Program Overview

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Introduction to the MPH: Black Health Program

The MPH: Black Health program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health is designed to provide graduate students with a culturally relevant program to fully understand Black public health issues in preparation for public health practice with Black communities. Black communities consist of diverse genders, gender identities, ages, sexual orientations, religious and spiritual backgrounds, abilities/disabilities, classes, immigration and migration processes, among other factors.

Program Description

The program aims to address the impact of anti-Black racism on health, maternal health, the intersectionality of Black Elders and children, inter-generational relationships and their effects on community health, wellness and healing, resilience and resistance, infectious and chronic illness prevalence and treatment within the health-care system, among others. The program will also give students translatable skills in the practices of decolonizing pedagogy and anti-oppression frameworks.

Admission Criteria

• Applicants must hold an appropriate Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from a recognized university with at least a mid-B average in the final year of the degree or in the last 5.0 full course equivalents completed at a senior level.
• Proof of English Language Proficiency is required.
• At least one undergraduate statistics course with a minimum grade of mid-B or higher is required.
• Relevant work or volunteer experience is required.

International Applicants

• No applicant will be admitted without evidence of English Language Proficiency (ELP).
• Canadian citizens who studied at a Canadian university where instruction is in English or French are exempt from providing direct supporting evidence of ELP.
• Applicants who have obtained a qualifying undergraduate degree from an institution that is recognized by the University of Toronto, and where the language of instruction and examination is uniformly English, are also exempt.

Core Principles

1. To learn how to promote the well-being, health, healing, and wellness of diverse Black peoples and our communities.
2. To develop a comprehensive understanding of the social/historical and current contexts that have led to public health crises resulting from intersectional violence in relation to anti-Black racism.
3. To understand how systemic violence and exclusion are sustained by concrete public health practices that need to be eradicated.
4. To ensure that social and political determinants of health include colonialism, racism, and other forms of intersectional violence from a decolonizing and resistance-centered framework/praxis.
5. To unlearn and learn how to intentionally challenge power structures that uphold white supremacy and colonialist models.
6. To ensure that African/Black health practitioners/leaders and those working in solidarity have impactful roles in public health discourse and decision-making spaces, especially in areas that impact the health of Black populations.
7. To include African Indigenous ways of wellness and healing as important to creating culturally responsive health care and safety.
8. To incorporate African/Black epistemologies and methodologies that help in understanding the complexities of African/Black communities, specifically, intersectionality.

Program Requirements

• Students are required to complete 10.0 Full Course Equivalents (FCEs) within the maximum time limit of 3 years as a full-time student and 6 years as a part-time student.
• The program includes a combination of required and elective courses, as well as practica.

Course Structure

The program is structured as follows:

• Term 1 – Fall: Introduction to Public Health Sciences, Introduction to Quantitative Research or Epidemiologic Methods I, Health Promotion 1 Social Determinants of Health, African/Black Health I: Sociohistorical Overview of Black Health (Anti-Black Racism, Colonialism, Intersectionality)
• Term 2 – Winter: Introduction to Qualitative Research, African/Black Health II: Chronic Diseases; Sexual and Reproductive Health: Across the Lifespan, Decolonizing Theory and Methods in African/Black Health Research, African/Black Practicum Preparation, 1 approved elective
• Term 3 – Summer: Required MPH Practicum (1.0 FCE) + Long Extension to Required Practicum (1.0 FCE)
• Term 4 – Fall: Public Health Policy, Transnational Black Health Policy and Practice, 1 approved elective
• Term 5 – Winter: Optional MPH Practicum (1.0 FCE) + Optional Practicum Extension (0.5 FCE) or any combination of practicum and electives totaling 1.5 FCE, Black Resistance and Health: Interventions and Social Change

Practicum

• Students typically undertake a 16-week full-time practicum in the Summer session of year 1 of the program (Term 3).
• Some students complete an optional 12-week full-time practicum in the Winter session of year 2 (Term 5).
• The practicum experiences will provide meaningful and essential application and synthesis of program learning outcomes and will be directly related to issues of Black public health.

Career Opportunities

The MPH: Black Health program prepares students for a variety of careers, including:

• Analyst (Research and Policy, Research Planning and Policy, Health)
• Health Promotion Specialist
• Health Promotion and Community Liaison
• Health Planner
• Program Coordinator
• Program Facilitator
• Coordinator of Community Engagement
• Community Health Worker
• Program Evaluator
• Medical Doctor (Further Education)
• Nurse (Further Education)

Student Profiles

The program attracts a diverse range of students, including:

• Hannah Zuta
• Oluwakemi Komolafe
• Julia Bonsu
• Jamaul Taylor
• Sylvia Okonofua
• Sanjana Jones
• Ashanté Lakey
• Hiwote Addisalem
• Chaylan Nairne
• Etienne Oshinowo
• Cidia Prentt
• Anika Bather
• Sharia Berker
• Alisa Robinson
• Christine Williams
• Zahra Adam
• Naomi Ihama-Anthony
• Deena Abdelrahim
• Nia Simpson-Stairs
• Shae Burnett
• Ese Egube
• Nana Ackom
• Shekina Plowman

Alumni Profiles

The program has a strong network of alumni, including:

• Osatohanwen (Joanne) Okungbowa
• Amani Chabikuli
• Adrianna Perryman
• Asli Nur
• Joshua Pratt
• Tiya Samuel
• Simone Blais