MPH Concentration Competencies

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MPH students will learn the following competencies in their concentration courses.

Community Health Promotion

  1. Assess appropriate social, behavioral, or communication theories, concepts, or models in health promotion research 

  2. Utilize evidence from the scientific literature to inform community health promotion or public health practice 

  3. Critique the study design of public health intervention studies. 

  4. Develop tailored evidence-based health promotion strategy targeting determinants of health for a specified community/population. 

  5. Assess policy and advocacy methods aimed at reducing health disparities and eliminating inequities using health justice frameworks. 

  6. Design strategies for advocating for evidence-based policy changes aimed at reducing inequities and health disparities. 

Epidemiology

  1. Identify determinants or risk factors of human health and disease. 

  2. Design epidemiologic studies to determine risk factors of adverse health outcomes 

  3. Critically evaluate the threats to the validity of epidemiologic studies 

  4. Implement strategies for minimizing bias in epidemiologic studies. 

  5. Utilize multivariable models to investigate a public health research question.

Food Security and Nutrition

  1. Apply the basic principles of food selection to support healthy dietary practices amongst individuals or populations. 

  2. Apply the principles of food safety practices for in-home and institutional preparation to protect public health. 

  3. Analyze nutrition interventions that change policy, systems, or the environment using multidisciplinary evidence. 

  4. Evaluate health and nutritional status of individuals and communities. 

  5. Identify effective nutrition policy or programmatic recommendations to improve food access and health at the individual and population levels. 

Global Health

  1. Compare the major causes of morbidity and mortality of low- and middle-income regions with high-income regions 

  2. Describe the economic, environmental and social drivers of diseases of global health importance 

  3. Apply ethical approaches in global health research and practice 

  4. Propose sustainable and evidence-based multi-sectoral interventions 

  5. Apply monitoring and evaluation techniques to global health programs, policies, and/or outcomes 

  6. Display critical self-reflection, cultural humility, and ongoing learning in global health.

Health Equity and Social Justice

  1. Critically evaluate the ways in which social and ecological determinants of health contribute to inequities in population health. 

  2. Develop strategies to create systemic change that address poverty, oppression, and inequities. 

  3. Analyze strategies to engage stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships to influence policy and create change. 

  4. Integrate relevant strategies, methodologies and measures for behavioral health interventions that advance health equity and social justice. 

  5. Recommended evidence-informed policies and programs that advance human rights and social and economic justice. 

Health Policy

  1. Effectively apply policy analysis skills for supporting policy development, implementation, or evaluation.

  2. Develop persuasive writing skills for policy settings. 

  3. Analyze multiple stakeholder perspectives to achieve optimum decision-making in health policy. 

  4. Critically evaluate health policies that seek to increase healthcare access, improve quality, or reduce cost. 

  5. Utilize statistical methods to aid in health policy and management decisions.

Public Health Communication

[Note: this program is not enrolling new students at this time.]

  1. Understand the strategic roles of communication and marketing in public health practice.
  2. Understand major health communication theories, and how they apply to public health practice.
  3. Demonstrate the ability to plan evidence-based and culturally sensitive public health communication programs.
  4. Demonstrate the ability to implement evidence-based and culturally sensitive public health communication programs using a variety of communication channels.
  5. Demonstrate the ability to evaluate evidence-based and culturally sensitive public health communication programs.
  6. Ability to conduct research to guide the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of public health communication programs.

Public Health Practice

  1. Apply multi-disciplinary systems thinking to understand the impact of public health emergencies on health outcomes and inequities. 

  2. Explore legal and regulatory actions to improve and protect the environment and the public’s health. 

  3. Utilize evidence from the scientific literature to inform community health promotion or public health practice. 

  4. Apply principles of effective project management in public health practice. 

  5. Analyze how public health strategies can be utilized in public health practice to decrease health disparities in a targeted area. 

  6. Recommend evidence-informed policies and programs to address current or emerging public health problems among specific populations.