CHSC 400 contributes to learner proficiency of the following MPH competencies:

Basic health science skills

  • Define, assess and understand the health status of populations, determinants of health and illness, factors contributing to health promotion and disease prevention, and factors influencing the use of health services.

  • Apply the basic public health sciences, including epidemiology, health and policy administration, behavioral and social sciences, biostatistics, and environmental and occupational public health, to the prevention of illness and injury.

  • Describe the potential linkages and interactions among multiple determinants of health at intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, community, and societal levels (i.e., ecological model).

  • Communicate an understanding of theoretical explanations of racial and ethnic disparities in forces influencing health.

  • Describe the role of molecular determinants in health and illness within an ecological model of public health.

Analytic skills

  • Define a problem in public health.

  • Use appropriate data and statistical methods for problem identification and resolutions and for program planning, implementation and evaluation.

  • Select and define variables relevant to defined public health problems.

  • Use data to illuminate ethical, political, scientific, economic and overall public health issues.

  • Synthesize core public health knowledge using analytic tools.

  • Integrate theory into public health practice.

  • Apply empirical knowledge to public health practice.

  • Apply rigorous critical thinking to the analysis of public health problems.

Cultural skills

  • Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the dynamic forces of cultural diversity and their implications for public health both within the United States and internationally.

  • Interact sensitively, effectively and professionally with people from diverse ethnic, socioeconomic, educational and professional backgrounds, and with persons of all ages and lifestyle preferences.

  • Identify the role of cultural factors in determining disease, disease prevention, health promoting behavior, and health care services organization and delivery.

  • Develop and adapt approaches to public health that take into account cultural differences.

Information and technology

  • Define a public health problem for purposes of literature research process.

  • Demonstrate library skills, including the ability to conduct computerized literature searches, for researching problems in public health.

  • Use one of several graphics software packages (e.g., POWERPOINT) to develop presentations for public health problems.

  • Describe the role of information systems in improving the effectiveness of public health activities.

Communication skills

  • Communicate effectively both in writing and orally to diverse professional and lay audiences regarding public health issues.

  • Present accurately and effectively demographic, statistical, programmatic and scientific public health information for professionals and lay audiences.

  • Lead and participate in groups to address specific public health issues.

  • Use the media to communicate important public health information.

 Policy development

  • Understand the historical development and structure of state, local and federal public health-related agencies.

  • Describe the U.S. institutions and processes of policy-making in public health and recognize that these differ in different societies.

  • Communicate an understanding of the impact of public policies and policy-making on one’s work in public health.

  • Recognize relevant theories of social policy and how they explain policy-making in public health.

  • Describe the use of evidence-based decision-making in policy-making in public health.

  • Describe processes and strategies used to inform and influence policy makers as they develop policies, laws, and regulations that impact on the public’s health.

 Leadership and systems thinking

  • Know what is required to assess a public health organization’s structure and performance.

  • Participate in and contribute to strategic planning in public health.

  • Describe public health and health care delivery systems.

  • Describe the elements of organizational leadership including strategies for coordinating teams, managing conflicts, motivating staff, and continuous quality improvement.

Financial planning and management

  • Develop and justify a budget.

  • Manage public health programs within budget constraints.

  • Monitor performance of public health programs.

  • Understand the role of cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, and cost utility analyses in the management of public health resources.

 Community dimensions of practice

  • Establish and maintain linkages with key stakeholders in community-based initiatives to address public health issues.

  • Describe the process for developing, implementing, and evaluating a community public health assessment.

  • Describe the scientific, ethical, and practice dimensions of community-based participatory research.

 Ethics

  • Use and apply ethical analysis to inform decision-making in public health.
  • Apply ethical principles to the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of data and information.

mphcomps last revised June 22, 2006 (bturnock)