Department of Public Health Education
Master's Program of Public Health in Community Health Education
The Department of Public Health Education has been offering a masters degree in community health education for over twenty years. The MPH program prepares students in both the art and science of health education practice with a focus on population health.
Our program is a 48 credit hour MPH program in community health education. It prepares students for leadership roles in communities and in health agencies that promote the health of people. Public health educators typically develop and carry out planned health promotion and disease prevention programs with individuals, groups, organizations, and communities. As well, they participate in health policy development at the local, state, and national level. Our graduates work in federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state agencies, community-based organizations, health departments, hospitals, clinics, universities, research organizations, and managed care organizations.
Our MPH curriculum is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). Degree requirements and courses are based upon CEPH requirements and the recommendations of the Joint Commission of the Society of Public Health Education and the American Association for Health Education.
The program's approach to professional practice includes reflective practice, a theoretical base, network development, leadership development and cooperation and collaboration with community health organizations. Throughout the curriculum, special attention is given to community involvement, effective communication, and uses of technology.
Graduate students in the program gain the knowledge and skills necessary to promote health and prevent infectious and chronic diseases, injuries, and the consequences of disasters. Students are prepared in the core areas of public health (biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, health administration, and social and behavioral sciences) and in the skills of community assessment (whether the community be a school, another organization, a neighborhood or a city), program planning, implementation, administration, research, and evaluation.
Graduate students apply their skills in a variety of community internships. Recent internship projects include developing interventions for West Nile virus, apply health education and communication skills to tobacco control at the National Institutes of Health, infusing public health concepts and skills into work with immigrants and refugees, developing a parasite protection program for children in Vietnam, implementing a Folic Acid campaign, evaluating a breast health project, evaluating the "Dollar-a-Day" teenage pregnancy prevention program, developing crisis and risk communication training recommendations for emergency response personnel, evaluation of public health preparedness community-wide exercises, and developing a physical activity program for a rural high school. We encourage our graduate students to participate in internships that will further their career goals and many design projects that help them become placed in their desired jobs.
The MPH program requires 48 semester hours of specified, sequential courses including an internship. Admitted students usually begin the program in the fall semester. All required courses are offered evenings and meet once each week. Full-time students take four courses each semester over two years. Part-time students enroll for three years, including two summers, and take two courses each semester.
Careers in Public Health
The MPH degree is widely regarded as the entry level degree for leadership positions in a variety of community health education settings including local, state, national and international health agencies. With the dynamic changes in the U.S. health care system and an emphasis on prevention, such positions are increasingly available in managed health care organizations. Public health educators develop and carry out planned health promotion and disease prevention activities with individuals, groups, and communities.
Contact Information
Graduate School Departmental Interest Page to request program information
Dr. Michael Perko
Director of Graduate Study
336.256.8505
m_perko@uncg.edu