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.

Capstone Courses. Two (2) capstone courses are required as part of the forty-two (42) semester credit hour MPH curriculum. The first is a preceptorship, or field experience, requiring a minimum of 135 clock hours of work in a public health-related activity, under the joint supervision of a qualified specialist in public health practice and a COPH faculty member. The second is an integration project, requiring the student to synthesize and integrate knowledge and apply theory and principles learned to an area of public health practice resulting in preparation of a manuscript for publication, a health policy proposal, a research proposal for submission, or equivalent, if approved by the Integration Project Advisory Committee (IPAC) composed of COPH Faculty members.

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.

APPLICATION PROCESS FOR THE MPH

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Step 1: Review specific COPH program requirements at www.UAMS.edu/coph.                                                                                                     

Step 2: Complete application through SOPHAS (see www.sophas.org for information and checklists) COPH does not require a supplemental application.   

Step 3: Forward a check or money order for $25 processing fee ($50 for international applicants) made payable to UAMS COPH.  

Step 4: Log in and monitor the status of application and documents in SOPHAS regularly. 

Step 5: Once SOPHAS has received all application requirements, it may take up to four weeks for them to verify and deliver the file to COPH.  Please take this time into account when adhering to COPH deadlines.   

Please note: SOPHAS will not hold your application for the following items: 

-                      Standardized test scores

-                      International transcripts 

Thus, COPH may receive the file incomplete.  We will not move forward with the admission review process until the necessary documents either from SOPHAS or the corresponding test agencies or academic institutions are received. Continue to monitor your SOPHAS account for updates regarding the status of these items.  

Step 6: After receipt of completed application packet from SOPHAS, COPH will send a confirmation email to the applicant to the preferred email address entered on the application. 

Step 7: COPH will schedule a brief telephone interview with each completed and qualifying applicant within three weeks of receipt of file from SOPHAS.  Please monitor your preferred email address for this and other communications.  

Step 8: The COPH Admissions Committee will review the files and each applicant interviewed will be notified in writing of an admission decision within 4 weeks of the completed telephone interview.

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.