Master of Public Health

Program Overview

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MPH Public Health

Overview

This programme aims to develop your interest in, and knowledge and understanding of, Public Health Theory and Practice in a Global context. By global health we mean health issues impacting across the world including locally, regionally and nationally in Scotland and the UK.

The programme is relevant to UK and international students aiming to develop careers within public health as well as for those wishing to promote the health of the public as part of their current professional role. The programme takes a practical and applied approach and will equip you with the relevant transferable academic skills, professional/practical skills and knowledge to practice in a manner that achieves the purpose of public health i.e., dealing with pandemics, epidemics, reducing health inequalities and prolonging life through the implementation of a broad range of interventions to improve public health outcomes.

This programme has a start date in January every year.

Mode of Study:

• Online learning (available as Part-time)

Duration:

• 2 years

Start date:

• January

Course details

The programme is being offered as a fully online/distance learning programme as part of our Global Online suite of programmes.

The programme is offered in a part time study mode (two years).

All modules on this programme are compulsory and must be taken as per the structure below to allow completion in two years. If you defer from this structure, you will extend your length of study.

The programme has been designed to be relevant to UK and international students aiming to develop careers within public health as well as for those wishing to promote the health of the public as part of their current professional role.

Subjects include:

• Part Time 2 Years
  • Year 1 Tri 2: Principles and Theory of Public Health for Health Improvement (20credits) and Applied Epidemiology (20 credits)
  • Year 1 Tri 3: Leadership and collaborative working in Public Health (20 credits) and Contemporary Global Issues in Public Health (40 credits)
  • Year 1 Tri 1: Contemporary Global Issues in Public health (Continued from Tri 3)
  • Year 2 Tri 2: Research Methods (20 credits)
  • Year 2 Tri 3 and Tri 1: Dissertation (60 credits over 2 Trimesters)

Lead academics:

• Dr Janette Pow is Programme Lead for the MPH. Janette has been a lecturer within the School of Health and Social Care for 12 years. Her teaching and research interests are in public health, young people’s health and wellbeing, health improvement evaluation and complex interventions. Janette has published extensively in peer reviewed Journals in this area. As well as being a reviewer for a number of healthcare journals she is reviewer/assessor for Carnegie Trust, HISES and NIHR. She was also recently elected to the editorial board for the Scottish University Press.
• Dr Martin Sharp is Deputy Programme Lead for the MPH and Research Degrees Lead for the School of Health and Social Care. Martin is an experienced academic, lecturing in endocrinology, public health and epidemiology. His research interests centre around the endocrine reactivity to social defeat, female reproductive health (precocious puberty/contraception//menopause), and most aspects of social epidemiology. Martin has published extensively in peer reviewed journals, is reviewer for high impact endocrine journals, external examiner, and grant reviewer.
• Dr Yvonne Greig has been a midwife for over 30 years. She is passionate about maternal, fetal and public health issues and has a particular interest in developing professional practice and optimising maternal health for those who live with obesity. Yvonne has delivered education to communities in Kenya, East Africa as part of the World Millennium Goal project to improve maternal health and in turn population health where both maternal and infant mortality are high. Yvonne has also been advisor to the British University of Egypt and has supported colleagues in Athens to develop a midwifery BSc programme. She joined Edinburgh Napier in January 2021 having previously combined academic and clinical work. She looks forward to supporting you during your MPH programme.
• Dr Andrew Maine is a lecturer and researcher. He is also responsible for mentoring and supporting early career researchers within School of Health and Social Care. Dr Maine lecturers on the Bachelor of Learning Disability Nursing programme at Edinburgh Napier University. His areas of research/teaching expertise include critical perspectives of learning disability nursing, systematic reviews, and quantitative methodological approaches.
• Dr Mary Abboah-Offei is a lecturer, researcher, and a nurse by profession. Mary’s teaching and research interests are in global health, quality improvement in health and social care, health and wellbeing across the lifespan, palliative care and developing and evaluating complex interventions using the Medical Research Councils’ framework, with a particular interest in person-centred interventions. Mary also has expertise in systematic, intervention and policy reviews, with special interest in policy issues relating to early childhood development in the context of the Nurturing Care Framework. Mary has published in peer reviewed Journals in the areas of expertise mentioned and has been a reviewer for a number of journals including reviewing a grant application for NIHR.

