Master of Public Health Program at Johns Hopkins University

Program Overview

Objectives

The overarching goal of the MPH Program is to provide students with a population perspective on health. The Johns Hopkins MPH Program is designed to:

• prepare students to tackle current and emerging global public health problems
• provide students with critical multidisciplinary training to help solve global health problems
• equip students with foundational public health knowledge and competencies

Students are required to complete a core MPH curriculum that comprises approximately 45-50 of the 80 credits required for graduation. Students have flexibility to customize the remaining elective credits of their curriculum to their areas of interest to achieve an appropriate balance between depth and breadth.

MPH Program Matriculation Dates and Locations

June Cohort (Part-time)

Orientation: Online or Onsite in Baltimore, MD. End of May/Early June.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
600 N. Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205

July Cohort (Full-time)

Orientation: Onsite in Baltimore, MD. Beginning of July.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
600 N. Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205

November Cohort (Part-time)

Orientation: Onsite in Barcelona, Spain. Early November.

Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Ciutadella Campus
Merçè Rodoreda Building
Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
08005 Barcelona

January Cohort (Part-time)

Orientation: Online early January.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
600 N. Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205

March Cohort (Part-time)

Orientation: Onsite in Kyoto, Japan. Mid March.

iHope International
Kyoto daiichiseimei-Izumiya Bldg., 5F
Akinonocho 513, Nakagyo-ku
Kyoto 604-0847 Japan

Planning Your Curriculum

MPH students have flexibility in choosing courses and putting together their academic schedule of courses. Students can mix and match online courses, intensive learning Institute courses, on-site courses at our East Baltimore campus, as well as Johns Hopkins courses at other sites. 

Catalogue and Academic Calendar

The definitive course directory is https://www.jhsph.edu/courses and the current year courses in this catalogue should be used for planning. New students should familiarize themselves with the academic calendar for the term dates and registration periods.

Course Load and Time Commitment

Each credit represents, on average, about a three to four-hour time commitment during each week of the eight-week term. A median course load per 8-week term for a part-time student is about 5-6 credits. Therefore, part-time students can expect an average of 15-18 hours' worth of course-related work per week. Full-time students must be registered for 12 or more credits each term to maintain full-time status. Assuming that each credit of a course equals about three to four hours' worth of work per week, full-time students can expect to dedicate approximately 36 hours of work per week to their MPH courses. No student may exceed twenty-two credits in a single term.

Sequencing Your Curriculum

Required core area courses should be completed early in the program, and the epidemiology core course must be completed during the first year of study. If elective courses have prerequisites, these will be listed in the course description. Some course content, such as biostatistics, is delivered in a specific sequence of courses. Certificates may have specific sequences that participants should follow. The capstone is to be completed at or near the end of the program.

Choosing Electives

Many of MPH program credits will be in elective courses, and even some of the core courses can be chosen from among a variety of options. Here are some places to look for guidance in choosing electives:

• Your faculty adviser
• The course listings for the Summer, Fall and Winter Institutes 
• Searches in the course directory, using key words for search terms that pertain to your areas of interest
• The Informal Focus Areas/Formal Concentrations
• The certificate programs offered by BSPH (please see below)

BSPH Certificate Programs

The School offers certificate programs in specific areas of study. MPH students may pursue a certificate program; however, a student in a concentration area should check with the concentration directors to ensure that there is no substantial overlap between the concentration and certificate requirements. For more information, see http://www.jhsph.edu/academics/certificate- programs/  and contact the faculty sponsors of the certificate programs listed on the website.

Formal Concentrations  Areas

Concentrations and certificate programs differ in that concentrations are intended specifically for MPH students and incorporate faculty advising and the capstone experience within the concentration. 

