Program Overview

Introduction to the DrPH Program

The DrPH program at the Mailman School of Public Health is designed for individuals seeking expertise in the application of science to public health leadership, practice, and program development. This program trains candidates to create new knowledge and research and apply them to important public health issues, identifying and implementing potential solutions.

Graduation Requirements

The DrPH program requirements include coursework, written qualifying examinations, and the completion and oral defense of a doctoral dissertation representing original research.

Competencies

The DrPH program is aligned with twenty competencies organized across four domains established by the Council of Education for Public Health (CEPH). All DrPH students, regardless of department, will demonstrate each of these CEPH competencies by graduation. The four domains are:

Data and Analysis

• Explain qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, and policy analysis research and evaluation methods to address health issues at multiple levels.
• Design a qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, policy analysis, or evaluation project to address a public health issue.
• Explain the use and limitations of surveillance systems and national surveys in assessing, monitoring, and evaluating policies and programs and to address a population’s health.

Leadership, Management & Governance

• Propose strategies for health improvement and elimination of health inequities by organizing partners, including researchers, practitioners, community leaders, and others.
• Communicate public health science to diverse audiences, including individuals at all levels of health literacy, for purposes of influencing behavior and policies.
• Integrate knowledge, approaches, methods, values, and potential contributions from multiple professions, sectors, and systems in addressing public health problems.
• Create a strategic plan.
• Facilitate shared decision making through negotiation and consensus-building methods.
• Create organizational change strategies.
• Propose strategies to promote inclusion within public health programs, policies, and systems.
• Assess one’s own strengths and weaknesses in leadership capacities, including cultural proficiency.
• Propose human, fiscal, and other resources to achieve a strategic goal.
• Cultivate new resources and revenue streams to achieve a strategic goal.

Policy and Programs

• Design a system-level intervention to address a public health issue.
• Integrate community-informed knowledge such as cultural values and practices in the design of public health policies and programs.
• Integrate scientific information, legal and regulatory approaches, ethical frameworks, and varied parties’ interests in policy development and analysis.
• Propose interprofessional and/or intersectoral team approaches to improving public health.

Education and Workforce Development

• Assess an audience’s knowledge and learning needs.
• Deliver training or educational experiences that promote learning in academic, organizational, or community settings.
• Use best practice modalities in pedagogical practices.

Program Structure

The DrPH program offers concentrations in various areas, including Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and Population & Family Health. The program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive education in public health, preparing them for leadership roles in practice, research, and academia.

Conclusion

The DrPH program at the Mailman School of Public Health is a rigorous and comprehensive program that prepares students for careers in public health leadership, practice, and research. With its strong focus on competencies and its alignment with the CEPH domains, this program provides students with the knowledge, skills, and expertise needed to address complex public health issues and make a positive impact in their communities.