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The demand for public health professionals is rapidly increasing as a result of health care reform, environmental health concerns, emerging and re-emerging diseases, sociopolitical factors affecting our nation's health, and expansion of health issues that are global in scope. Professionals with the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree may hold positions of responsibility in a variety of settings, including health care facilities, county and state health departments, social service agencies, health policy and planning organizations, universities, nongovernmental organizations, governmental agencies, international health organizations, community-based health education and health promotion settings, and the corporate world. Individuals with an MPH degree are often actively involved in the coordination, planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of health programs and services. The MPH program is designed for people interested in disease prevention and community health, and is the most widely recognized professional credential for leadership positions in public health. Public health professionals draw on knowledge and skills from a variety of disciplines to define, assess, and ultimately resolve public health problems. Students study theories, concepts, and principles of public health and their application. The curriculum, developed around national public health curriculum standards, uses a multidisciplinary approach that emphasizes psychological, behavioral, and social factors influencing population-based health disparities; principles of epidemiology and biostatistics; environmental public health concepts; public health administration systems and processes; and economic factors. It prepares students for an expanding range of professional opportunities and roles in public health and medicine. The MPH program culminates with a practicum and capstone project that students are able to design to best fit their area of specific interest.
| Course Number | Course Title | Course Description | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNV-502 | Introduction to Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences | This course is designed to prepare students for the graduate learning experience at Grand Canyon University. Students have opportunities to develop and strengthen the skills necessary to succeed as graduate students studying the health sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences . Emphasis is placed on utilizing the tools for graduate success. | 2 |
| HLT-515 | Social, Behavioral, and Cultural Factors in Public Health | This course is designed to provide an overview of the history of public health, system infrastructure, and its key role in health care. Students explore social, behavioral, and cultural factors that impact health populations based on demographic information such as gender, age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, behavioral risks, and community. Focus is placed on research, theories, and models not exclusively designed for, but applied to, public health issues that help to minimize health disparities through community engagement, education, and empowerment. | 4 |
| BIO-500 | Biostatistics | This course is designed to provide students with knowledge and skills in application, evaluation, analysis, and interpretation of biostatistical data used to inform public health programs, policy, and practice. Students learn to complete statistical analysis using both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches commonly used in public health practice. | 4 |
| HLT-540 | Health Care Research Methods, Analysis, and Utilization | This course focuses on the critical analysis of health care research and its application to the administration and delivery of health care services. Emphasis is placed on strategies to access current and relevant data, synthesize the information, and translate new knowledge into practice. Students are introduced to concepts of measurement, reliability, and validity, as well as ethical issues in the design and conduct of research through an evaluative process of health care initiatives and projects. | 4 |
| HLT-555 | Environmental Health | This course is designed to examine environmental dynamics that impact community health and safety. Emphasis is placed on determining relationships between chemical, biological, and physical factors and environmental threats that produce inferior health outcomes. Topics include historical and current approaches for assessing, preventing, and controlling environmental hazards, human health and safety, impact of environmental and occupational agents, environmental justice and equity, and the influence of biological information on public health laws, policies, and regulations. | 4 |
| BIO-550 | Epidemiology | This course applies epidemiological approaches to explore patterns of disease and injury in the human population. Emphasis is placed on health indicators, concepts, principles, and methods of chronic and infectious disease epidemiology. Students learn to conduct their own statistical analysis of basic epidemiological measures used for evidence-based decision making using data and reports. | 4 |
| HLT-600 | Public Health Policy | This course utilizes health care policy as a framework to analyze how health is defined and health care is designed and delivered in the United States and around the world. Emphasis is placed on policies and public health, social justice and human rights principles, public law and regulations quality, global issues; and views of public health, access, disparities, and finance. The various roles of the master's prepared public health professional in the health care system are explored. | 4 |
