MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH (MPH)
The Master of Public
Health (MPH) degree prepares students in the art and science of preventing
disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through organized community
outreach. Public health differs from other health programs in that it
focuses on large population groups instead of individuals. It emphasizes
promoting health and wellness as ultimate goals and prevention over cure
The MPH degree is a
forty-two (42) semester credit hour program designed to accommodate the
student who wishes to obtain an area of concentration in traditional public
health specialties. Available specialty tracks include biostatistics,
epidemiology, environmental and occupational health, health education/health
behavior, and health policy and management. Each student who declares a
specialty area must select an academic advisor from members of the faculty
of the department related to that particular area of public health
specialization.
The MPH curriculum design
accommodates the student who wishes to develop a career as a generalist
in public health. These students are required to work with an advisory
committee of three (3) COPH faculty members to design a program of
study in keeping with the student’s career goals and objectives. The
advisory committee must be composed of the primary advisor, and two other
members. Although it is strongly recommended that at least three (3) COPH
departments be represented on a generalist advisory committee, at least two
(2) COPH departments must be represented on the committee. Listed below are
some of the key requirements of the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public
Health for the awarding of the Master of Public Health degree.
Successful Completion of
Courses.
Courses must be completed with a grade of “C” or better to be considered
successfully completed. Only successfully completed courses can be counted
toward degree requirements. When a listed requirement for enrollment in a
course includes completion of a prerequisite course, the prerequisite course
must also have been successfully completed.
Grade Point Average and
Semester Credit Hours.
Forty-two (42) semester credit hours and a minimum cumulative grade point of
2.85 on all courses.
Time Frame for Completion
of Degree.
All requirements for a master’s degree must be satisfied within six (6)
consecutive calendar years from the first registration (whether
degree-seeking or non-degree seeking) with the Fay W. Boozman College of
Public Health. Students must begin classes within one (1) calendar year
after acceptance to the COPH.
MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
The MPH program requires a minimum of forty-two (42) graduate
semester credit hours. The overall curriculum model includes:
· Core
Courses: 18 semester credit hours
· Concentration (specialty or generalist): 15
semester credit hours
· Elective: 3
semester credit hours
· Preceptorship in Public Health: 3
semester credit hours
· Public
Health Integration Project: 3 semester
credit hours
REQUIRED CORE COURSES
The six (6) core courses
listed below include a general overview of public health as well as an
introductory course in each of the five (5) core public health disciplines.
These courses comprise the entire Post-Baccalaureate Certificate curriculum,
and also serve as the required eighteen (18) semester credit hour core for
all MPH students.
Upon
successful completion of these six (6) core courses, students will be able
to achieve each of the following learning objectives:
· Define
the components of community-based public health practice.
· Describe
basic and contemporary issues of public health, including tools of
community-based health assessment, surveillance, health promotion, disease
prevention, policy, cultural competency, and ethics.
· Demonstrate
the ability to complete descriptive analyses as
well as nonparametric, regression, multiple comparisons of means and
analysis of variance for one- and two-factor experiment biostatistics for
datasets.
· Demonstrate
an understanding of core statistical concepts, including database
principles, basic probability principles, diagnostic test statistics, tests
of hypotheses, sample-size estimation, and power of tests.
· Describe
the elements of the common chemical, physical, and biological hazards in the
occupational and community settings, along with the ways in which these
hazards are evaluated, controlled, and regulated.
· Define
the major components of at least two (2) models of health behavior change,
i.e., the Health Belief Model, Transtheoretical Model, Social Cognitive
Theory.
· Describe
the organizational arrangements, financing, health status issues, health
insurance, health manpower, cost of health care, quality of health care,
access and regulatory issues of the health care delivery system in the
United States.
· Describe
the core concepts of epidemiology, including its history and theoretical
basis; measures of morbidity, mortality, disease transmission and risk;
major study designs; measures of association; bias, confounding and
interaction; evaluation of screening tests; inference; and causality.
