¶¡ÏãÔ°AV

Faculty of Health Sciences
¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Calendar 2012 Fall

A master of public health (MPH) program, which focuses on population and public health, is offered with practice-based study which integrates core public health knowledge with the attainment of public health practitioner skills.

¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Requirements

Applicants who are recent graduates will have a baccalaureate degree in a discipline relevant to population and public health including the social and behavioral sciences, life sciences, and/or the quantitative sciences. A 3.3 cumulative grade point average is normally required. Applicants with substantial practitioner experience in health or a related field will be evaluated in part on their academic credentials and career accomplishments.

Applicants may receive conditional admission subject to satisfactory completion of additional specified courses and a statistics university undergraduate course or its equivalent.

Applicants should indicate their preferred MPH concentration, and must demonstrate experience, interest, and commitment to their chosen area of study. Global health concentration applicants should have some international experience.

Factors influencing MPH program admission include the availability of faculty with expertise in the desired area of study, enrolment space, and the applicant’s specific preparation.

Meeting program application requirements does not guarantee program admission.

Students are admitted annually in the fall term only. All applicants must meet the application deadline which is normally set for the beginning of February. Only complete applications are considered. To apply on-line and pay the application fee, visit . For information about how to apply, visit the Faculty of Health Sciences’ website at .

Program Requirements

Students complete a minimum of 47 units of course work, which includes a 13 week practicum completed over an academic term, and submission of a master's project. With senior supervisor and graduate program director approval, students may submit a thesis in lieu of a master’s project, but all students complete a practicum. Students choosing to write a thesis will complete a minimum of 50 units.

Students who choose to take longer to complete their program should plan a minimum of two courses per term. Note that graduate general regulations govern the permitted time to complete a master’s degree.

Core Course Requirements

The following 23 units of core courses will meet the core learning objectives and core competencies developed in consultation with faculty, students, community stakeholders, and potential future employers. These courses are required, no matter which concentration is chosen.

Students complete all of

• HSCI 801-4 Biostatistics for Population Health Practice I
• HSCI 802-4 Principles of Epidemiology for Public Health
• HSCI 803-4 Qualitative and Survey Research Methods
• HSCI 845-3 Environmental and Occupational Health
• HSCI 880-3 Practicum
• HSCI 897-3 Master's Project
• HSCI 900-0 MPH Seminars
• HSCI 901-1 Preparation for Public Health Practice**

**offered in the fall and spring terms, and normally completed in the first year

Project Option

Students who choose to complete a project (instead of a thesis) will complete the following course.

• HSCI 897-3 Master's Project

In this course students will develop the final project with their supervisors in the term following practicum completion.

In the following and every subsequent term, students enrol in the project completion course as follows, until the project is completed and successfully defended, as described in Graduate General Regulations 1.9 and 1.10.

• HSCI 895-0 Project Completion

Thesis Option

Students who choose to complete a thesis (instead of a project) will complete the following course.

• HSCI 898-6 Master's Thesis

Approval of the supervisor and the graduate program director is required, to ensure that Faculty of Health Sciences thesis guidelines are met, including the development and defence of a thesis proposal. Students will continue to enrol in this course until the thesis is completed and successfully defended, as described in Graduate General Regulations 1.9 and 1.10.

Note that thesis students will complete 50 units.

Practicum

All students complete a practicum, which may be undertaken during any term, by completing

• HSCI 880-3 Practicum

Students will consult with their senior supervisor concerning all courses to be completed before the practicum which will include, at minimum, HSCI 801, 802, 803, and 901. Under special circumstances, students may request written permission from the director, public health practice, and the senior supervisor to substitute one of these, or to embark on the practicum prior to completion of these courses.

Students normally complete their practicum during the summer term of their first year, but it may be completed later provided that prerequisites are met. Either way, these options allow ample time to complete core course requirements before undertaking the practicum.

Public Health Practice Seminars

In their first year, students register in HSCI 901 in both the fall and spring terms. Seminars include practicum preparation workshops.

Concentration Requirements

In addition to the requirements stated above, students choose one of the following concentrations.

Environmental and Occupational Health Concentration

This concentration trains practitioners for practice, research, and leadership positions in environmental health. Environmental health sciences is a complex, multifaceted field that is dedicated both to protecting communities and workers from environmental factors that adversely impact human health, and to maintaining the ecological balances essential to long-term human health and environmental quality. Environmental health is one of the largest areas of public health comprising a large percentage of public health practitioners.

In addition to the core courses listed above, students who choose this concentration will complete all of

• HSCI 815-3 Concepts of Population and Public Health Practice
• HSCI 847-3 Risk Assessment and Communication for Human Health
• HSCI 849-3 Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology

and one of

• HSCI 824-3 Comparative Health Care Systems
• HSCI 827-3 Analysis of the Canadian Health Care System

and one of

• HSCI 830-3 Health Promotion
• HSCI 835-3 Social and Behavioral contexts of Health and Disease

and one of

• HSCI 846-3 Environmental Health Exposure Assessment and Analysis
• HSCI 848-3 Toxicology, Susceptibility and Environmental Health

and two of

• HSCI 804-3 Biostatistics for Population Health Practice II
• HSCI 850-3 Air Pollution and Human Health
• HSCI 855-3 Disease Prevention and Control

With the approval of their senior supervisor and consent of the graduate program director, a student may substitute one course from this list with an HSCI elective, or from another department or faculty.