• Aging in Public Health
• Child and Adolescent Health
• Epidemiological and Biostatistical Methods for Public Health and Clinical Research
• Food, Nutrition and Health
• Food Systems
• Global Environmental Sustainability and Health
• Health Leadership and Management
• Health Systems and Policy
• Humanitarian Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health 
   
• Women's and Reproductive Health

Detailed information about each concentration can be found on the MPH website (https://www.jhsph.edu/academics/degree-programs/master-of-public-health/curriculum/concentrations.html) and in the student manual for full-time students. Part-time/online students are able to take concentration courses as electives and possibly may participate in the concentration.

On-Campus Work in the Intensive Institutes

Summer Institutes in Baltimore
The Summer Institutes offer short intensive courses in the following areas:

• Health Behavior and Society
• Health Policy & Management
• Environmental Health
• Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Injury Prevention
• Mental Health
• Tropical Medicine
• American Indian Health
• Health Emergencies in Large Populations

The course schedules for the various Summer Institutes are typically published online in February.

Global Tobacco Control Institute in Baltimore
Two weeks of intensive courses held in Baltimore in October, considered to be part of 1st Term. Offerings are for students pursuing the Global Tobacco Control Certificate.

Fall Institute in Barcelona, Spain
Fall Institute is comprised of several short courses offered in November and is part of 2nd Term. While the Institute is hosted by the Health Policy & Management Department, the courses offered are from multiple departments and the offerings vary from year to year. Courses are held at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and taught in English. The schedule is typically available in late June.

Winter Institute in Baltimore
A variety of one- and two-week course are offered in January. Typically, the offerings include courses in Data Analysis, Tropical Medicine, Native American Health, Health Emergencies, Quality Improvement, and Health Communication, among others. The schedule is typically available in September.

Winter Institute in Washington, DC
All-day courses from one to four days long, pertaining to Health Policy, are offered in January. Courses are held at a Johns Hopkins satellite campus in the DuPont Circle area of Washington. The schedule is typically available in September.

SOURCE

https://www.jhsph.edu/source/

SOURCE is the community engagement and service-learning center for the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Schools of Public Health, Nursing, and Medicine. Its mission is to engage the Johns Hopkins University health professional schools and Baltimore communities in mutually beneficial partnerships that promote health and social justice. There are multiple ways to engage in a practicum experience through SOURCE supported activities. However, not all SOURCE projects meet the practicum requirements. Subscribe to the SOURCE Weekly Service Scoop to learn more about the latest community involvement opportunities in Baltimore City (https://source.jhu.edu/programs-and-events/service-scoop/).

Getting Advice, Mentoring, and Your Questions Answered

Each MPH student is assigned a faculty adviser. The role of the adviser is to discuss your academic program and progress including your choice of courses considering your educational and professional goals. Your adviser is your first point of contact with the faculty, but students are encouraged to reach out and form relationships with other faculty members as interests evolve. A Faculty Directory is available online.

Once you are assigned an adviser, you should be proactive in contacting them at least once a term. Since faculty advisers are also busy with research studies, lecturing, and frequent travel, the best way to initiate contact is to send your adviser an email to see if you can schedule a time to meet or talk by phone at a mutually convenient time.

Students should use the MPH program office as a source for advice on the day-to-day details of the program, questions regarding program requirements, school policies or administrative procedures.

For specific questions about academic rules and regulations, especially concerning the grading systems, pass/fail options, and add/drop policies, please consult BSPH Academic Policies.

MPH Executive Board

The Johns Hopkins MPH Program is governed by the MPH Executive Board composed of faculty from all departments of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Marie Diener-West
MPH Program Chair
Professor, Biostatistics
[email protected]

Randy Bryant
MPH Associate Chair
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
[email protected]

David Chin
MPH Associate Chair
Distinguished Scholar, Health Policy & Management
[email protected]

Megan Davis
MPH Associate Chair
Associate Professor, Environmental Health and Engineering
[email protected] 

David Dowdy
Associate Dean for Education (ex officio)
Associate Professor, Epidemiology
[email protected]