REQUIRED
PRECEPTORSHIP AND INTEGRATION PROJECT
The following are
College-wide courses required of all MPH candidates. These two (2) courses
are meant to be taken at the end of each student’s degree program, and are
designed to give students an opportunity to integrate their public health
knowledge and apply their skills to a variety of problems or issues in
public health.
Current policies on Preceptorships include:
· Preceptorships
will be graded on a pass/fail basis.
· No
student who has earned less than a 2.85 GPA in College of Public Health
courses may enroll in the Preceptorship. (Students will continue to have a
maximum of six (6) additional hours to raise their GPAs above the 2.85 GPA,
consistent with the previous policies.)
· Students
who enrolled in Preceptorship in a semester prior to fall 2005 will receive
a letter grade for their Preceptorship, regardless of the date in which they
finish their Preceptorship and a final grade is posted.
Current policies on
Integration Projects include:
· Integration
project will be graded on pass/fail basis.
· No
student who has earned less than a 2.85 GPA in College of Public Health
courses may enroll in the Integration Project. (Students will continue to
have a maximum of six (6) additional hours to raise their GPAs above the
2.85 GPA, consistent with the previous policies.)
· Students
who enrolled in Integration Project in a semester prior to fall 2005 will
receive a letter grade for their Integration Project, regardless of the date
in which they finish their project and a final grade is posted. Inclusion of
description of integration of at least three (3) public health sciences in
student plans and projects, project activities, and learning objectives is
mandatory. The process by which the student will integrate these public
health perspectives into their project activities must be clearly described.
Statements that the student “will use their knowledge of [various public
health sciences] to complete the project” are not adequate.
· Documentation
must be included in the integration project plan that (a) the full IPAC (all
three members) and the student had at least one full-group meeting prior to
the approval of the plan and (b) the full IPAC and the student will have at
least one full-group meeting again during the integration project period.
· Students
will have a maximum of three (3) consecutive semesters to complete their
integration project from the semester in which they first register for it.
Students who require more than one semester to complete their project will
register and pay for the three (3) semester credit hour integration course
for each semester they are involved in their project (up to nine (9)
semester credit hours). Any additional semester credit hours, beyond the
required three (3) semester credit hours, that are taken for Integration
Project will NOT count against the six (6) semester credit hours that are
permitted for students to raise their GPA to 2.85 or higher (to meet
graduation requirements).
· All
integration plans and papers will be made publicly available (unblinded) in
the COPH Office of Student Services.
MPH GENERALIST TRACK
The objective of the
generalist MPH curriculum is to provide students with an opportunity to
design a program of study that addresses her/his professional interests and
goals, grounded in the core competencies for public health professionals as
defined by the Conference on Linkages between Academia and Public Health
Practice. Students must choose a set of courses totaling at least
eighteen (18) semester credit hours (in addition to the core courses, the
preceptorship, and the integration course), representing at least three
COPH departments, which are related to these interests and goals.
Creation of Generalist MPH
Plan
Each student who elects
the generalist MPH curriculum must work with a faculty advisory committee
(one chair and two other members, representing at least two COPH
departments), who will assist the student in developing a set of five or
more learning objectives (based on the Linkages Competencies) for her/his
program of study. The chosen generalist courses
must address the student’s approved program learning objectives.
Documentation Required
The student’s learning
objectives and associated program of courses, signed by all three members of
the student’s faculty advisory committee, must be filed with the COPH
Student Administrative Advisor prior to registering for non-core courses. A
form, “Generalist MPH Learning Objectives and Course Plan,” provides a
structure for recording this information, and is available in the office of
the COPH Student Administrative Advisor and in the COPH Course Catalog. It
is strongly recommended that students and members of the generalist advisory
committees retain copies of these forms to assist in future course planning
and student advising. If a student wishes to make changes to her/his
learning objectives or course plan, a new “Generalist MPH Learning
Objectives and Course Plan” form, with all required signatures, must be
filed with the Student Administrative Advisor before registration for new
courses.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE MPH
MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
A Fay W. Boozman College
of Public Health completed application form with all required
materials, must be received by the COPH Office of Student Services by
4:30 p.m. on April 1 for applicants seeking admission
in the fall semester and by 4:30 p.m. on October 1
for admission to the spring semester.
