The purpose of the MPH Online Program is to train public health professionals interested in a career in public health. The degree requirements include coursework in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Environmental Public Health, and Public Health Management and Practice. It also includes a practicum in a public health setting and a final comprehensive examination.
The MPH Online degree is considered a professional degree and takes approximately two years to complete as a full-time student. Students who undertake their training on a part-time basis because of work or other commitments may require more time.
The pandemic, through its ravages of underserved minoritized populations of the nation, highlighted that systematic disease prevention and control disadvantages already overburdened populations. Given the world, national, and state outcries for professionals who specialize in this practice, we chose to create a new area of emphasis in health equity for our longstanding MPH program. Through the pandemic, we also learned that many students prefer online learning, especially when they can control their schedules via asynchronous formats. The University of Utah will benefit from this offering because it will be the only one in the state with this particular focus. Additionally, our MPH online program will benefit students who work full-time in health and human services professions (physicians, evaluators, environmental scientists, therapists, policy analysts, health planners, epidemiologists, statisticians, public health researchers, community health workers, etc.). It will also benefit persons who desire an advanced degree but live removed from campus or who lack consistent transportation, those with family caregiving pressures, and persons with disabilities.
The MPH Online program has been continuously accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) since 1978.