Walden’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program is designed to provide public health practitioners with the specialized skills and core competencies required to improve health and prevent disease among individuals, communities, and populations. Students gain a solid foundation in core public health disciplines, including biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, public health administration, and social and behavioral sciences. Students learn to plan, implement, and evaluate public health programs and initiatives with a special focus on reducing disparities in health and serving underserved populations or communities. Students also receive additional instruction in widely used analytical tools, explore current issues in global public health, and hone their leadership and communication skills.
Consistent with our commitment to continuous quality improvement, Walden redesigned the MPH curriculum to incorporate case studies on the latest public health issues, improve the student’s field and classroom experience, and reflect professional guidelines set forth by leading public health organizations.
Note on Accreditation
The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) Board of Councilors acted at its September 6, 2019, meeting to accredit the Master of Public Health (MPH) Program at Walden University for a five-year term, based on an application for accreditation submitted on February 3, 2018. On June 5, 2020, the CEPH Board of Councilors accredited the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) at Walden University, after reviewing an accreditation application submitted on April 21, 2020. CEPH is an independent agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit schools of public health and programs of public health. CEPH accreditation provides assurance that the program has been evaluated and met accepted public health profession standards in practice, research, and service. For a copy of the final self-study document and/or final accreditation report, please contact the dean of the School of Health Sciences (adchshealth@mail.waldenu.edu).
Note on Certification
The National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE) offers the Certified in Public Health (CPH) credential as a voluntary core credential for public health professionals. As the eligibility criteria may change periodically, students should visit https://www.nbphe.org/eligibility for more information about certification in public health. It is the individual’s responsibility to understand, evaluate, and comply with all requirements relating to national certification. Walden makes no representations or guarantees that completion of Walden coursework or programs will permit an individual to obtain national certification or practice as a public health professional in the state where they intend to practice.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this program, students will be able to:
- Utilize culturally appropriate communication skills to convey prevention and intervention strategies used to improve health outcomes among diverse local and global populations.
- Apply an understanding of the fundamental concepts of research methods, biostatistical data and software, and the epidemiological approach.
- Evaluate environmental, structural, legal, and regulatory factors that affect the health of local and global communities.
- Evaluate the major social, behavioral, and cultural factors that affect the health of local and global populations.
- Appropriately access, interpret, and evaluate public health data that are available through the use of information technology.
- Analyze essential services, systems, public policies, and associated challenges that impact the health of local and global communities.
- Demonstrate skills needed for effective leadership and decision making in public health.
- Apply health management and systems thinking to public health agencies, programs, policies, and issues.
- Apply the principles of program design, implementation, and evaluation to improve the health of local and global populations.
- Identify a commitment to professional, equitable, and ethically responsible public health research and practice.
Degree Requirements
- 64 total quarter credits
- Candidacy course (5 credits)
Students must receive a B or better in PUBH 6005 in order to continue with the MPH program.
- Core courses (51 credits)
- Field Experience Preparation Course (0 credit)
- Practicum and Applied Project (8 credits)
Curriculum
Candidacy Course (5 credits)
Core Courses (51 credits)
Practicum and Applied Project (8 credits)
Learn more about the Master of Public Health (MPH) Field Experience at: https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/public-health-practicum/plan
Course Sequence
Students undertake courses in the following sequence.
|
Quarter |
Course |
Credits |
|---|---|---|
|
Quarter 1 |
PUBH 6005 - Perspectives on Health and the Developing Scholar-Practitioner |
5 credits |
|
Quarter 2 |
PUBH 6038 - Health Behavior Theory |
5 credits |
|
PUBH 6036 – Public Health Research Methods |
5 credits |
|
|
Quarter 3 |
PUBH 6032 - SPSS Revealed |
1 credit |
|
PUBH 6034 - Environmental Health: Local to Global |
5 credits |
|
|
Quarter 4 |
PUBH 6330 - Fundamentals of Biostatistics |
5 credits |
|
PUBH 6331 - Global Health and Social Justice |
5 credits |
|
|
Quarter 5 |
PUBH 6035 - Epidemiology: Decoding the Science of Public Health |
5 credits |
|
PUBH 6475 - Program Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation |
5 credits |
|
|
Quarter 6 |
PUBH 6332 – Health Policy and Systems Thinking |
5 credits |
| FEHP 6637 - Field Experience Preparation | 0 credits | |
|
PUBH 6333 – Health Communication in the 21st Century |
5 credits |
|
|
Quarter 7 |
PUBH 6600 - Leadership and Professional Practice in Public Health |
2 credits |
|
PUBH 6641 - Applied Project in Public Health |
3 credits |
|
|
Quarter 8 |
PUBH 6213 - Public Health Grant Writing |
3 credits |
|
PUBH 6637 - Practicum: Field Experience in Public Health |
5 credits |
Field Experience Preparation
Walden is committed to providing students with resources and support in preparation of field experience(s). To help ease anxiety in the field experience process, Walden offers a 0-credit Field Experience Preparation course, a structured experience that guides students through the application process and currently available readiness resources. The course is designed to complement other pre-requisite courses needed in preparation for field experience(s). The goal is that students submit their field experience application by the end of the course. Of course, there may be reasons why a field experience needs to be postponed, or the readiness course may not be needed if a field experience opportunity has already been secured. In this instance, students may opt-out of the course. By opting out of the Field Experience Preparation course without having submitted a complete field experience application you are notifying Walden that you have chosen to delay the beginning of your field experience indefinitely, it is your responsibility to notify Walden when you plan to begin the field experience component of your program. In some instances, opting out of the Field Experience Preparation course indicates the foundational components of the field experience process have been satisfied and submission of the field experience application is pending. While the course is not yet available for Tempo students, the same readiness resources are available to Tempo students seeking field experience.