To apply to the Master of
Public Health (MPH) program in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health,
applicants must submit the following materials:
1. A
completed and signed original COPH application form.
2. A
baccalaureate degree transcript from an accredited college or university.
Official, original transcripts of all academic work must be sent to
the COPH Office of Student Services directly from each
college or university attended, whether or not a degree was awarded at
that institution. Transcripts showing courses completed at the UAMS Fay W.
Boozman College of Public Health must also be requested from the COPH
Registrar and received by the deadline date. Transcripts from foreign
institutions must be translated. (Students who anticipate completion of
their undergraduate degree soon after the admissions deadline may apply for
conditional admission. If granted conditional admission, a final transcript
from the student’s baccalaureate institution must be received by the Office
of Student Services prior to the date of registration of the admitted
semester.)
3. Graduate
Record Examination (GRE) official score(s). The test must have been taken
within the five (5) years immediately preceding the application deadline
(April 1 or October 1) of the requested semester for admission. Official
scores must be sent by the testing agency to the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College
of Public Health (code 6512). In some circumstances, and subject to
approval from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, scores on a
comparable graduate test (MCAT, LSAT, GMAT, DAT, and PCAT) may be
considered. Applicants who have completed a master’s degree or higher are
exempt from the GRE requirement
4. Personal
statement or letter of interest (500 to 700 words).
5. Three
(3) COPH recommendation forms. The forms must be completed by separate
individuals who can speak to the candidate’s academic, professional and
public health experience. (Completed forms may be accompanied by a formal
letter of reference, at the discretion of the recommender; however, the
letter will not suffice as a recommendation without the completed form.)
The envelope containing the completed forms must be signed by the referring
party on the form and across the seal of the envelope. The
required form may be found online at
www. uams.edu/coph/applicants.
6. In
admission reviews,
first consideration is given to Arkansas residents. In recognition of the
support of COPH programs by private and federal organizations highly
qualified applicants who are residents of another state or citizens of a
foreign country may compete for admission. Those whose native language is
not English or who do not have an undergraduate degree from an accredited US
college or university, are required to submit a minimum score of 600 on the
paper based examination, 250 on the computer based examination, or 100 on
the internet based examination on the Test of English as a Foreign Language
(TOEFL). The test must have been taken within the five (5) years immediately
preceding the application deadline (April 1or October 1)of the requested
semester for admission. An original report of the test score, sent by the
testing agency to the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, is required
before any action is taken on an application. Copies are not acceptable.
An international student non-refundable application fee of $100, in a check
or money order, payable to UAMS COPH, also applies. (Please see “Admission
Requirements for International Students” for more information.)
7. A
current curriculum vitae or résumé.
8. Non-refundable
application fee of $40, in a check or money order, payable to UAMS COPH.
International students must pay a non-refundable $100 application fee.
9. Complete
a guided telephone interview conducted by COPH Student Services shortly
after the application deadline.
The Office of Student
Services must receive all required materials by 4:30 p.m. on the published
deadline (April 1 or October 1) date. It is the applicant’s responsibility
to make sure that her/his file is completed and received by the Office of
Student Services as required by the deadline.
Accepted students will be
notified in writing.
An offer of acceptance is
valid for a maximum of one calendar year from the admitted term of
acceptance. Acceptance is defined as enrolling with the COPH.
For additional specifics
about the curricula content and degree requirements refer to the
COPH Catalog
or contact the Assistant Dean of Student Services at 501-526-6747.
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