MPH Program Competencies

Core Competencies

Biostatistics

• Develop and apply statistical reasoning and methods in addressing and solving problems in public health.
• Determine appropriate use of quantitative and qualitative data and statistical methods for problem identification and resolution.

Epidemiology

• Assess the health status of populations and their related determinants of health and illness.
• Utilize data to address scientific, political, ethical, and social public health issues.

Environmental Health

• Demonstrate an understanding of the environmental factors including biological, physical, and chemical factors that affect the health of a community.
• Describe the direct and indirect human, ecological, and safety effects of major environmental and occupational agents.

Public Health Administration

• Describe the structure, process, and outcomes of health services management and policy development including the costs, financing, organization, and accessibility of care.

Social and Behavioral Sciences

• Apply basic theories, concepts, and models from social, scientific, and behavioral disciplines that are used in public health research and practice.

Public Health Practice and Science

• Apply the basic public health sciences (including, but not limited to biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, public health administration, and social and behavioral sciences) to public health policies and programs.
• Identify approaches for assessing, preventing, and controlling environmental and occupational hazards that pose risks to human health and safety.

Communication

• Communicate effectively to diverse professional and lay audiences regarding public health issues.

Cultural Competency

• Identify the role of cultural, social, and behavioral factors in determining the organization and delivery of public health services and programs.
• Develop public health interventions and strategies responsive to the diverse cultural values and traditions of the communities being served.

Track-Specific Competencies

Monitoring and Assessment

• Assess community linkages and relationships among multiple factors (or determinants) affecting health.

Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation

• Describe how social, behavioral, environmental, and biological factors contribute to specific individual and community outcomes.
• Apply the principles of program planning, development, budgeting, management, and evaluation in organizational and community initiatives.
• Apply evidence-based principles and the scientific knowledge base to critical evaluation and decision-making in public health.

Ethics

• Describe the legal, moral, social, political, and ethical issues involved in public health policy and practice.
• Apply legal and ethical principles to the practice of public health in a variety of settings.

Management and Collaborative Leadership

• Apply principles of collaborative leadership and management that include the mobilization of community partnerships to administer public health programs, advance public health initiatives, and achieve community health goals.
• Demonstrate effective leadership, coalition/team building, and advocacy skills in managing, applying laws and regulations, and advancing public health issues.