| HLT-605 | Public Health Administration | This course provides an overview of public health system components and competing factors that have historically impeded the delivery of public health services. Students employ systems thinking processes to determine the most effective approach to strategic implementation of programs. Topics include utilization of collaborative partnerships, global trends analysis, evidence-based decisions regarding improved health outcomes for individuals and communities, root cause analysis, public health financing, systems theory, and application to organizational problem solving. This course prepares learners to apply knowledge in an effort to address future health care challenges as well as goals set forth within the Healthy People 2010 initiative. | 4 |
| HLT-610 | Networking and Professional Readiness | This course is designed to provide students with the foundational knowledge, skills, resources, and guidance to prepare for professional health care standards across a variety of disciplines within the industry. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking, utilization of success protocols, awareness and identification of resources, communication strategies, and goal setting. Students apply learned networking techniques and tactics by gathering and presenting preliminary information regarding their evidence-based research project and Graduation Roadmap to professional mentors. The primary course outcome is an assessment of the evidence-based proposal and the student's professional readiness. | 2 |
| HCA-620 | Business/Project Plan Evaluation and Development | The focus of this course is to begin integrating all previous study and to identify the focus of students' final capstone project. Students evaluate and integrate the methodologies, considerations, and strategies for project or program design, planning, implementation, and evaluation that are relevant or specifically required by their specific health care discipline. Topics of investigation and consideration include (but are not limited to) financial and economic impact; resource allocation; competition; public and private educational requirements; availability of information technology; impact assessment of change; process improvement assessment; social, behavioral, and environmental impact; legal/ethical issues; and any other factors that impact the provision of care or subsequent outcomes within an organization and community. A collaborative group project approach is emphasized to enhance contribution and consideration from diverse experiences within the health care field. Prerequisite: Successful completion of all previous coursework in the program of study. | 4 |
| HLT-660 | Practicum | The practicum course is designed to provide students an opportunity to transition from theory to practice. The student reinforces and integrates concepts, principles, and skills gained during coursework that are essential to professional competency. Students are required to complete a minimum of 80 hours of on-site work under close supervision of a faculty member and an on-site preceptor approved by the college or university. Prerequisites: HLT 605 and a release by the college's Office of Field Experience documenting that the following requirements have been completed: Documentation (with face sheet) of personal liability insurance ($1 million/$3 million) coverage, programmatic GPA of 3.0 or higher, site approval, and site supervisor approval. | 4 |
| HCA-675 | Health Care Innovation | This course provides an opportunity for students to envision the best possible future for the American health care system, and to understand what changes are necessary to achieve it. By focusing on and developing a set of recommendations for improving American health care, students appreciate the difference between forcing a current system to work harder, and redesigning a system in order to achieve desired outcomes. Students learn how transactional leaders can become transformational leaders, and begin the formal process of preparing for their capstone research project. Students gain understanding of how clinical data, knowledge, and practice are driving the development of health care surveillance systems through informatics. Topics of investigation include the role of informatics in improved patient care and research, organization and national bio-surveillance, and clinical decision support. Consideration is given to legal and regulatory issues in private and public health practice and as they apply to public health security and preparedness in response to bioterrorism and disasters. Prerequisite: HCA 620. | 4 |
| HCA-699 | Evidence-Based Research Project | This capstone course provides an opportunity for students to complete the development of a comprehensive evidence-based project, plan, or proposal that addresses a problem, issue, or concern in their professional practice and can be implemented upon completion of the program. Projects address a problem amenable to research-based intervention; include a relevant and comprehensive literature review; propose a solution; and include a fully developed program, project, or business plan. The project also contains all the necessary information to implement the proposed solution, evaluate its outcome(s), and disseminate the findings. Prerequisite: HCA 675. | 4 |
| Required Course Total Credit: | 48 | ||
| Books & Supplies (Per Program) | Tuition & Fees (Per Program) | Room & Board (Per Semester, If Applicable) |
On Time Graduation Rate | Median Private Loan Debt | Median TIV Loan Debt | Median Institutional Financing Plan Debt | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Traditional | Traditional | Non-Traditional | Traditional | Non-Traditional | Traditional | Non-Traditional | Traditional | Non-Traditional | Traditional | Non-Traditional | Traditional | |
| $1,400 | N/A | $23,590 | N/A | $2,965 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Occupations | SOC Code and Link |
|---|---|
| Medical and Health Services Managers | 11-9111.00 |
| Occupational Health and Safety Specialists | 29-9011.00 |
| Health Educators | 21-1091.00 |
| Community and Social Service Specialist, All Other | 21-1099.00 |
| Social and Community Service Managers | 11-9151.00 |
| Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary | 25-1071.00 |
* Program subject to change.
