Career Services, University of Pennsylvania

Public Health
Resources for Students Considering Graduate and Professional School

WHAT IS PUBLIC HEALTH?

The field of Public Health addresses, through organized interdisciplinary approaches, the physical, mental and environmental health of communities. Unlike doctors, who focus on improving the health of individuals, public health professionals focus primarily upon ameliorating the physical and/or mental health of populations. The discipline of public health emphasizes disease prevention and health promotion - its practitioners employ a spectrum of interventions aimed at the environment, human behavior and lifestyle, and medical care. Assessment is an essential component of their research - their tools of analysis are both qualitative and quantitative, with an emphasis on the latter. Public health methodologies are inter-disciplinary, derived primarily from the social and biological sciences. Clinical training is peripheral to its professional training.

Some of the more significant health promotion and disease prevention activities employed by public health professionals encompass:

• Monitoring medical trends to identify community health problems; • Diagnosing and investigating health problems and hazards in the community; • Informing, educating and empowering people about health issues; •Mobilizing community partnerships to identify and solve health problems; • Developing policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts; • Enforcing laws and regulations that protect health and safety of communities; • Linking people to appropriate personal health services and assuring the provision of health services when these are otherwise unavailable; • Assuring a competent public health and personal health care workforce; • Evaluating effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based services; • Researching innovative solutions to health problems.

CORE AREAS OF PUBLIC HEALTH
The most common core areas of public health study are as follows:: · Health services administration. Persons seeking careers in administration or resource management in the public or private sectors of health service delivery can specialize in health planning, organization, policy formulation and analysis, finance, economics or marketing.
: · Biostatistics. Career opportunities in this area involve the application of statistical procedures, technologies and assessment methodologies to characterize or investigate health problems and programs.
: · Epidemiology. Opportunities abound in this field for specialists trained in the systematic analysis of the distribution and determinants of disease or disability in population groups.
: · Behavioral sciences/health education. These specialists use specific methods and program strategies to help people adapt healthier lifestyles, make more efficient use of health services, adopt self-care prevention techniques, and to participate actively in the design and implementation of health-related programs.
: · Environmental Health Sciences. This field includes such diverse disciplines as chemistry, toxicology, environmental engineering, and is concerned with the identification and control of factors in nature and the man-made environment (air, water, land, housing) which affect the health of populations.
Other fields of study are the following:: · Occupational Safety & Health. This field identifies health and safety hazards related to work and the workplace, as well as their prevention and control.
: · Maternal and child health. Professionals in this field focus on the complex public health problems affecting women, children and families - and includes discovering and testing solutions through applied research at the local, national and international levels, along with participating in community activities to improve maternal and child health.
: · Public health practice & program management. This area encompasses many identifiable public health programs, such as maternal and child health, aging, mental health, etc., and coordinates with relevant professional disciplines, such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, social work, etc.
: · Nutrition. In short supply, these specialists study the interaction between nutrition and health, and the application of sound nutritional principles to maintain good health.
: · Biomedical & laboratory practice. This field encompasses a diverse array of specialists such as bacteriologists, microbiologists, biochemists who use laboratory techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and for the investigation of conditions affecting health status.
: · Public health dentistry. This science prevents and controls dental disease by promoting dental health through organized community efforts. It is concerned with health education of the public, applied dental research, and the administration of dental care programs on a community wide-basis.
: · International/ global health. This field encompasses virtually all the specializations of public health and focuses on improving health standards, mostly in developing countries.

TYPES OF DEGREES
Professionals working in public health get a range of degrees. The Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) is a two-year program. Beyond that, individuals sometimes obtain a Doctor of Philosophy in public health (Ph.D.) or a Doctorate of Public Health. These latter two degrees require three years of course work, and a capstone dissertation project usually involving field or laboratory work under the guidance of a dissertation advisor. Another related degree is the Masters in Biostatistics, with an obvious quantitative focus. In addition to an M.P.H., it is possible to obtain joint degrees such as M.D./M.P.H., M.B.A/M.P.H., J.D./M.P.H. It is essential to have very specific goals for such a course of study.
ADMISSIONS
Typically, individuals work in clinical programs or are involved in health research for two or more years before matriculation in a public health program. Sometimes Masters in Public Health are obtained by mid-career professionals seeking to change the direction of their work. A field dominated by women numerically, the ratio of women to men is 3:1.
The application requirements for most (but not all) public health programs are as follows:: • Bachelor of Arts, with a year of coursework in college-level mathematics (statistics or calculus) and biology. Chemistry or physics, while not usually required, are useful. Students can come from any major, although individuals in the social and hard sciences predominate.; • GRE scores (some schools accept MCAT, GMAT, or LSAT in lieu of the GRE).; • Three letters of recommendation (from faculty or individuals supervising one's work.); • Personal statement; • Resume or Curriculum vitae; • Transcripts of all courses; • Proven dedication to the field evident from substantive experience (articulated in the personal statement, resume and letters of recommendation.) Typically, public health schools want their students to be committed to the field, rather than to use their degree as a stepping-stone into medical school (-which won't work anyway if the student's undergraduate science G.P.A. is weak.)
Deadlines vary from fall to spring, depending upon when matriculation can take place, but most schools have fall deadlines. Admittance into top public health schools is competitive: e.g. Columbia received 1100 applications in the Fall of 2000 and about half were accepted.
PROGRAM CURRICULA
Since the paradigm for public health is multi-disciplinary, curricula in schools of public health require courses to be taken from the biological, physical, social and behavioral sciences. Introductory courses in biostatistics, epidemiology and the biological sciences basic to public health are mandatory. Other core areas, including health administration, environmental health and other behavioral sciences are also required. Once an area of concentration has been chosen, a student charts a course of study geared to his or her professional goals, encompassing classroom activity, a supervised field experience, and a significant research or laboratory project. The student produces a master's thesis, typically using secondary data.
Doctoral students fulfill their Master's requirements and go on to take further coursework in their areas of specialization. They take written and/or oral examinations in one or more of the core public health fields. Their course of study culminates with the design and implementation of a major research project, the doctoral thesis. This typically includes the collection and analysis of primary data and the use of evaluative methodologies. At the conclusion of research there is usually a dissertation defense in front of a panel of three or four researchers and academics (including your dissertation advisor.)

CAREERS
Careers in public health continue to expand. Jobs for people with an M.P.H. can be found in both the public and private sectors, including local, state and federal health and government agencies, HMOs, and healthcare consulting.
With a masters in the field, it is possible to work in various capacities in health departments, become a project director for on-going research projects, or become involved with community groups in the design and implementation of health education efforts and disease prevention technologies. One may also author reports or professional papers, and evaluate on-going programs, etc.
With a doctorate in the field, individuals are trained for research or academia. They write grants and design and run major studies, publish research reports and papers in academic journals. Typically, Ph.D.s in public health can be found in upper level jobs in government (e.g. the National Institute of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Center for Disease Control, Department of Veteran Affairs, National Center for Infectious Diseases, etc.,) as health policy consultants for government, think tanks, health care companies, and in universities and research centers.
Those interested in international health issues typically do research and design interventions for populations in developing countries, or for immigrant or disadvantaged communities in first world countries. They are often based in U.S. agencies, research institutions or N.G.O.s.
Two helpful links to check out for further information:
www.asph.org (Association of Schools of Public Health)
www.apha.org (American Public Health Association)

Back to Professional Masters Main

Career Services • University of Pennsylvania
Suite 20, McNeil Building • 3718 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6209