MPH: Population and Family Health
Degree Opportunities
In the Heilbrunn Department, the MPH degree is offered in four formats, the Columbia MPH (full-time), the Accelerated MPH (one-year), the Dual Degree program, and the 4+1 program. All programs require coursework, Applied Practice Exprience, and an Integrative Learning Experience paper.
- MPH Program (52 credit minimum): In addition to the Core, and departmental requirements, the balance of the credits (52 minimum) for the MPH degree consists of certificate-specific courses and electives. Every student in the two-year Columbia MPH program enrolls in a certificate program that provides training in a focused area of expertise and leads to a Columbia University- and CEPH-approved credential.
- Accelerated Program (42 credit minimum): The Accelerated MPH is an intensive, one-year program designed for highly motivated professionals seeking to enhance their career with a degree in public health. The curriculum is similar to the innovative curriculum of the two-year Columbia MPH but completed in three semesters (fall, spring, summer). The profile of a typical Accelerated MPH student is an individual who has earned a doctoral degree, an MD student mid-way through their study, or an individual who has several years of work experience. Students in the accelerated program are not eligible for a certificate.
- Dual Degree Programs (42 credit minimum): The Columbia Mailman offers dual master’s degrees with many schools across the university through our MPH program. Applicants seeking admission to dual degree studies must apply separately to each of the two collaborating schools and must meet the admissions requirements of each. Once both schools grant admission to their individual degree programs, the student may begin an integrated dual degree program. Students in the dual degree program are not eligible for a certificate.
- 4+1 Programs (42 credit minimum): Columbia Mailman offers 4+1 programs in which a student earns a Bachelor’s degree from their undergraduate college then continues on to an accelerated Master of Public Health (MPH) program at Columbia Public Health. Students in the 4+1 program are not eligible for a certificate.
Competencies
Upon graduation, MPH students in Populatio and Family Health are able to demonstrate the following competencies:
- Advocate for ethics, social justice, and human rights principles surrounding long-term, action-oriented public health research, policies, or programs.
- Develop strategies to engage with diverse communities, with attention to privilege and power dynamics, and to human resource assets and constraints in diverse locations and contexts.
- Design and synthesize methodologically sound, evidence-based research to improve both public health practice and policy in one or more of the main substantive areas of the department (sexuality and sexual and reproductive health and rights; child, youth, and family health; maternal and child health; health and human rights; public health and humanitarian action; implementation science; and complex health systems).
- Implement data collection strategies and instruments to guide program development and monitoring and evaluation strategies for use in a broad range of local and global contexts, particularly in resource-constrained settings.
- Propose viable, effective, and context-specific programs in one or more of the primary substantive areas of the department, and articulate the location of these programs within public health systems and local contexts (sexuality and sexual and reproductive health and rights; child, youth, and family health; maternal and child health; health and human rights; public health and humanitarian action; implementation science; and complex health systems).