How you’ll be taught

The Global Online Programme is delivered fully online and is supported with Moodle the virtual learning platform. The virtual learning environment is facilitated and moderated by academic experts in the field of study thus providing opportunities for you to critique and synthesise research evidence which can then be critically explored in the context of International public health practice.

The programme adopts an authentic approach with emphasis on meeting real-world challenges such as, health improvement initiatives and complex interventions, multi/interdisciplinary working with a strong focus on implementation and evaluation for health improvement. This aims to support future practice that is underpinned by a sound understanding of relevant theory and evidence-based knowledge.

Assessments

Formative and summative assessments are used to evaluate your learning against the module learning outcomes. Formative feedback is provided to guide you on how you are progressing and to give constructive guidance to inform development for your final summative assignment.

Summative assignments take the form of authentic assessments and include editorials, literature review protocols, posters and presentations and briefing documents.

Entry requirements

What are the entry requirements for Public Health?

To apply you will need a Bachelor (Honours) Degree at 2:2 or above in a Health or Health Sciences related subject.

Other qualifications/experience which demonstrate through our recognition of prior learning process that you have appropriate knowledge and skills may be considered on an individual basis.

Can I get admission into Public Health based on my working experience in this sector?

This course has academic entry requirements which are assessed alongside relevant work experience. Full details of any relevant work experience, including references should be submitted with your application and may be considered for entry where the minimum academic entry requirements are below those required.

Usually, unrelated work experience is not considered sufficient for entry without meeting the minimum academic entry requirements. Please contact us with your specific circumstances by submitting an enquiry form above and we will be happy to discuss your options.

English language

If your first language isn't English, you'll normally need to undertake an approved English language test. The English Language requirements for this programme are IELTS (Academic) with an overall score of 6.5 with no individual component score of less than 6.0.

International students

We welcome applications from students studying a wide range of international qualifications.

Admissions policies

We’re committed to admitting students who have the potential to succeed and benefit from our programmes of study.

Our admissions policies will help you understand our admissions procedures, and how we use the information you provide us in your application to inform the decisions we make.

Fees & funding

The course fees you'll pay and the funding available to you will depend on a number of factors including your nationality, location, personal circumstances and the course you are studying. We also have a number of bursaries and scholarships available to our students.

Tuition fees for 2024/25

2024/25	2025/26
UK Students	£885	£945
Overseas Students	£905	£965

Modules for your course can be purchased through our online store and must be paid in full at the time of enrolment. You will purchase modules in advance of each trimester of study. The fee listed above applies to 20 credits. Please note, the full course comprises of 120 credits in total for BA/BSc (top-up) and 180 credits in total for MSc. Please note that you will pay the module fee according to the academic year in which you study each module, meaning that the total cost of your course will vary depending on the year in which modules are undertaken. If you are paying a fixed programme fee through one of our global partners, the cost will be no higher than if you were buying modules directly from our online store.

Tuition fees are subject to an annual review and may increase from one year to the next. For more information on this and other tuition fee matters, please see our Fees and Funding links above.

Careers

What can you do with a public health degree?

By studying public health at Edinburgh Napier University, you will gain the skills and practical knowledge to work in public health at local, national and global level. The course will prepare you for a range of public health roles as well as doctoral level study. A Master of public health offers you the opportunity to progress in your current health related field of practice as part of the wider public health workforce or allow you to progress in a core public health role i.e., public health intelligence analyst, public health practitioner, public health research assistant or epidemiologist. You will become an excellent communicator, and also hone your teamworking and interpersonal skills. If you have an interest in improving public health and enjoy working with other people, then this might be the right course for you.

What does an epidemiologist do?

As an epidemiologist you will have strong report writing, analytical and communication skills, with the ability to collect and analyse complex data. You will be responsible for understanding how disease is spread and the risk it poses to the public. You will create strategy to reduce spread and control the spread of disease and current viral outbreaks.

Daily tasks and responsibilities in this role may include:

• Collecting data
• Data analysis
• Fieldwork
• Report writing
• Outbreak surveillance
• Advising on public health policy with government and local health authorities