Global Health Concentration

This concentration prepares professionals and graduates to become agents of change who are prepared to mitigate health inequities in a global context. The concentration teaches the skills and knowledge of population and public health so that students can work in resource challenged contexts. Students learn strategies for promoting health and preventing disease in socially and culturally diverse settings that are characterized by serious health inequities. Students will identify and challenge the power structures that produce poverty, inequality, and disease. They will analyze issues of ethics and human rights as these apply to health disparities worldwide. And they will develop programs and formulate policy to change and enhance the performance of health systems. Putting such knowledge into action is a critical dimension of the program. The program provides skills, experiences, sensitivity, ethical principles, and insights to respond creatively to health challenges in an interconnected and globalized world.

In addition to the core courses listed above, students who choose this concentration will complete all of

• HSCI 821-3 Introduction to Global Health
• HSCI 824-3 Comparative Health Care Systems
• HSCI 830-3 Health Promotion
• HSCI 870-3 Global Health and International Affairs

and a minimum of one methods or skills course chosen from

• HSCI 804-3 Biostatistics for Population Health Practice II
• HSCI 805-3 Intermediate Epidemiologic Methods
• HSCI 806-3 Principles of Demographic Analysis
• HSCI 825-3 Advocacy and Communication
• HSCI 826-3 Program Planning and Evaluation

or a course providing appropriate methods and skills, chosen from HSCI courses, or from another department or faculty, with the permission of the senior supervisor and the graduate program director

and three additional courses selected from

• HSCI 822-3 Globalization and Health Inequities
  
• HSCI 823-3 Health, Gender and Development
• HSCI 825-3 Advocacy and Communication
• HSCI 826-3 Program Planning and Evaluation
• HSCI 828-3 Health, Human Security, Social Justice
• HSCI 829-3 Health Policy-making in a Global Context
• HSCI 855-3 Disease Prevention and Control

or, with the approval of the senior supervisor, a student may substitute two courses from this list with electives drawn from the list of HSCI graduate courses, or from other departments and faculties.

Population Health Concentration

This concentration focuses on health policy and planning for health care delivery, health promotion and disease prevention, and applied methods for assessing population health. The concentration prepares established professionals and recent university graduates for positions of leadership in population and public health.

In addition to the core courses listed above, students who choose this concentration will complete all of

• HSCI 815-3 Concepts of Population and Public Health Practice
• HSCI 827-3 Analysis of the Canadian Health Care Delivery System
• HSCI 835-3 Social and Behavioral Contexts of Health and Disease
• HSCI 855-3 Disease Prevention and Control

and a minimum of one methods or skills course chosen from

• HSCI 804-3 Biostatistics for Population Health Practice II
• HSCI 805-3 Intermediate Epidemiologic Methods
• HSCI 806-3 Principles of Demographic Analysis
• HSCI 825-3 Advocacy and Communication
• HSCI 826-3 Program Planning and Evaluation

or a course providing appropriate methods or skills, chosen from HSCI courses or from another department or faculty, with permission of the senior supervisor and the graduate program director

and three additional elective courses chosen from HSCI courses or from relevant courses in other faculties and departments, with permission of the senior supervisor and course instructor.

Social Inequities and Health Concentration

The importance of reducing health inequities has emerged as an imperative for health scholars, policymakers and practitioners both within Canada and globally. Increasingly, health inequities are being understood within a conceptual framework that foregrounds the role of structural factors and accounts for intersecting axes of oppression and privilege. Despite a substantial evidence base documenting social inequities in health, there are major gaps in our understanding of the pathways and mechanisms whereby health inequities are produced. Thus, there is limited information on which to base development of effective prevention and intervention policies that will reduce these inequities.

This concentration’s goal is to prepare MPH students for critical and reflexive research and practice that addresses health inequities related to poverty, racism, colonialism, sexism and other forms of structural violence. Upon completion of the concentration, learners will have a commitment and capacity to advance theory, research, and practice that explains why systemic social inequities persist and how best to reduce their effects on population health.

In addition to the core courses listed above, students who choose this concentration will complete all of

• HSCI 807-3 Researching Health Inequities
• HSCI 815-3 Concepts of Population and Public Health Practice
• HSCI 835-3 Social and Behavioral Contexts of Health and Disease
• HSCI 838-3 Theorizing Social Inequities and Health
• HSCI 839-3 Strategies for Reducing Health Inequities

and one of

• HSCI 824-3 Comparative Health Care Systems
• HSCI 827-3 Analysis of the Canadian Health Care System

and one of

• HSCI 822-3 Globalization and Health Inequities
  
• HSCI 823-3 Health, Gender and Development
• HSCI 829-3 Health Policy Making in a Global Context
• HSCI 891-3 Special Topics in Health Sciences*
• SA 855-3 Advanced Quantitative Methods

*when offered as Exploring Social Locations: Women’s Health and Policy in Canada

With the approval of their senior supervisor and consent of the graduate program director, a student may substitute one course from this list with an HSCI elective, or from another department or faculty.

and one additional elective chosen from an HSCI course or from relevant courses in other faculties and departments, with permission of the senior supervisor and the director of graduate programs.

Academic Requirements within the Graduate General Regulations

All graduate students must satisfy the academic requirements that are specified in the Graduate General Regulations (residence, course work, academic progress, supervision, research competence requirement, completion time, and degree completion), as well as the specific requirements for the program in which they are enrolled, as shown above.

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