Program Overview

Introduction to the Medicine & Public Health (MD/MPH) Program

The MD/MPH dual degree program at Boston University is designed for students who envision a medical career that incorporates public health and medicine. This program prepares physicians for academic careers or for practice in today’s healthcare environment.

Program Description

The MD/MPH program is a simultaneous degree program that is awarded together. Students in the MD/MPH program cannot graduate with the MD and then finish the MPH post-MD graduation. The program is generally completed over a period of five years, with MPH coursework completed between the third and fourth year of medical school.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the MPH degree requirements, graduates are able to:

Evidence-Based Approaches to Public Health

• Apply epidemiological methods to the breadth of settings and situations in public health practice.
• Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context.
• Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming and software, as appropriate.
• Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy, or practice.

Public Health & Healthcare Systems

• Compare the organization, structure, and function of healthcare, public health, and regulatory systems across national and international settings.
• Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities, and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community, and societal levels.

Planning & Management to Promote Health

• Assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities’ health.
• Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design or implementation of public health policies or programs.
• Design a population-based policy, program, project, or intervention.
• Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management.
• Select methods to evaluate public health programs.

Policy in Public Health

• Discuss multiple dimensions of the policymaking process, including the roles of ethics and evidence.
• Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes.
• Advocate for political, social, or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations.
• Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity.

Leadership

• Apply principles of leadership, governance, and management, which include creating a vision, empowering others, fostering collaboration, and guiding decision-making.
• Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges.

Communication

• Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors.
• Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation.
• Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content.

Interprofessional Practice

• Perform effectively on interprofessional teams.

Systems Thinking

• Apply systems thinking tools to a public health issue.

Degree Requirements

The MD and MPH are simultaneous degrees and are awarded together. The MPH is a 48-unit degree. MD/MPH students must complete a minimum of 40 units in residence at SPH and 8 units are completed at Chobanian & Avedisian SOM. All courses counted to the MPH portion of the MD/MPH must be numbered SPH XX 700 and above.

Requirements

• Students must earn at least a grade of Pass in all medical school courses and must maintain satisfactory academic progress at SPH according to the SPH Grading Policy.

MPH Degree Requirements

Foundations of Public Health

• SPH PH 700 Foundations of Public Health (0 units) is an online course designed to provide students with foundational knowledge in the profession and science of public health and factors related to public health.

SPH Core Courses

• SPH PH 717 Quantitative Methods in Public Health (4 units)
• SPH PH 718 Leadership and Management in Public Health (4 units)
• SPH PH 719 Health Systems, Law, and Policy (4 units)
• SPH PH 720 Individual, Community, and Population Health (4 units)

MPH Certificate & Elective Coursework

• Students select and complete one functional area certificate as their interdisciplinary, professional skills base (16 units) and have the option to take a context certificate (focused on key populations or areas of interest in public health, 12 units) or elective courses to fulfill the minimum 24 units of SPH coursework beyond the core courses.
• The MPH functional certificates are:
  • Community Assessment, Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation
  • Environmental Health
  • Epidemiology and Biostatistics
  • Health Communications and Promotion
  • Healthcare Management (CAHME)—28 units
  • Health Policy and Law
  • Global Health Program Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation
  • Program Management
• Context Certificates—12 units
  • Chronic and Non-Communicable Diseases
  • Global Health
  • Infectious Disease
  • Maternal and Child Health
  • Mental Health and Substance Use
  • Human Rights and Social Justice
  • Sex, Sexuality, and Gender
  • Pharmaceutical Development, Delivery, and Access

Professional Development and Practical Experience

• SPH PH 746 Career PREP (0 units)
• SPH PH 976 Practicum (240 hours, 0 units)
• SPH PH 985 Required Integrated Learning Experience (0 units)

Withdrawing from the MPH

A student may withdraw from the MD/MPH dual degree program by submitting a letter to the director of the MD/MPH program, the Chobanian & Avedisian SOM Registrar, and the BUSPH Registrar.

Study Abroad

Because MD/MPH students generally complete 40 units of SPH coursework between the third and fourth year of medical school, there is typically not much time for overseas travel. However, there may be opportunities for short (2-to-4-week) overseas projects, particularly between the first and second year of medical school or as electives in the last two years.

Eligibility & Application

All medical students accepted to Chobanian & Avedisian SOM are eligible to apply to the MD/MPH dual degree program. Students interested in the MD/MPH program must apply to the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine first. Selecting the MD/MPH program on the AMCAS application alerts the Admissions office at Chobanian & Avedisian SOM that the student is interested in the dual degree program. It does not obligate the student to apply, and it has no impact on the likelihood of acceptance into the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.