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Health Sciences
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.
丁香园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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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
Basic statistical concepts as applied to diverse problems in epidemiologic and public health research. Emphasizes interpretation and concepts rather than calculations. Basic study designs' statistics. Descriptive and graphical methods, fundamentals of probability distribution, rates and standardization, contingency tables, odds ratios, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, life tables, Linear regression. Prerequisite: An undergraduate course in statistics or completion of HSCI 800.
The underlying concepts and methods of epidemiology in the context of population and public health. Study designs (clinical trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, and cross-sectional), measures of disease frequency and effect, validity and precision, confounding and effect modification, analysis of two-by-two tables, and options for control. Students will acquire skills in the critical interpretation of the epidemiologic literature, methodology of estimating measures of disease frequency and effect and common measures of potential impact; evaluation of study design; analysis of bias and confounding; and options for control of extraneous factors. HSCI 801 may be taken concurrently.
Methodologies and strategic research design for advances in knowledge and understanding in the health sciences. Problem definition, sampling, data collection, analysis, proposal writing, and ethical issues are addressed. Provides experiential and intellectual grounding in surveys, interviews, focus groups, and ethnography. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the Instructor.
Globalization and industrialization impacts on the health of the environment, populations, and workers. Environmental hazards in consumables (food, air, and water) and waste (liquid, solid, and gaseous) with special reference to hazardous waste. Risk assessment in community, workplace, and residential settings. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Students participate in a workplace practicum to obtain experience in community public health practices. Practica are the equivalent of full-time course work, and may focus on local, regional, national or international health practices. Following completion of the practicum, students are expected to be on campus to prepare a poster presentation summarizing their practicum experience. Graded complete or incomplete. Prerequisite: Students will consult with their senior supervisor on all courses that must be taken before going on practicum. All students are expected to complete at minimum the following courses: HSCI 801, 802, 803, 901. Under special circumstances students may request written permission from the director, public health practice, and the senior supervisor to substitute one of the prerequisite courses, or to carry out the practicum prior to completion of the required courses.
Graded incomplete/complete. Prerequisite: HSCI 880.
Weekly seminars will consist of presentations by faculty, visiting scholars and students followed by discussion. Required course for all graduate students in health sciences. Offered spring and fall terms. Graded satisfactory/unsatisfactory.
Seminars, workshops and lectures designed to develop skills for public health practice. Includes the practicum planning process. Normally students complete this course in the fall and spring term of their first year. It must be completed prior to the practicum. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
* offered in the fall and spring terms, normally completed in the first year
Project Option
Students who choose to complete a project (instead of a thesis) will complete the following course.
Graded incomplete/complete. Prerequisite: HSCI 880.
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.
Master's Project in progress. Prerequisite: HSCI 897.
Thesis Option
Students who choose to complete a thesis (instead of a project) will complete the following course.
Graded incomplete/complete.
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
Students participate in a workplace practicum to obtain experience in community public health practices. Practica are the equivalent of full-time course work, and may focus on local, regional, national or international health practices. Following completion of the practicum, students are expected to be on campus to prepare a poster presentation summarizing their practicum experience. Graded complete or incomplete. Prerequisite: Students will consult with their senior supervisor on all courses that must be taken before going on practicum. All students are expected to complete at minimum the following courses: HSCI 801, 802, 803, 901. Under special circumstances students may request written permission from the director, public health practice, and the senior supervisor to substitute one of the prerequisite courses, or to carry out the practicum prior to completion of the required courses.
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
Seminars, workshops and lectures designed to develop skills for public health practice. Includes the practicum planning process. Normally students complete this course in the fall and spring term of their first year. It must be completed prior to the practicum. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
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
The objective of this concentration is to train 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.
A number of our faculty have interests in environmental and occupational health.
In addition to the core requirements, students must complete the following courses.
All of
Introduction to population health paradigms and the history of public health. Understanding the factors that influence health over the lifespan. Fundamentals of public health strategies including health promotion, public policy, disease prevention, communication in health, behavior change, and program planning and evaluation. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the Instructor.
Concepts and tools involved in human health risk assessment, with a particular emphasis on those aspects relevant to occupational and environmental exposures. The main steps involved in a risk assessment and application to basic risk/exposure situations. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Risk management and the policy process. Prerequisite: HSCI 802 or permission of the instructor.