Dylan Jackson
MPH Associate Chair
Assistant Professor, Population, Family & Reproductive Health
[email protected]

Renee Johnson
MPH Associate Chair
Associate Professor, Mental Health
[email protected]

Sukon Kanchanaraksa
MPH Associate Chair
Director, Center for Teaching & Learning Associate Scientist, Epidemiology
[email protected]

Ryan Kennedy
MPH Associate Chair
Assistant Professor, Health, Behavior & Society
[email protected]

Gary Ketner
MPH Associate Chair
Professor, Molecular Microbiology & Immunology
[email protected]

John McGready
MPH Associate Chair
Associate Scientist, Biostatistics
[email protected]

Andrea Ruff
MPH Associate Chair
Associate Professor, International Health
[email protected]

Jon Vernick
MPH Associate Chair
Professor, Health Policy & Management
[email protected]

MPH Program Office

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 N. Wolfe Street, Room W1015
Baltimore, MD 21205

410-955-1291 (phone); 888-548-6741 (toll free)
410-955-4749 (fax)
[email protected]
http://www.jhsph.edu/MPH

Staff

Paul Whong
Senior Program Manager
[email protected]

Janet Carn
Sr. Academic Coordinator, Full-time Students
[email protected]

Katie Cruit
Sr. Academic Coordinator, Part-time/Online Students
[email protected]

Jacob Shaw
Academic Coordinator, Part-time/Online Students
[email protected]

Sharese Essien
Admissions Coordinator
[email protected]

Lisa Lassiter
Sr. Administrative Coordinator
[email protected]

Zi Li Strzelecki
Program Coordinator
[email protected]

Paulani Mui
Practicum Coordinator, Office of Public Health Practice
[email protected]

Learning Outcomes

Foundational Public Health Knowledge

All MPH students will attain grounding in foundational public health knowledge as measured by the following learning objectives:

Profession & Science of Public Health

• Explain public health history, philosophy and values
• Identify the core functions of public health and the 10 Essential Services
• Explain the role of quantitative methods and sciences in describing and assessing a population's health
• Explain the role of qualitative methods and sciences in describing and assessing a population's health
• List major causes and trends of morbidity and mortality in the US or other community relevant to the school or program
• Discuss the science of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention in population health, including health promotion, screening, etc.
• Explain the critical importance of evidence in advancing public health knowledge

Factors Related to Human Health

• Explain effects of environmental factors on a population's health
• Explain biological factors that affect a population's health
• Explain genetic factors that affect a population's health
• Explain behavioral and psychological factors that affect a population's health
• Explain the social, political and economic determinants of health and how they contribute to population health and health inequities
• Explain how globalization affects global burdens of disease
• Explain an ecological perspective on the connections among human health, animal health and ecosystem health (e.g., One Health)

Foundational Public Health Competencies

All MPH students will demonstrate achievement of the following competencies:

Evidence-based Approaches to Public Health

• Apply epidemiological methods to the breadth of settings and situations in public health practice
• Select quantitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context
• Select qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context
• Analyze quantitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming and software, as appropriate
• Analyze qualitative data using computer-based programming and software, as appropriate
• Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy or practice

Public Health & Health Care Systems

• Compare the organization, structure and function of health care, public health and regulatory systems across national and international settings
• Discuss how structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and societal levels

Planning & Management to Promote Health

• Assess population needs, assets and capacities that affect communities' health
• Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design or implementation of public health policies or programs
• Design a population-based policy, program, project or intervention
• Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management
• Select methods to evaluate public health programs Policy in Public Health
• Discuss multiple dimensions of the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence
• Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes
• Advocate for political, social or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations
• Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity

Leadership

• Apply principles of leadership, governance and management, which include creating a vision, empowering others, fostering collaboration and guiding decision making
• Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges

Communication

• Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors
• Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation
• Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content

Interprofessional Practice

• Perform effectively on interprofessional teams

Systems Thinking

• Apply systems thinking tools to a public health issue