Community Health and Prevention Science - MPH

MPH Core Requirements

PUBH 6000 | MPH Applied Practice Experience (0 credits)
PUBH 6002 | Biostatistical Applications for Public Health (3 credits)
PUBH 6003 | Principles & Practice of Epidemiology (3 credits)
PUBH 6007 | Social & Behavioral Approaches to Public Health (2 credits)
PUBH 6011 | Environmental & Biological Foundations of Public Health (3 credits)
PUBH 6012 | Fundamentals of Health Policy (2 credits)
PUBH 6021 | Essentials of Public Health Practice & Leadership 1 (1 credit)
PUBH 6022 | Essentials of Public Health Practice & Leadership 2 (1 credit)
PUBH 6023 | Interprofessional Education Experience (IPE) (0 credits)

CORE TOTAL: 15 CREDITS

PUBH 6015 | Culminating Experience (2 credits)

CE TOTAL: 2 CREDITS

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Program-Specific Requirements

PUBH 6500 | Planning & Implementing Health Promotion Programs (3 credits)
PUBH 6501 | Program Evaluation (3 credits)
PUBH 6504 | Social & Behavioral Science Research Methods (3 credits)
PUBH 6510 | Community Oriented Primary Care Principles & Practice (3 credits)
PUBH 6530 | Qualitative Methods in Health Promotion (2 credits)
PUBH 6534 | Community-Based Participatory Research (2 credits)

PROGRAM-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS TOTAL: 16 CREDITS

SPH COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Electives

Students take 12 credits of any graduate-level (6000 or above) at SPH (PUBH, HSML, EXNS) 

For the most up to date list of recommended electives, please reference the program guide.

ELECTIVE REQUIREMENTS TOTAL: 12 CREDITS

Non-Academic Requirements

Professional Enhancement

Students in degree programs must participate in eight hours of Professional Enhancement. These activities may be Public Health-related lectures, seminars, or symposia related to your field of study.

Professional Enhancement activities supplement the rigorous academic curriculum of the SPH degree programs and help prepare students to participate actively in the professional community. You can learn more about opportunities for Professional Enhancement via the Milken Institute School of Public Health Listserv, through departmental communications, or by speaking with your advisor.

Students must submit a completed Professional Enhancement Form to the student records department at gwsphrecordsgwu [dot] edu (gwsphrecords[at]gwu[dot]edu).

Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Training

All students are required to complete the Basic CITI training module in Social and Behavioral Research prior to beginning the practicum.  This online training module for Social and Behavioral Researchers will help new students demonstrate and maintain sufficient knowledge of the ethical principles and regulatory requirements for protecting human subjects - key for any public health research.

Academic Integrity Quiz

All Milken Institute School of Public Health students are required to review the University’s Code of Academic Integrity and complete the GW Academic Integrity Activity.  This activity must be completed within 2 weeks of matriculation. Information on GWSPH Academic Integrity requirements can be found here.

Students in the GW MPH programs gain practical skills and knowledge through their practice experiences. It is important for MPH in Community Health and Prevention Science graduates to feel confident in their skills and gain real-world experience during their studies. Students in the Community Health and Prevention Science program complete both an Applied Practice Experience (practicum) and a Culminating Experience to practice their knowledge and skills in real-world settings.

In the Department of Prevention and Community Health, the Applied Practice Experience is a course designed to engage students in a Practice Activity—a planned, supervised, and evaluated experience in a public health organization. The Practice Activity can be related to either primary research or public health practice. It might include activities such as conducting literature reviews, writing proposals, or collecting and analyzing data.

The Practice Activity for the MPH in Community Health and Prevention Science may not be directly related to the student's day-to-day work. This is to ensure that students learn and apply new skills in the context of public health. If the student does conduct the Practice Activity at their place of employment, it must be work for which the student is not remunerated.

Culminating Experience

The Culminating Experience (CE) integrates the knowledge and skills students acquire through their academic work and the Practice Activity. The CE requires students to identify and define a specific public health issue and formulate hypotheses to address that issue. The CE for the Department of Prevention and Community Health will include a major written paper such as a thesis or applied research project, which presents the results of a needs assessment, development and pilot testing of an intervention program or components of a program, development and implementation of community advocacy programs, evaluation of programs or policies, or development and evaluation of case studies.

Some previous CE research topics in the Department of Prevention and Community Health include:

• Formative evaluation of HIV, STI, and pregnancy services in Washington, DC
• Design, implementation, and evaluation of a video training program for obesity prevention 
• A policy analysis of primary palliative care education in medical schools
• Need assessment of Ethiopian and Eritrean children in Washington, DC
• An examination of the "sports protective hypothesis" in a national sample of cisgender female college students 
• Analysis of e-cigarette marketing on social media
• Immigrants' health in the DMV area
• Community engagement in local health policy success
• Assessment of the implementation of HIV prevention services with transgender people in Puerto Rico 
• Evaluation of equity implications in state Medicaid policies for telehealth services in the COVID-19 pandemic 
• Process evaluation of "Crowdsourcing PrEP: A community-engaged open contest approach to increasing PrEP among young people"
• The effectiveness of telemedicine in opioid use disorder treatment
• Assessing Latino health needs
• Early childhood literacy
• Hospice care
• Childhood obesity
• Medication coverage for elderly
• Defining homeless communities
• Using geographic information systems to improve access to care
• Impact of co-morbidities: Diabetes, Hepatitis, and HIV
• Community health promoter training in Chiapas, Mexico
• Community-based rehabilitation programs in La Estancia, El Salvador
• Accessing community health resources for children
• Understanding barriers to care management and meeting clinical standards in the patient centered medical home setting

There are numerous opportunities for Community Health and Prevention Science graduates. 

Jobs You Will Be Prepared For

Graduates will be prepared for careers in non-profit organizations, healthcare systems, academic institutions, government agencies, and the private sector, including roles such as:

• Community Health Program Manager
• Public Health Educator
• Health Policy Analyst
• Research Associate/Coordinator
• Public Health Consultant

Organizations You Are Prepared to Help

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
• Pan American Health Organization 
• National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
• Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE)
• American Public Health Association (APHA)
• Human Right Campaign 
• Departments of Health 
• Office on Women’s Health at the Department of Health & Human Services
• National Committee for Quality Assurance
• FHI 360
• National Coalition of STD Directors
• Edelman Public Relations
• D.C. Department of Health

Students pursuing an MPH in Community Health and Prevention Science have access to a world-class faculty with relevant expertise and diverse experience in both community and healthcare settings. Some of the areas of interest and research experience for professors and lecturers in the Community Health and Prevention Science program include intervention design, program evaluation, community-based research, and community mobilization.