Epidemiological studies of environmental and workplace exposures. Critical evaluation of epidemiological studies of environmental and occupational exposures. Prerequisite: HSCI 802, 845 or permission of the instructor.
and one of
Topics in molecular biology-based research into pathologies of disease related to drug and environmental exposures will be discussed. Focus on systems pharmacology and the molecular determinants of drug and toxicant action as they relate to gene expression and signal transduction. Prerequisite: HSCI 323, MBB 331, or permission of the instructor.
Assessment and analysis of exposure to physical, chemical, and biological contaminants in environmental and occupational settings. Theory and methods of assessing exposure through direct and indirect methods. Introduction to statistical and modeling techniques used in interpreting exposure data, describing sources of exposure variability, and identifying important determinants of exposure. Prerequisite: HSCI 845 or permission of the instructor.
and one of
Concepts of health, illness, sickness and disease. History and development of health systems, and comparison of the social ethics, organization, and financing of different national health systems. The design of health systems - strengths and weaknesses of alternative systems for health care and delivery. Current strategies for health system reform in resource-rich and resource-constrained nations. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Components of health care systems, issues, and interactions between components. System outputs, medical services and the delivery of primary health care. The Canadian health system and alternatives that impact it or provide better models for delivery. Effecting change, policy development, health system design; criteria for evaluating alternatives. Comparison of different measures of health status; trend analysis for predicting future health care and funding. Components of expenditure. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
and one of
Population health promotion and disease prevention theories, frameworks, and techniques for planning, implementing and evaluating policy and programs in resource-constrained countries. Building collaborations and participatory community-based approaches. Addressing change at the individual, organizational, community, population, and global level. A case studies approach. Graded. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of instructor.
Examination of the major social and behavioral variables -- social class, poverty, income distribution, gender, race, social networks/support, psychological stress, community cohesion, and the work and neighborhood environment -- that affect the public's health. Evaluation of the empirical research linking each construct to population health status. Methods are introduced to operationalize each construct for the purposes of application in public health research. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
and two electives.
The following three courses are highly recommended electives; however, see link on the with a longer list of electives that may be chosen in consultation with your senior supervisor.
Statistical methods related to public health. Probability distributions, basic statistical inference on means and proportions and general concepts of hypothesis testing. Measures of association. Simple and multivariable linear regression models, dummy variables, and logistic regression models. Survival data analysis. Prerequisite: HSCI 801.
Basic air pollution concepts. Exploring the evidence of links between air pollution and adverse human health effects, including both mortality and morbidity. Air quality management at the international, national, and local levels. Focus includes airborne particles, traffic-generated pollution and indoor biomass burning. Prerequisite: HSCI 845 or permission of the instructor.
Infectious and chronic disease prevention and control strategies and program implementation. Components of disease prevention and control programs, including surveillance, epidemic preparedness, immunization, outbreak response. How they apply to specific diseases. A global perspective, including low and middle income countries. Case studies. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
With the approval of the senior supervisor and consent of the Graduate Program Director, a student may substitute electives from this list and one elective drawn from other institutions. See .
Global Health Concentration
In addition to the core courses listed above, students who choose this concentration will complete all of
Problem-focused introduction to global health. Critical appraisal of current global health problems in the context of processes of globalization. Understanding and addressing health inequities, within and between countries. A case approach. Graded. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Concepts of health, illness, sickness and disease. History and development of health systems, and comparison of the social ethics, organization, and financing of different national health systems. The design of health systems - strengths and weaknesses of alternative systems for health care and delivery. Current strategies for health system reform in resource-rich and resource-constrained nations. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Population health promotion and disease prevention theories, frameworks, and techniques for planning, implementing and evaluating policy and programs in resource-constrained countries. Building collaborations and participatory community-based approaches. Addressing change at the individual, organizational, community, population, and global level. A case studies approach. Graded. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of instructor.
Intersection of international affairs and global health. Pressing global health issues are analyzed as they intersect with the global economy, international development, and security. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program, or permission of the instructor.
and a minimum of one methods or skills course chosen from
Statistical methods related to public health. Probability distributions, basic statistical inference on means and proportions and general concepts of hypothesis testing. Measures of association. Simple and multivariable linear regression models, dummy variables, and logistic regression models. Survival data analysis. Prerequisite: HSCI 801.
