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UIC School of Public Health Student Handbook 2008-2009

The Master of Public Health: Community Health Sciences

LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR CHS • CULMINATING EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

To print the PEP curricular table for the CHS MPH, please download here(pdf)

Professional Enhancement Program (PEP) MPH Curriculum

TOTAL Credit Hours = minimum of 42 semester credit hours (SH)

http://www.uic.edu/sph/chs.htm

School-Wide

Core

Requirements

· EPID 403 Introduction to Epidemiology: Principles and Methods (3 SH)

· BSTT 400 Biostatistics I (4 SH)

· HPA 400 Principles of Management in Public Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 400 Public Health Concepts and Practice (3 SH)

· EOHS 400 Principles of Environmental Health Sciences (3 SH)

· CHSC 401 Behavioral Sciences in Public Health (3 SH)

Required Non-Credit Training:
(http://tigger.uic.edu/depts/ovcr/research/protocolreview/irb/
education/initial.shtml)

· HIPAA Research 101 (non-credit)

· Investigator Training 101 (non-credit)

Culminating Experience:

· IPHS 650 Field Experience in Public Health (3 or 5 SH)*

· IPHS 698 MPH Capstone Experience (1 SH)**

SUB-TOTAL: 23-25 semester credit hours

Divisional

Core

Requirements

· CHSC 431 Community Assessment in Public Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 433 Public Health Planning and Evaluation (3 SH)

· CHSC 446 Research Methods in Community Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 480 Health Education and Health Promotion (3 SH)

Select one of the following policy/advocacy courses:

· CHSC 527 Critical Issues in Long-Term Care Policy (3 SH), CHSC 543 MCH Policy and Advocacy (3 SH), HPA 430 Introduction to Public Health Policy Analysis (3 SH)

SUB-TOTAL: 15 semester credit hours

Electives

Students must complete the number of electives necessary to bring total program hours to a minimum of 42 semester credit hours.

TOTAL HOURS

Minimum of 42 semester credit hours

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To print the Comprehensive curricular table for the CHS MPH, please download here(pdf)

Comprehensive MPH Curriculum

TOTAL Credit Hours = minimum of 49 semester credit hours (SH)

School-Wide

Core

Requirements

· EPID 403 Introduction to Epidemiology: Principles and Methods (3 SH)

· BSTT 400 Biostatistics I (4 SH)

· HPA 400 Principles of Management in Public Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 400 Public Health Concepts and Practice (3 SH)

· EOHS 400 Principles of Environmental Health Sciences (3 SH)

· CHSC 401 Behavioral Sciences in Public Health (3 SH)

Required Non-Credit Training:
(http://tigger.uic.edu/depts/ovcr/research
/protocolreview/irb/education/initial.shtml)

· HIPAA Research 101 (non-credit)

· Investigator Training 101 (non-credit)

Culminating Experience:

· IPHS 650 Field Experience in Public Health (3 or 5 SH)*

· IPHS 698 MPH Capstone Experience (1 SH)**

SUB-TOTAL: 23-25 semester credit hours

Divisional

Core

Requirements

· CHSC 431 Community Assessment in Public Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 433 Public Health Planning and Evaluation (3 SH)

· CHSC 446 Research Methods in Community Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 480 Health Education and Health Promotion (3 SH)

Select one of the following policy/advocacy courses:

· CHSC 527 Critical Issues in Long-Term Care Policy (3 SH), CHSC 543 MCH Policy and Advocacy (3 SH), HPA 430 Introduction to Public Health Policy Analysis (3 SH)

SUB-TOTAL: 15 semester credit hours

Electives, Tracks, and Concentrations

Students may use their electives to pursue a course of study in one of the following optional tracks, or divisional or inter-disciplinary concentrations; or may customize their program of study by selecting from a broad range of course work to meet their career goals and interests.

All students must complete a minimum of 11 semester hours of electives, at least 6 of which must be CHSC courses.

