public health and other professionals who serve a population of nearly three million residents. Its diverse student body includes in-career professionals, medical students, recent college graduates and individuals making a career change.

Visit the MPH website at https://medicine.wright.edu/mph

Admissions Requirements:

Applicants will apply through SOPHAS.org, the centralized application system for public health, and must fulfill the requirements for admission established by the Graduate School. Minimum graduate school requirements include an earned bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and a minimum undergraduate grade point average of 2.7 (based on a 4.0 grading scale). Official Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) test scores must be submitted, except for applicants with an earned graduate or advanced professional degree from an accredited college or university in the US or Canada. Minimum GRE scores accepted are Verbal 143 and Quantitative 143 (20th percentile).

Additional MPH Requirements for Admissions:

Students must submit: (1) a personal statement of interest addressing career goals and objectives; (2) two letters of recommendation from professionals who can speak to an applicant's professional or academic experience, (3) a current resume/CV, (4) a completed SOPHAS and Wright State graduate application, and (5) official GRE test scores, as indicated above.

Facilities:

The MPH program faculty and classrooms have designated space within the Education Center of the Department of Population & Public Health Sciences which is located off campus at Research Park in Kettering, Ohio (3123 Research Blvd., Suite 200).

Program Learning Outcomes:

  • Have mastery of core public health competencies: biostatistics, epidemiology, social and behavioral determinants of health, environmental health, and health administration and policy
  • Have completed 200 practical contact hours in a public health-related work setting
  • Have additional specialization through electives organized around concentration areas: emergency preparedness, global health, health promotion and education, and public health management
  • Have a culminating experience which develops the ability to synthesize, summarize, present, and discuss a project selected by the student

For additional information:

Health Promotion and Education


Program Requirements:


Six foundational courses will be offered and must be completed by all students admitted to the program. Each student will select one concentration area of study and complete a minimum of 18 hours of study in that area. An applied practice experience is typically completed during the second year of study. Each student will work with the applied practice experience course director and a site preceptor. The second component of the applied learning is the integrative learning experience project. The project will 1) demonstrate synthesis of foundational and concentration competencies by working in consultation with faculty to select foundational and concentration-specific competencies appropriate to the student’s educational and professional goals; 2) produce a high-quality written product that is appropriate for the student’s educational and professional objectives. The integrative learning experience has three primary components: a proposal, a written applied project paper, and a poster presentation.

Program Core and Electives


Foundational Courses

Health Promotion and Education Concentration Electives

Students completing the health promotion and education concentration are trained to use social and behavioral science to study, develop, and evaluate interventions to promote health, prevent disease and injury, and reduce health inequalities. Graduates develop skills in the implementation of awareness, educational, environmental, and advocacy strategies tailored to populations and community context. Foundational and concentration coursework aligns to the seven areas of responsibilities of the health education specialists (NCHEC 2015), and graduates are eligible to sit for the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam.

Applied Practice Experience

Integrative Learning Experience

Total: 42 Hours


Population Health Concentration


Students in the population health concentration have more flexibility to choose public health courses based upon their interests and professsional goals. The population health concentration offers several programs of study to assist students who want to explore a variety of public health topic areas, focus on advanced quantitative or qualitative methods, or ultimately work as public health practitioners.

Program Requirements:


Six foundational courses will be offered and must be completed by all students admitted to the program. Each student will select one concentration area of study and complete a minimum of 18 hours of study in that area. An applied practice experience is typically completed during the second year of study. Each student will work with the applied practice experience course director and a site preceptor. The second component of the applied learning is the integrative learning experience project. The project will 1) demonstrate synthesis of foundational and concentration competencies by working in consultation with faculty to select foundational and concentration-specific competencies appropriate to the student’s educational and professional goals; 2) produce a high-quality written product that is appropriate for the student’s educational and professional objectives. The integrative learning experience has three primary components: a proposal, a written applied project paper, and a poster presentation.

Program Core and Electives


Foundational Courses

Population Health Concentration Electives

Applied Practice Experience


The Applied Practice Experience (APE) is a supervised applied public health learning experience in which students work within a community organization to support public health efforts that are meaningful to the organization.  A site preceptor in the organization supervises the student to help them learn and to produce work beneficial to the community organization. 

Key required features of the APE are: 1) collaborating with the practice site preceptor in identifying a minimum of two (2) public health portfolio products the student will develop in support of the needs of the organization, and 2) achieving a minimum of five (5) competencies, of which at least three (3) must be foundational. 

The APE provides an opportunity for the student to think critically about public health issues and produce relevant products.  The APE may assist in the development of the MPH Integrative Learning Experience (ILE).

Project/Problem Paper


The ILE can be completed in one of two options: a thesis like option taking PPH 8220 ILE II as an elective or a non-thesis like option (taking PPH 8210 only).  Each option will culminate in a poster presentation.

Key required features of the ILE are: 1) demonstrate synthesis of foundational and concentration competencies by working in consultation with faculty to select foundational and concentration-specific competencies appropriate to the student’s educational and professional goals; 2) produce a high-quality written product that is appropriate for the student’s educational and professional objectives.

Total: 42 Hours


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