Follow-up course to HSCI 802. Designing, conducting, analyzing, and interpreting epidemiologic research. Theoretical frameworks, concepts of inference, measures of disease occurrence and effect, study designs, issues in measurement, bias, confounding, and interaction. Critical assessment of the epidemiologic and public health literature. Prerequisite: HSCI 801 and 802.
This seminar course is designed to introduce students to demographic techniques and principles through the discussion of the applications of various measures, case studies, and software programs. The emphasis is on applying techniques and principles learned in class to undertake demographic analyses in the lab. Prerequisite: HSCI 801.
Health advocacy, the policy framework within which it operates, its key principles, skills, and practice issues. Role, theories, and methods of health communication and advocacy in global health from the community to global level. Useful means: media advocacy, community mobilization, and trans-national collaboration. Use of information technology to promote population health and pro-health policy change. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Practical approaches to health needs assessment, needs prioritization, health program planning, and health program evaluation in low-to-middle income countries and/or resource-poor settings. Gender-based analyses are emphasized throughout. A case study approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
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
The mechanisms by which globalization impacts health. Roles of technologies, politics, economics, legal structures, culture, and social environments. The positive and negative impacts of global trends in trade, ideology, governance, community building, conflict, poverty, and the environment. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the Instructor.
Central role played by gender in health and development. Relationship of gender inequities to access to and control of resources needed to protect health. Use of gender lens in evaluating health systems and economic outcomes. Practical application of gender in health development approach to health financing, resource allocation policy problems in resource-constrained nations. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Health advocacy, the policy framework within which it operates, its key principles, skills, and practice issues. Role, theories, and methods of health communication and advocacy in global health from the community to global level. Useful means: media advocacy, community mobilization, and trans-national collaboration. Use of information technology to promote population health and pro-health policy change. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Practical approaches to health needs assessment, needs prioritization, health program planning, and health program evaluation in low-to-middle income countries and/or resource-poor settings. Gender-based analyses are emphasized throughout. A case study approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
A case-study based approach to policy analysis, formation, decision-making and evaluation in global health contexts. Frameworks for developing policy. Program planning and evaluation methodologies. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Infectious and chronic disease prevention and control strategies and program implementation. Components of disease prevention and control programs, including surveillance, epidemic preparedness, immunization, outbreak response. How they apply to specific diseases. A global perspective, including low and middle income countries. Case studies. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
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
In addition to the core courses listed above, students who choose this concentration will complete all of
Introduction to population health paradigms and the history of public health. Understanding the factors that influence health over the lifespan. Fundamentals of public health strategies including health promotion, public policy, disease prevention, communication in health, behavior change, and program planning and evaluation. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the Instructor.
Components of health care systems, issues, and interactions between components. System outputs, medical services and the delivery of primary health care. The Canadian health system and alternatives that impact it or provide better models for delivery. Effecting change, policy development, health system design; criteria for evaluating alternatives. Comparison of different measures of health status; trend analysis for predicting future health care and funding. Components of expenditure. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Examination of the major social and behavioral variables -- social class, poverty, income distribution, gender, race, social networks/support, psychological stress, community cohesion, and the work and neighborhood environment -- that affect the public's health. Evaluation of the empirical research linking each construct to population health status. Methods are introduced to operationalize each construct for the purposes of application in public health research. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Infectious and chronic disease prevention and control strategies and program implementation. Components of disease prevention and control programs, including surveillance, epidemic preparedness, immunization, outbreak response. How they apply to specific diseases. A global perspective, including low and middle income countries. Case studies. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
and a minimum of one methods or skills course chosen from
Statistical methods related to public health. Probability distributions, basic statistical inference on means and proportions and general concepts of hypothesis testing. Measures of association. Simple and multivariable linear regression models, dummy variables, and logistic regression models. Survival data analysis. Prerequisite: HSCI 801.
Follow-up course to HSCI 802. Designing, conducting, analyzing, and interpreting epidemiologic research. Theoretical frameworks, concepts of inference, measures of disease occurrence and effect, study designs, issues in measurement, bias, confounding, and interaction. Critical assessment of the epidemiologic and public health literature. Prerequisite: HSCI 801 and 802.
