Public Health

Admission Requirements

Please see the South University academic catalog for program specific admissions requirements.

Career Outlook

Graduates are prepared to contribute to delivery of the essential services of public health in health agencies at the government or community-based level and in the private sector, continue to learn throughout their professional careers, and to pursue graduate study in public health and the health sciences.

Course Requirements

Outcomes

Offered at South University, Online Programs; South University, Savannah; and South University, Virginia Beach.

The Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program at South University is a 56-credit program designed to educate students and working professionals about areas of critical importance to local, national, and international public health challenges. The MPH program is organized around a curriculum which consists of core competencies, principal courses, and a practicum experience. The core courses cover the five main areas of public health competencies.  The principal courses are designed to cover a broad range of topics to help develop each student's knowledge, skills, and abilities in public health practice and to further develop the skillsets of working professionals in the public health field.  Lastly the students take part in a practicum experience that synthesizes information learned throughout the program and as such should be taken as the last course in the program.  

Program Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates should be able to:

1. Utilize core public health concepts in the areas of biostatistics, epidemiology, social and behavioral sciences, health services administration, and environmental health.
2. Assess the public health conditions, including assets and deficiencies, of populations.
3. Demonstrate the ability to plan, implement, and evaluate programs and services designed to address public health conditions.
4. Employ an "ecological approach" to public health, with emphasis on the linkages and relationships among the multiple determinants of health to assure conditions that protect and promote the health of populations.
5. Analyze health disparities to design appropriate and culturally competent prevention and intervention strategies.
6. Apply theoretical knowledge in field-based settings that incorporates the eight competency domains for public health professionals:
7. Demonstrate skills in public health research and communication.
8. Apply critical thinking skills within the context of public health policy, practice, and research.