Dr. John Santelli and Dr.Marina Catallozzi Co-teaching Mailman Students
Accelerated Pace
The accelerated General Public Health (GPH) program consists of forty-two credit hours of course work completed in one full academic year. In addition to courses, students also complete the Applied Practice Experience and Integrated Learning Experience requirements within this timeframe.
The General Public Health program is also offered as a dual degree in collaboration with other schools at Columbia University.
The MPH course requirements page provides more details about the GPH curriculum for both accelerated and dual-degree students.
Interdisciplinary Curriculum
Career needs of General Public Health candidates often require an interdisciplinary approach that exceeds the scope of any single Mailman department. Upon completion of the Core Curriculum, GPH students select courses from across all Mailman departments and potentially other Columbia University schools providing the opportunity to benefit from access to faculty and educational resources on the medical and main campuses. The General Public Health program’s interdisciplinary curriculum design and individualized academic advising allow students to focus on their specific professional interests while deepening public health competencies.
Archived spring semester course descriptions are available in the Mailman Course Directory, and more recent spring and summer offerings can be viewed in Columbia University's public Directory of Classes.
Applied Practice Experience
Overview
All GPH students are required to complete an Applied Practice Experience (APEx.) The APEx is a vital part of the service-learning process allowing students to address domestic and global issues across all areas of public health practice. Through the APEx, students focus on community engagement projects and provide host organizations with valuable services, and/or research expertise that relate directly to the ongoing mission and activities of the site and that meet the defined healthcare needs of the site’s surrounding community. Each student’s APEx projects are:
thoroughly planned in consultation with a faculty advisor and site supervisor;
monitored on site;
evaluated by the student, site supervisor, and faculty advisor.
In the GPH program, APEX projects are individually selected and tailored to meet student needs with the focus, substance, and approach varying by student. The APEx may include work in administrative, research, or clinical settings, or participation in ongoing health education, research, or program activities.
Regardless of the setting and specific project, students are required to produce a minimum of two non-academic work samples that demonstrate attainment of at least five competencies. Examples of acceptable work samples include: project plans, grant proposals, training manuals, lesson plans, surveys, videos, podcasts, presentations, spreadsheets, web sites.
Scheduling/Time Requirements
General Public Health students may participate in the APEx at any point after the completion of the Core curriculum. Students who must return to a medical school program or begin residency often will begin their APEx during the spring semester. For those with more flexibility, the APEx may be completed during the summer. It is expected that GPH students will devote a minimum of 140 hours towards an APEx project. This is usually accomplished by working approximately 10 hours per week during a 14-week semester, or 15-20 hours per week during the summer months. Dual degree students may choose to continue APEx work after completing GPH coursework and returning to the other Columbia graduate school.
Completion and Evaluation
Once the APEx project concludes, students submit an APEx Completion Form. The form enables students to upload their APEx deliverables and to identify the competencies demonstrated through their work. Once students submit the APEx Completion Form, it is forwarded to their faculty advisor for review. The Faculty Advisor then evaluates the students’ APEx work samples to verify that identified public health competencies have been achieved. Once approved by the faculty advisor, the APEx Completion Form is sent to Enrollment Services to confirm the APEx requirement has been fulfilled.
Recent APEx Sites
Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center
Columbia Center for Cardiovascular Health
Partnership to End Addiction
Health Prevent 360
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Harlem Wellness Center
Foundation for the Localization and Innovation of Global Health Technologies
Integrated Learning Experience
ILE Overview
The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), the institution that accredits public health schools and programs in the United States, requires that all students complete an Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) to earn an MPH degree. The ILE, submitted as students near completion of their degree, is considered the culminating experience providing students with the opportunity to highlight proficiencies and to make connections between significant elements of the MPH education. The ILE requirement stipulates students demonstrate the acquisition and synthesis of competencies they have identified with their faculty advisors through the submission of a written document of superior quality.
ILE Options
APEx Critical Analysis and Synthesis Paper or E-portfolio
Review Article
Research Manuscript
Sample Competencies and Courses
While GPH students have no required courses in the spring semester after completing the Core, they are required to fulfill a minimum of five program level competencies which can be chosen from course offerings throughout Maiman departments. In November, students are provided with an extensive list of courses that map to departmental and certificate competencies. With guidance from their faculty advisor and the Associate Director of the GPH program students select courses that align with their interests and further their development of public health competencies. Below is a sample list of competencies and courses that fulfill the competency requirement.
GPH Sample Competencies and Courses
Eligibility Requirements
Students enter the GPH program with wide-ranging professional experiences and understand how an MPH degree will complement their current career path. Many GPH students have clinical backgrounds in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, or social work while others enter with advanced degrees in law, business, or significant full-time work experience in healthcare adjacent fields where they focus on community-based programming, global health initiatives, research, consulting, technology, and policy development.
The GPH program is available for those with one of the following qualifications:
A doctoral degree or nearly completed doctoral degree (e.g., between 3rd and 4th year of medical school, or year before entering residency);
A master's degree;
At least 5 years of full-time, healthcare related work experience
Details on the admission process including application components, deadlines, financial assistance resources, and a link to the SOPHAS application are available on the Become a Studentpage.
GPH Team - Director Dr. John Rausch, Associate Director, Juli Parker, Lead Faculty Advisor, Dr. Amjali Vora
The GPH Team is led by Dr. John Rausch, Program Director, Dr. Anjali Vora, Lead Faculty Advisor and GPH alum, and Juli Parker, Associate Director. Students meet regularly throughout the year with Dr. Rausch, Dr. Vora, and Juli individually and as a group for academic advising and professional development guidance.
General Public Health Program Director, Dr. John Rausch
The GPH students bring a level of maturity and understanding of how public health can augment and enhance their careers and the lives of the people they serve. Through the ability to craft and tailor a unique curriculum to each student, the GPH program can create a program that meets each individual's needs. GPH Faculty Program Director, Dr. John Rausch
General Public Health Lead Faculty Advisor, Dr. Anjali Vora
GPH is special because it gives students the opportunity to explore a wide variety of interests and gain a well-rounded public health background. Many students have found the year to be one that gives clarity to and shapes their short-term and long-term career goals. GPHLead Faculty Advisor, Dr.Anjali Vora
General Public Health Associate Director, Juli Parker
So many GPH alumni have shared that earning their MPH degree through the GPH program was the most transformative year of their education. It is a privilege to support the talented GPH students as they navigate the curriculum at such a fast pace and to see their impact within the global and domestic communities they serve after graduation. GPH Program Associate Director, Juli Parker
GPH Alumni
Alumni Outcomes
In the past decade, over 250 students have graduated from the GPH program. Career Services data from the past two years show that GPH graduates are employed at the following types of organizations:
2024-2025 GPH Alumni Employment Organizations
Alumni Highlights
Dr. Gabriela Santos Revilla, MD, MPH 2025
The Master of Public Health program at Columbia was a transformative experience in my career. It provided me with a new perspective on how public health influences our communities and highlighted the complexity and challenges associated with many health issues. The courses and workshops, particularly the interviews and sessions with community groups outside the classroom, deepened my understanding of how to address these challenges and clarified our roles as public health professionals. As a surgical trainee, I am now more cognizant of how systems impact health outcomes and how social determinants influence the clinical course of my patients both inside and outside the hospital. Dr. Gabreila Santos Revilla, Surgery Resident, Nassau University Medical Center, Long Island, NY
If you have any questions about the GPH program, about the application process, and would like to chat with current students or alumni of the program, please contact Juli Parker, Associate Director.
