MPH: Population and Family Health
Students in the Heilbrunn Department MPH program are immersed in a robust academic experience that combines theoretical understanding of the complex factors that affect local and global health with skills-based training that prepares them to hit the ground running in roles as researchers, practitioners, policy advocates, evaluators and future leaders in their field.
Degree Opportunities
In the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, the MPH degree is offered in four formats: the full-time Columbia MPH (two-year), the Accelerated MPH (one-year), the Dual Degree program, and the 4+1 program. All programs require coursework, an Applied Practice Experience (APEx), and an Integrative Learning Experience paper.
- MPH Program (52 credit minimum): In addition to the Core and departmental requirements, the balance of the credits (52 minimum) for the MPH degree consists of certificate-specific courses and electives. Every student in the two-year Columbia MPH program enrolls in a certificate that provides advanced training in a focused area of expertise and leads to a Columbia University- and CEPH-approved credential.
- Accelerated MPH Program (42 credit minimum): The Accelerated MPH is an intensive, one-year program designed for highly motivated professionals seeking to enhance their career with a degree in public health. The curriculum is similar to the innovative curriculum of the two-year Columbia MPH but completed in three semesters (fall, spring, summer). The profile of a typical Accelerated MPH student is an individual who has earned a doctoral degree, an MD student mid-way through their study, or an individual who has five or more years of post-undergraduate work experience. Students in the accelerated program are not eligible for a certificate.
- Dual Degree Programs (42 credit minimum): Columbia Mailman offers dual degree master’s programs with many schools across the university and our MPH program. Applicants seeking admission to dual degree studies must apply separately and be admitted to each of the two schools and must meet the admissions requirements of each. Students in the dual degree program are not eligible for a certificate.
- 4+1 Programs (42 credit minimum): Columbia Mailman offers 4+1 programs in which a student earns a bachelor’s degree from their undergraduate college and then continues on to an accelerated Master of Public Health (MPH) program at Columbia Public Health. Students in the 4+1 program are not eligible for a certificate.
- Additional information can be found in our student handbooks, linked here.
Competencies
Upon graduation, MPH students in Population and Family Health are able to demonstrate the following competencies:
- Advocate for ethics, social justice, and human rights principles surrounding long-term, action-oriented public health research, policies, or programs.
- Develop strategies to engage with diverse communities, with attention to privilege and power dynamics, and to human resource assets and constraints in diverse locations and contexts.
- Design and synthesize methodologically sound, evidence-based research to improve both public health practice and policy in one or more of the main substantive areas of the Department.*
- Implement data collection strategies and instruments to guide program development and monitoring and evaluation strategies for use in a broad range of local and global contexts, particularly in resource-constrained settings.
- Propose viable, effective, and context-specific programs in one or more of the primary substantive areas of the Department* and articulate the location of these programs within public health systems and local contexts.
*Substantive areas of the Department: Sexuality and sexual and reproductive health and rights; child, youth, and family health; maternal and child health; health and human rights; public health and humanitarian action; implementation science; and complex health systems.
Work Experience
Strong applicants to the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health have demonstrated a commitment to action through professional work experience, part-time internships and research positions, community service, and leadership roles. The departmental application review process emphasizes public health work experience, with a preference for one year of full-time experience or the equivalent through part-time jobs and internships. Students with prior public health work experience are able to leverage and build on this experience in their coursework as well as other program requirements or opportunities.