SUB-TOTAL: 5-11 semester credit hours

Optional Tracks

Behavioral Sciences and Health Promotion

Gerontology

Community-Based Research Methods

Select two of the following:

· CHSC 485 Communications, Mass Media and Public Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 584 Community Organizing for Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 586 Health Behavior Interventions (3 SH)

SUB-TOTAL: 6 semester credit hours

· CHSC 425 Public Health and Aging (3 SH)

Select one of the following:

· CHSC 528 Societal Analysis of Aging, Health and Health Care (3 SH)

· CHSC 529 Gerontological Health/ Illness Behavior (3 SH)

* Gerontology students must take CHSC 527 as their policy/advocacy course within the CHS Core.

SUB-TOTAL: 6 semester credit hours

Select two of the following:

· CHSC 434 Introduction to Qualitative Methods in Public Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 446 Research Methods in Community Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 447 Survey Planning and Design (3 SH)

· CHSC 534 Management and Analysis of Qualitative Data (3 SH)

· CHSC 577 Survey Questionnaire Design (3 SH)

SUB-TOTAL: 6 semester credit hours

Optional Concentrations – formal approval pending

Maternal and Child Health

Maternal and Child Health
Epidemiology

· CHSC 510 Maternal and Child Health Outcomes and Measurement (3 SH)

· CHSC 511 Maternal and Child Health Delivery Systems (3 SH)

· CHSC 512 Best Practices in Maternal and Child Health Programs (3 SH)

· EPID 406 Epidemiological Computing (3 SH)

· CHSC 595 MCH Seminar (1 SH)

· MCH Elective (2-3 SH)

MCH students must take CHSC 543 as their policy/advocacy course within the divisional core requirements (see above).

SUB-TOTAL: 15-16 semester credit hours

· CHSC 431 Community Assessment in Public Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 433 Public Health Planning and Evaluation (3 SH)

Select one of the following:

· CHSC 434 Introduction to Qualitative Methods in Public Health (3 SH)

· CHSC 446 Research Methods in Community Health (3 SH)

· PA 540 Research Methods in Public Administration (4 SH)

· BSTT 401 Biostatistics II (4 SH)

· EPID 404 Intermediate Epidemiologic Methods (4 SH)

· EPID 406 Epidemiologic Computing (3 SH)

Select one of the following:

· EPID 410 Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases (2 SH)

· EPID 411 Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases (3 SH)

· CHSC 548 Readings in Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology (2 SH)

Select one of the following:

· EPID/CHSC 545 (cross-listed) Reproductive and Perinatal Health (3 SH)

· EPID 518 Epidemiology of Pediatric Diseases (3 SH)

Select two of the following:

· CHSC 510 MCH Health Outcomes and Measurement (3 SH)

· CHSC 511 MCH Delivery Systems (3 SH)

· CHSC 512 Best Practices in MCH Programs (3 SH)

· CHSC 543 MCH Policy and Advocacy (3 SH)

SUB-TOTAL: minimum of 33-35 semester hour credits

Other Recognized Interdisciplinary Concentrations

Interdepartmental Graduate Concentration in Survey Research Methodology http://www.srl.uic.edu/gcsrm.htm

Interdepartmental Graduate Concentration in Women's Health http://www.uic.edu/nursing/forms/WHConcentrationWebInfo.pdf

Graduate Concentration in Women's Studies http://www.uic.edu/depts/wsweb/graduate/index.htm

Global Health http://www.uic.edu/sph/global/index.shtml

TOTAL HOURS

Minimum of 49 semester credit hours

MPH Peoria

http://www.uic.edu/sph/shandbook_peoria.htm

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Community Health Sciences (CHS): MPH Learning Objectives

In addition to the school-wide learning objectives, for students pursuing the MPH degree in Community Health Science, the following objectives apply:

