MPH Curriculum
Public Health is about improving communities through fair and accessible healthcare for all.
Our MPH program focuses on community engagement as a framework for promoting health in all communities. You'll learn the importance of the historical roots and structural causes of health as well as strategies to improve community health.
MPH Program Curriculum
Our public health program is a 42 credit master’s degree. As a full-time student, you can finish the degree program in as few as four academic terms. Part-time students must complete the program within 5 years. Typically, our students complete the program in about two years. Credits include core courses (19 units), concentration courses (6 units), electives (10 units), and your culminating experience (7 units).
Core Curriculum
No matter which of the three concentrations you choose, you'll take coursework that covers the five core disciplines of public health. These are:
- Biostatistics (3 units)
- Behavioral and Social Aspects of Public Health (3 units)
- Epidemiology (3 units)
- Health Policy & Management (3 units)
- Environmental Health (3 units)
- Program Evaluation
- Research Methods
You'll complete your studies with 400 hours of field study and either an applied project or comprehensive exam.
Culminating Experiences
After completing core and elective courses, you will take your culminating experience courses, which are:
- Field Study (400 hours). Field study sites vary by concentration.
- Capstone Project or Exam Prep.
The field study is followed by the Capstone Course – the integration of coursework and field experience. You may choose a singular applied project, which requires a formal written manuscript and public presentation, or a comprehensive exam demonstrating your mastery and ability to integrate and apply core public health principles to issues that may confront public health professionals.
Field Study
The Public Health Field Study is an opportunity for you to apply and integrate the skills and knowledge you acquire during your graduate didactic coursework, translating that experience to programs, policy development, educational campaigns, and research that benefit communities.
The Public Health Program has successfully developed collaborations with local departments of health, community organizations and non-governmental organizations engaged in public health activities.
PBHC 600-6 Field Study (6 units)
The Public Health Field Study course is a structured and practical experience in a professional public health setting which allows students to apply and integrate the knowledge and skills acquired during the didactic period into public health practice. Independent Master of Public Health students complete the 400 hours required for PBHC 600-6 Field Study over 10-12 weeks. Joint and Dual degree students are required to complete 200 hours for PBHC-4 during a 6-week block. Through the Field Study, students apply their academic knowledge to “real world” situations that address public health issues. Students conduct field work as interns at public health organizations, which serve as field study placement sites. The role of the MPH student intern is to assist partnering organizations with specific public health projects, locally and abroad. Student participation should contribute to strategic resolutions, be valued by the Organization, and contribute to meeting its mission and goals. Through their field work, students help to build and strengthen working partnerships between field study placement sites and TUC.
Capstone Project or Comprehensive Exam
The MPH Capstone Project
The MPH Capstone Project is an exciting and significant undertaking that gives you the opportunity to develop your analytical skills and to gain expertise in a subject area. Work on the project is conducted over the course of several semesters under the guidance of our capstone coordinator.
If you conduct a Capstone Project, you will produce a substantial, original, independently written manuscript concerning a significant public health problem and share and defend your work during an oral presentation.
Past student Capstone Projects have included:
- Examining Hospital Doula Policies: An analysis of doula policy within maternal and child health in the U.S.
- Strategies to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: Recommendations for Solano County
- Implementing Food Policies for Healthy Eating in Jamaica: A Policy Analysis
- Nonylphenols and Female Fertility: A Systemic Review
The Capstone process usually takes three to four semesters and consists of three phases:
- Planning and project development (usually occurring in the first and second semesters of the program)
- Conducting the project (usually occurring in the second or third semester of the program)
- Analyzing and summarizing project results (the fourth, or last, semester of the program)
Joint PA/MPH and Dual Degree (MPH/DO & MPH/PharmD) students have different timelines.
PBHC 645 Capstone Thesis (0 unit)
Students conducting a Capstone project produce a substantial, original, independently written manuscript concerning a significant public health problem and share and defend their work during an oral presentation. The goal of the Capstone project should be to create a body of knowledge on which others can build. However, the overarching principle for determining the suitability of a Capstone project is whether it provides students the opportunity to apply the skills and competencies acquired in the MPH program to a problem likely to be encountered in public health practice. All Capstone projects will be conducted under the guidance of a faculty advisor, secondary faculty advisor, and the course coordinator.
CPH Exam
The Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam covers content relevant to the span of current public health practice. It is a timed exam, consisting of 200 questions. You have 4 hours to complete the exam. All questions on the exam are multiple choice and single-best answer. Questions include matching items; a series of questions related to a common vignette; and associated pictorials or charts. Accommodations are available.
The CPH exam is given by the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE). Per TUC Policy, students have one year to pass the 1 unit CPH exam course, but must pay the national board for each attempt during the year.
CPH Exam cost – $250.00. The regular price of $385.00 will be automatically adjusted to $250.00 for all TUC public health students upon submission of the application.
Exam Schedule
The CPH exam is offered year-round at both computer-based testing centers and by live remote-proctor. There are over 1,400 computer-based testing centers which are open Monday-Saturday all year long, and live online proctored exams are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Certification
Candidates who pass the exam will be provisionally certified until their TUC graduation. Following confirmation of TUC graduation, they will be Certified in Public Health (CPH).
PBHC 646 Certified in Public Health Exam Prep (0 unit)
Students who enroll in PBHC 646 are required to take the Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam sponsored by the National Board of Public Health Examiners. Students register for the 0-unit TUC course PBHC 646 CPH Exam Preparation and also register with the National Board of Public Health Examiners (www.nbphe.org) for the Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam. Students must register for PBHC 646 in the same semester in which they take the CPH exam - following the completion of core and concentration courses. Students must pass the CPH exam to pass PBHC 646. The Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam covers the core areas of knowledge offered in CEPH-accredited schools and programs, as well as crosscutting areas relevant to contemporary public health. The examination was crafted to assess a person’s knowledge of these competencies, regardless of his or her academic concentration.