This seminar course is designed to introduce students to demographic techniques and principles through the discussion of the applications of various measures, case studies, and software programs. The emphasis is on applying techniques and principles learned in class to undertake demographic analyses in the lab. Prerequisite: HSCI 801.
Health advocacy, the policy framework within which it operates, its key principles, skills, and practice issues. Role, theories, and methods of health communication and advocacy in global health from the community to global level. Useful means: media advocacy, community mobilization, and trans-national collaboration. Use of information technology to promote population health and pro-health policy change. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Practical approaches to health needs assessment, needs prioritization, health program planning, and health program evaluation in low-to-middle income countries and/or resource-poor settings. Gender-based analyses are emphasized throughout. A case study approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
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
Critical examination of methodologies and methods for research on health inequities related to class, race, ethnicity, gender and other social axes of marginalization and power. Covers a range of disciplines (epidemiology, social sciences), methodologies (positivist, critical, feminist, indigenous) and methods (qualitative, quantitative, action-oriented). Emphasis on causes of and solutions to systemic health inequities. Prerequisite: HSCI 802, 803 and 838 or permission of instructor.
Introduction to population health paradigms and the history of public health. Understanding the factors that influence health over the lifespan. Fundamentals of public health strategies including health promotion, public policy, disease prevention, communication in health, behavior change, and program planning and evaluation. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the Instructor.
Examination of the major social and behavioral variables -- social class, poverty, income distribution, gender, race, social networks/support, psychological stress, community cohesion, and the work and neighborhood environment -- that affect the public's health. Evaluation of the empirical research linking each construct to population health status. Methods are introduced to operationalize each construct for the purposes of application in public health research. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Critical analysis of theories and frameworks central to research and practice on health inequities. Emphasis on mechanisms through which gender, race, ethnicity, social class and other social axes of marginalization and power intersect to influence health outcomes at the population level. Prerequisite: HSCI 835 or permission of instructor.
Critical application of theory and research on social inequities and health to the development of interventions, programs and policies for reducing health inequities at the population level. Emphasis on critical, collaborative, evidence-based, reflexive public health practice. Prerequisite: HSCI 807, 838, or permission of the instructor.
and one of
Concepts of health, illness, sickness and disease. History and development of health systems, and comparison of the social ethics, organization, and financing of different national health systems. The design of health systems - strengths and weaknesses of alternative systems for health care and delivery. Current strategies for health system reform in resource-rich and resource-constrained nations. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Components of health care systems, issues, and interactions between components. System outputs, medical services and the delivery of primary health care. The Canadian health system and alternatives that impact it or provide better models for delivery. Effecting change, policy development, health system design; criteria for evaluating alternatives. Comparison of different measures of health status; trend analysis for predicting future health care and funding. Components of expenditure. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
and one of
The mechanisms by which globalization impacts health. Roles of technologies, politics, economics, legal structures, culture, and social environments. The positive and negative impacts of global trends in trade, ideology, governance, community building, conflict, poverty, and the environment. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the Instructor.
Central role played by gender in health and development. Relationship of gender inequities to access to and control of resources needed to protect health. Use of gender lens in evaluating health systems and economic outcomes. Practical application of gender in health development approach to health financing, resource allocation policy problems in resource-constrained nations. A case studies approach. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
A case-study based approach to policy analysis, formation, decision-making and evaluation in global health contexts. Frameworks for developing policy. Program planning and evaluation methodologies. Prerequisite: 丁香园AV to the graduate program or permission of the instructor.
Special topics in areas not currently covered within the graduate program offerings. Prerequisite: Will depend on the special topic offered.
Examines the use of quantitative methods and statistical analysis in social research. Students will develop the knowledge base and skills necessary to understand and critically evaluate contemporary sociological literature that utilizes advanced quantitative methods. Lab sessions offer students the opportunity to apply a variety of statistical techniques. Prerequisite: An upper division undergraduate course in quantitative methods which covers statistical analysis (including probability and significance, hypothesis testing, and univariate and bivariate techniques), or permission of the instructor.
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.
** when offered as Exploring Social Locations: Women鈥檚 Health and Policy in Canada
Academic Requirements within the Graduate General Regulations
All graduate students must satisfy the academic requirements that are specified in the (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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