The profession of public health is responsible for the protection, preservation, and promotion of the health of communities and populations. Although the health problems of today differ from those of the past and of the future, the professionals who make up the field need to be trained to respond to broad community problems utilizing the basic ideas of prevention of disease and promotion of well-being. This goal can be achieved only with an understanding of the health status of the population through data gathering and analysis, as well as knowledge of the complex relationships between disease process in the social and biological environment of the community.
The field of public health today needs practitioners from many disciplines. Candidates for graduate study may come from a wide variety of academic backgrounds, training, or experience, including both the natural and social sciences.
Certain degrees within the School of Public Health are not offered by the individual departments but are administered on a schoolwide level: the Master of Public Health; the Doctor of Public Health; the concurrent M.B.A./M.P.H. with the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management and the concurrent M.A./M.P.H. with Islamic Studies; and two articulated M.A./M.P.H. degrees with African Area Studies and Latin American Studies.
For information on the Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, or Health Services, or the Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Public Health within the Department of Community Health Sciences, see the listings for those departments. For information on the interdepartmental D.Env. degree program housed in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, see the listing for Environmental Science and Engineering.
Master of Science in Preventive Medicine and Public Health is not admitting new students at this time.