MASTER'S PROGRAMS AT THE SCHOOL

The Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree program is designed for students who want to begin or advance their careers in the management and leadership of organizations in the field of health services. The program is offered through the Department of Health Policy and Management.

The Master of Health Science (MHS) is offered by each academic department. MHS degree programs are designed to prepare students for further graduate study or research careers through in-depth study and research in a particular public health discipline.

The Master of Public Health (MPH) is a degree program which provides integrated training in the core competencies of the field of public health, preparing its graduates to address current or emerging public health challenges. The MPH program is targeted toward professionals with a minimum of two years of prior experience in the health arena with a population perspective on health. Medical students are also eligible for the program after the completion of their second year of medical school. MPH graduates of the Bloomberg School include people from a wide variety of professions such as clinicians, attorneys, social workers, researchers, teachers and social scientists.

The Master in Public Policy (MPP) is a two-year multidisciplinary degree that equips students with the critical skills required to analyze public problems and policy choices, formulate implementing mechanisms, and evaluate the results. The curriculum blends analytic perspectives from statistics, economics, sociology, political science, and philosophy into a coherent discipline. It explicitly considers the ethical and value dimensions inherent in making policy choices and the collaborative nature of policy implementation involving governmental and nongovernmental actors. Through a required internship, students engage in hands-on policy research. A master’s thesis is optional.

The Master of Science in Public Health Degree (MSPH) is offered through individual academic departments. ¹ The MSPH is an alternative to the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree for students desiring more focused skills in a specific field of public health and for students with less than two years of health-related work experience. MSPH degrees couple intensive, focused academic training with a field experience, providing students the opportunity to integrate their academic training with real-world public health practice.

The Master of Science (ScM) degree is targeted to students interested in building research careers in one of the following fields: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Biostatistics; Bioinformatics; Epidemiology; Genetic Counseling; and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. Each of the ScM degrees in these programs requires a written thesis based on original research. Graduates of ScM programs work in a wide variety of public health research settings. Because these programs vary in their content and admissions requirements, interested students should contact the program of interest directly prior to application.

¹Beginning with the 2010-11 academic year, the names of degree programs previously designated as professional MHS degree programs were changed to MSPH degree programs. Admission and graduation requirements and educational objectives remained the same. The name change is not retroactive.