Public Health Practice – Online

Public Health Practice

Lead communities in development, implementation and evaluation of public health initiatives

Career opportunities: Legislative policy advisor, management policy advisor, hospital/managed care administrator, program planner and evaluator, health services research analyst, policy analyst, academic

UF MPH

Overview

The online MPH offers a public health practice concentration that is targeted to the health professional who has already earned a doctorate in a health-related field, or for those who have been working in a professional capacity in the public health setting for several years. This degree will enhance the working knowledge of health professionals by giving them a valuable, applicable, public health perspective on health issues as they relate to the public versus the individual. This concentration offers a broad exposure to a variety of public health courses across all the traditional public health concentrations. Such breadth is usually required of professionals who assume positions of leadership in public health. For these reasons, this concentration is not appropriate for the new bachelor’s graduate or the working applicant who does not have several years of professional work experience in a health-related field.

The concentration is offered in the traditional 48-credit format or in an accelerated 42-credit format.

If you are interested in the public health practice concentration, please contact askmph@phhp.ufl.edu.

Eligibility

Individuals who are eligible for the Public Health Practice concentration include:

  • Students enrolled in a joint or concurrent terminal degree program (e.g., DVM, MD, PharmD).
  • Those with an advanced medical, dental, veterinary, pharmacy, nursing, health-focused attorney, or other advanced professional health degree (e.g., physical therapist, occupational therapist, psychologist).
  • Those who have worked for a health department, CDC, WHO, NIH (or other national or international public health agency) in a professional capacity for at least three years, after receiving a bachelor’s degree, but have no MPH degree.
  • Those who have worked outside the public health setting, but in a related field (e.g., as a hospital administrator), for at least four years after receiving a bachelor’s degree and have no MPH degree, but need to apply public health concepts to their work.

To be eligible for the 42-credit accelerated option, applicants must hold a terminal degree in a health or health-related field (e.g., DO, MD, DVM, DPT, DDS) from a regionally accredited US institution.

Online Public Health Practice Curriculum

The curriculum for the online Public Health Practice concentration follows a similar model as the other five concentrations. Students begin their programs with the MPH core courses required of all students. However, instead of a specified set of concentration core courses, students choose two to three courses from concentration core course options in two to four of the other concentrations. Selections must include at least one course in research methods. Other courses are focused on problem-based methodologies to enhance students’ practice skill sets, as well as skills in research and writing. Students complete their degrees with an Internship/Applied Practice Experience and an Integrative Learning Experience.

Additional information on the curriculum, including plans of study, can be found in the MPH Student Handbook.


Interested in the other concentrations offered in the MPH program? Explore other options on the Concentrations page.