MPH Competencies

The curriculum for the MPH degree is competency-based in order to comply with current national efforts to improve the quality and accountability of public health training programs. The Graduate Program in Public Health faculty developed the required MPH Core Competencies, using the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), Master’s of Public Health Core Competency Development Project as the starting point.

To ensure that all students have a broad understanding of the basic areas of public health, every student is required to complete all MPH Core courses. Students receive training in the five basic, discipline-specific, competency areas of public health: biostatistics, environmental health, epidemiology, health policy and management, and the social and behavioral sciences. Students also receive core competency education in informatics and communication, professionalism, systems thinking, research methods, and problem solving. The Evaluative Sciences, Public Health Practice, and Community Health concentrations have concentration-specific competencies. The Program’s success in transmitting the competencies to students is measured before and after completion of the Program (Orientation and Graduation Competency Assessments), as well as before and after each Core course (Pre/Post Course Competency Assessments). A table with the complete list of MPH Core and Concentration Competencies can be found below.