Design and develop approaches to public health problems, taking into account community and cultural health definitions, culturally-based health behaviors, and cultural communication styles in planning and implementing effective programs and evaluations. These approaches also involve the community in assessing health needs, selecting a program approach, and planning, implementing and evaluating health programs.
Work effectively in cross-cultural settings and with culturally diverse communities, promote cultural competence within an organization, and compare culturally appropriate public health interventions cross-culturally within the U.S. and internationally.
Access and use national/state/local data sets for data management, determining statistical significance of data; analyze primary and secondary data; monitor data gathering; and review data analysis. Use data and community assessment information to develop solutions to complex public health problems and demonstrate creative problem solving.
Design a health education program for a specific audience, including selecting an appropriate intervention strategy, program objectives and evaluation, and include a rationale for all decisions. They also will know when and how to use principles of mass media communication in selecting/designing a health education intervention.
Analyze public health policy, regulation and/or legislation; design a policy position; write a policy statement; design and implement an advocacy plan promoting the policy; and defend a policy position in a controversial area.
Identify components of a good research design; create a simple quantitative and qualitative research study; select the quantitative, qualitative or combination of analytical methods research process appropriate for a particular public health research problem; select/monitor appropriate research tools; select the qualitative research method appropriate for a public health research problem; and explain how qualitative research will "interact" with public health data sets and other quantitative information.

Joint Degree Options for CHS students:

General MPH Curricular Policies: See http://www.uic.edu/sph/shandbook_mph.htm

* Field Experience

The Field Experience provides the student with practical experience in a public health setting. The overall learning objective of the Field Experience is for the student to apply and integrate the skills and knowledge learned during their graduate study in a real-world application. The Field Experience is required of all MPH students, with the majority being required to complete a 5 credit (320 contact hours) assignment. Some students may qualify for a reduced practicum of 3 credits (192 contact hours) depending on their prior public health experience and career goals, and would need to discuss this possibility within their chosen division. Field Experience requirements vary by division, with more information found on their divisional websites.

The field experience may be waived on an individual basis based upon a student’s demonstration of a Bachelor’s or advanced degree in a health or related profession plus 3 years of paid public health experience. A prior professional degree without public health experience; or prior work experience that is not closely related to the academic objectives of the student’s degree program; are not sufficient reason for waiving the practice requirement. If petitioning to waive the field practicum, please attach supporting documentation including a resume and letter explaining relevant public health experiences and how these experiences relate to the field practicum learning objectives found in the SPH student handbook.

** CHS Capstone Requirements

Learning Objectives of Capstone Requirement:

Required Courses:

All students must complete the following two course requirements:

IPHS 650 Field Experience in Public Health (0-5 SH)
IPHS 698 MPH Capstone Experience (1 SH)

Capstone Requirements:

IPHS 650 Field Experience in Public Health - Most students are required to complete a field experience of 5 credits (320 contact hours). Some students may qualify for a reduced practicum of 3 credits (192 contact hours) or a full waiver depending on their prior public health experience and career goals.

All students are required to submit reflective journal entries to their faculty advisor to evaluate student performance. The reflective journal helps the student to synthesize the experience and to assess how the skills and knowledge gained during graduate study can be applied and integrated in a public health setting.

Master’s Paper and Oral Presentation- Each student is required to complete a Master’s Paper and make an oral presentation of his/her work. In addition to the required IPHS 698, students may take up to two hours of Independent Study (IPHS 596) credit toward their Master’s Paper.

The purpose of the Master’s Paper is for the CHS student to be able to integrate health principles and knowledge of some aspect of the public health field at the end of the student’s study period. The paper may be drawn from previous course work and may incorporate results of a community survey, an analysis of secondary data, a literature review, an environmental impact statement, a grant proposal, a position paper, a program evaluation, etc.

NOTE: Students who are doing research involving human subjects will need to undergo training and have their protocols approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Evaluation / Grading Procedures:

The CHS capstone experience will be evaluated in four ways:

Evaluation of the field experience/practicum by the student, student’s practicum preceptor, and faculty advisor
Evaluation of the Master’s Paper by the student’s advisor and a second faculty member
Evaluation of the oral presentation by the faculty in attendance
Review by the advisor and a second faculty member to assure the practicum and Master’s Paper together meet the capstone goals as established

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