Program Overview

Public Health (MPH) Program

The Master of Public Health program prepares students to promote health equity through a competency-based and flexible community-engaged curriculum. This program is ideal for individuals seeking leadership careers in the diverse and growing field of public health.

Overview

The Master of Public Health program is designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to promote and protect the health and well-being of people and their communities. The program is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) and provides assurance that the program has met accepted standards established by and with the public health profession.

Accreditation

Loyola's BSPH and MPH programs are accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). CEPH accreditation provides assurance that the program has been evaluated and met accepted standards established by and with the public health profession.

Curriculum

The MPH program is a 42-credit curriculum offered in-person, online, or hybrid. The program includes six core courses, concentration-specific courses, electives, and applied practice and integrative learning experiences. The curriculum is designed to provide students with a comprehensive education in public health, including:

• Determinants of Population Health
• Public Health Practice and Management
• Introduction to Epidemiology
• Biostatistics for Health and Biological Science
• Public Health Policy: Concepts and Practice
• Public Health in Action

Concentrations

The MPH program offers four concentrations:

Epidemiology

This hybrid program combines online and evening classes. Epidemiology is the basic science of public health, and this track equips students to design, conduct, analyze, and interpret population health research.

Global Health Equity

This concentration is a hybrid program of online and evening classes. Study the health of global populations with the ultimate goal of identifying and eliminating structures and practices of inequity and injustice to advance health equity for individuals and populations.

Public Health Policy and Management

This concentration can be completed entirely online, and also can be taken with in-person courses. This curriculum studies the organization, structure, and delivery of health-related services, and associated population health outcomes.

Biostatistics

This track aims to equip students with advanced skills in statistical techniques and data analysis, with a particular emphasis on harnessing digital data for public health innovation.

Applied Practice Experience

The applied practice experience provides students with practical experience in a public health setting, requiring the student to apply and integrate skills and knowledge learned in courses. The experience must be 210 hours or more, and students must apply five program competencies to their experience and produce at least two deliverables.

Integrated Learning Experience

The integrated learning experience is a student-led capstone project culminating with a presentation and written manuscript. The project should demonstrate the student's ability to apply acquired skills and competencies to a public health problem that simulates a professional practice experience.

Dual Degrees and Other Programs

The Department of Public Health Sciences offers six additional programs, including:

• Five-Year Bachelor/MPH Degree
• Doctor of Medicine/ Master of Public Health (MD/MPH)
• Master of Social Work/Master of Public Health (MSW/MPH)
• MS in Clinical Research Methods and Epidemiology (CRME)
• Public Health Certificate

Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the MPH program will have public health competencies in the areas of:

• Evidence-based Approaches to Public Health
• Public Health & Health Care Systems
• Planning & Management to Promote Health
• Policy in Public Health
• Leadership
• Communication
• Interprofessional Practice
• Systems Thinking

These competencies will enable graduates to apply epidemiological methods, analyze data, and interpret results for public health research, policy, or practice. They will also be able to compare the organization, structure, and function of health care, public health, and regulatory systems, and discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities, and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity.