Online MPH Courses

This course provides an overview of the public health field to begin to explore the gaps and inequities in health outcomes. Students consider the history of public health practice and research, national and global structural institutions, and basic concepts and theories that inform public health practice. Emphasis is placed on healthy equity from a population perspective. Major data and research resources are reviewed to support future research endeavors.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

• Relate public health history, philosophy, and values to current programs or initiatives
• Understand the core functions of public health, public health goal setting, and how measurements are used in reaching policy and programmatic outcomes
• Describe the current healthcare field as it relates to population health
• Identify and use public health behavioral theories, interventions, and strategies to describe examples of public health and how they contribute to population health and health equities
• Define the fields of environmental health, community health, epidemiology, biostatistics, and their interrelationship
• Articulate the interrelationship between international, federal, state, local, and community organizations and how they contribute to population health and health inequities
• Locate and use key public health data sources
• Summarize and analyze current literature and research on public health topics

This course covers the appropriate use of data in characterizing the health of a population and provides an overview of probability and statistical inference in public health. Students learn the principles of collecting, analyzing, and presenting data. Topics include random variation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, chi-square distribution, and linear regression. Students apply concepts through in-class labs that evaluate statistics used in public health publications.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

• Describe the role of biostatistics in planning, conducting, analyzing, and interpreting public health research
• Apply basic statistical methods commonly used with public health data
• Use a statistical software package to perform basic statistical analyses, including descriptive and inferential techniques
• Identify the principal national and state public health data sets that are available for analysis
• Articulate the benefits and pitfalls of using statistical significance in interpreting findings
• Evaluate the use and interpretation of statistical analyses in public health publications

This course provides basic epidemiologic concepts and methods for public health practitioners, including an understanding of various measures of risk, disease, and mortality in populations. Students learn types of epidemiologic strategies used to examine associations between risk factors and morbidity and mortality and how to distinguish between a statistical association and a causal relationship. The course includes an overview of chronic and infectious disease epidemiology using historical and current public health challenges. In addition to studying various aspects of disease in populations, the importance and types of disease prevention are included.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

• Distinguish between a clinical and a population approach to risk factors and disease
• Articulate biological and genetic factors that affect a population’s health
• List major causes and trends in morbidity and mortality in the United States and other large populations
• Illustrate how globalization affects the global burdens of disease
• Calculate and interpret common epidemiologic measures (incidence and prevalence rates, relative risk, odds ratios) to draw appropriate inferences
• Discuss how various epidemiologic studies (cross-sectional, case-control, cohort, ecologic, and intervention) are used to study statistical associations between risk factors and disease or death outcomes
• Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of epidemiologic methods
• Use an existing database to describe risk factor prevalence and morbidity and mortality rates for a specific disease in a specific geographic area
• Differentiate between a statistical association and a causal relationship between a risk factor and a health outcome
• Discuss the science of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention in population health including health promotion and the use of clinical prevention services
• Identify ethical and legal implications of epidemiologic practices
• Interpret epidemiological data, evaluating the strengths and limitations of epidemiologic reports
• Interpret results of data analysis in technical and lay language both in writing and through oral presentation

This course examines how urban and rural environmental factors, including social, physical, and chemical, are examined as determinants of health, with an emphasis on current topics related to national issues and laws and strategies used to reduce or eliminate health threats and provide health equity.

Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

• Relate key concepts and strategies of environmental sciences to public health practice in various situations
• Explain an ecological perspective on the connections between human health, animal health, and ecosystem health (e.g., One Health)
• Identify contributing factors, such as biological susceptibility, social, political, and economic determinants of health, to individual and population vulnerability, health, and health inequity
• Analyze possible impacts of a range of environmental factors, including changes in demographics, economics, energy demand, climate, and pollution, on human health and food and water security
• Articulate roles, policies, and regulations of agencies and institutions involved in regulating and mitigating environmental and occupational risks
• Connect the concepts of equity, justice, and sustainability to proposed health and environment solutions
• Identify opportunities for and barriers to sustainable changes to promote health, well-being, and equity

Gain an overview of quantitative and qualitative research study design, data collection, and analysis while exploring ethical issues in health studies, research, and data algorithms.

Prerequisite(s): all MPH core courses
This course explores the social, cultural, and behavioral aspects that influence research and the process of designing effective public health programs and interventions. Students use tools and techniques to engage and involve communities, assess community needs, and create appropriate, evidence-based programs and interventions with an emphasis on health equity. Topics include behavior change theory, logic models, community engagement and participation, rationale development, and timeline and budget creation.

Build on concepts and experiences of MPH635 Design of Community Health Programs and Interventions by taking a deeper dive into qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods for design and implementation by exploring real examples and experiential learning.

Course topics include survey development and execution, interview and focus group design and practice, return on investment, and reporting and communicating evaluation results.

Focus on community organizing as a collaborative process among communities and organizations. You’ll learn to identify public health issues, set mutual goals, assess and gather resources, and develop culturally competent actions.

Prerequisite(s): all MPH core courses and MPH645
In this course, students learn to plan educational, political, environmental, regulatory, and organizational mechanisms that promote and support wellness conditions and activities for individuals, populations, or communities. Social media and technology use, marketing methods, and visual and group communication strategies are explored as means to create and disseminate understandable public health information and data.

This course focuses on leadership principles designed to create and sustain organizations and programs in the health and human services sectors through the creation and implementation of vision, mission, and reflective practices. Leadership styles coupled with personal, cultural, and ethical awareness are evaluated.

Prerequisite(s): Program Director Permission

Students select a public health agency, nonprofit, or private institution in which to apply and integrate skills and knowledge gained in the program. At least 120 hours over the 3 credit experience must be completed on a field project arranged with the organization and meeting program guidelines, preferably at one site. A portfolio approach is used to assess student performance and demonstration of competencies.

Prerequisite(s): All MPH requirements

Co-requisite: MPH684

This course provides the opportunity to demonstrate the development of an essential set of competencies expected for a masters-prepared student in public health. This capstone course culminates in the efforts of the MPH field experience courses, and students are required to develop grant proposals. Each student develops a poster presentation that summarizes the grant proposal, and the poster is of professional quality. Students should be prepared to describe their grant proposals orally to peers and professionals.

Upon completion of the course students are expected to be able to do the following:

• Pose a public health grant proposal idea.
• Conduct a review of relevant literature.
• Analyze public health data.
• Make evidence-based recommendations to address identified issue.
• Develop a grant proposal for a public health program using a given grant application template.
• Design and present (approximately 5 minutes) a poster presentation to peers and professionals.
• Prepare and present (approximately 10 to 20 minutes) a slide presentation to peers and professionals.