Master of Public Health

Yale’s Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree program is designed for highly motivated students with related work experience or a professional degree as well as a substantial interest in an area of public health. A unique sequencing of courses, community-based programmatic activities, and field or laboratory research provides students with multiple opportunities to define their specialty and tailor their course of study.

Individualized programs are shaped by frequent interactions with faculty through courses, field experiences, and the thesis. An important component of the M.P.H. program is the faculty-student relationship, institutionalized in the form of an advisory system. Students are expected to work with their adviser in selecting appropriate courses, deciding on their internship and thesis, and integrating learning from all their experiences.

M.P.H. students focus their studies in one of the following departments: Biostatistics, Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Health Policy and Management, or Social and Behavioral Sciences. In addition, students may focus their studies in programs in the Health Policy Program (HP) or the Health Care Management Program (HCM). Students select their department/program at the time of application. Students cannot pursue an M.P.H. in more than one department/program while enrolled at YSPH.

The Two-Year M.P.H. Program is the traditional path of study for students enrolled in the M.P.H. degree program. For more information, see the chapter Traditional Two-Year M.P.H. Program.

The Advanced Professional M.P.H. Program is available for individuals with a doctoral-level degree in a field related to public health; with a master’s degree and at least two years of relevant work experience; with a bachelor’s degree and at least five years of relevant work experience; and students who have completed their third year in an accredited medical, dental, or podiatric school in the United States. Students in the AP Program apply to one of six tracks: Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiology; Health Policy; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Global Health; Preventive Medicine; and Occupational and Environmental Medicine. For more information, see the chapter Advanced Professional M.P.H. Program.

The B.A.-B.S./M.P.H. Select Program gives Yale College students interested in the field of public health the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree from Yale College and an M.P.H. degree from the Yale School of Public Health in a five-year joint-degree program. For more information, see the chapter B.A.-B.S./M.P.H. Select Program.

The Accelerated M.B.A./M.P.H. Program in Health Care Management enables students to earn an M.B.A. degree from the Yale School of Management and an M.P.H. degree from the Yale School of Public Health in a twenty-two-month integrated program. For more information, see the chapter Accelerated M.B.A./M.P.H. Program in Health Care Management.

The Executive M.P.H. Program is a two-year, part-time program that combines online education with in-person management and leadership skills. The program is available to individuals with a doctoral-level degree in a field related to public health; with a master’s degree and at least two years of relevant work experience; and with a bachelor’s degree and at least four years of relevant work experience. Students may select one of four tracks: Health Informatics, Environmental Health Sciences, Critical Topics in Public Health, or Applied Analytic Methods and Epidemiology. Students may select a second track upon enrollment. For more information, see the chapter Executive M.P.H. Program.

The Climate Change and Health Concentration will work to address the severe shortage of public health professionals with the educational background needed to address climate change as a public health issue. Students must fulfill the requirements of their respective departments or programs, in addition to the concentration requirements. Successful completion of the concentration will be recorded on the transcript when the student graduates. For more information, see Climate Change and Health Concentration in the chapter Traditional Two-Year M.P.H. Program.

The Global Health Concentration emphasizes a multidisciplinary, problem-solving approach to global health issues that encourages creativity and innovation while fostering a global perspective. Students in the Global Health Concentration may complete this concentration while they satisfy the requirements of their respective department/division/program. Successful completion of the concentration will be recorded on the transcript when the student graduates. For more information, see Global Health Concentration in the chapter Traditional Two-Year M.P.H. Program.

The Maternal and Child Health Promotion Track is a cutting-edge promotion education program that takes a multidisciplinary approach to implementing evidence-based practices to improve maternal and child health outcomes. The track trains students on the importance and application of implementation science to maternal and child health promotion. Students complete all of the core and departmental requirements as well as the required courses for the track. Successful completion of the track will be recorded on the transcript when the student graduates. For more information, see Maternal and Child Health Promotion Track in the chapter Traditional Two-Year M.P.H. Program.

The Public Health Modeling Concentration provides rigorous training in systems thinking. Students will be trained to focus on the explicit portrayal of real-world processes—their “physics,” their interactions, and their dynamics—to generate evidence about how those processes might behave under different specifications. Students will learn to integrate the mechanistic modeling approaches needed to describe underlying systems with the inferential methods necessary to motivate and inform model structure and parameterization. Successful completion of the concentration will be recorded on the transcript when the student graduates. For more information, see Public Health Modeling Concentration in the chapter Traditional Two-Year M.P.H. Program.

The U.S. Health Justice Concentration prepares students to analyze and address systems and processes that perpetuate health injustice in the United States. Students may complete this concentration while they satisfy the requirements of their respective department/division/program. Successful completion of the concentration will be recorded on the transcript when the student graduates. For more information, see U.S. Health Justice Concentration in the chapter Traditional Two-Year M.P.H. Program.

All M.P.H. students are urged to develop programs of study that include courses from other departments within YSPH and throughout the University in order to benefit from the strengths of Yale’s professional and graduate schools and learn ways to understand the complexity and multidimensionality of most public health issues.

Students in the traditional two-year M.P.H. program are required to complete 20 course units, which include the core curriculum, departmental/program requirements, and electives both within YSPH and in other schools at the University (with the permission of the academic adviser). Course units are not given for seminars and colloquia.

Full-time students must carry a minimum of 4 course units per term for four terms and must complete all course requirements (including the thesis) within five years of matriculation. A thesis is not required for students in Biostatistics, Health Policy, or Health Care Management. Students in Social and Behavioral Sciences have a choice between the capstone course and the thesis course.

Part-time student status is granted to those students taking fewer than 4 course units per term. Part-time students are encouraged to take at least 2 course units per term and must complete all course requirements (including the thesis) within five years of matriculation for all programs, except the Advanced Professional Program. Requirements for the one-year Advanced Professional Program must be completed within three years of matriculation.