A new Master of Public Health (MPH) degree program is being offered by the Department of Health Studies and Gerontology at the University of Waterloo beginning Fall 2006.
The program has been conceived in response to the widely recognized need for opportunities to enhance prior training and build the skill set of public health professionals in Canada and abroad. The program builds on the unique strengths at UW in the areas of health behaviour and population health promotion, health informatics, and environmental health sciences through a course-based curriculum designed to enable public health professions to manage emerging issues in public health. The program will appeal to working health professionals who wish to upgrade their training on a part time basis, and will meet the needs of expanding population health agencies at the local, provincial, and federal level who are seeking highly trained public health planners and managers.
The MPH program will offer students the choice of either a full-time or part-time program of studies. Most applicants to be admitted to the MPH program will be recruited as recent graduates from 4-year BSc or BA programs in Health Studies and related disciplines, or alternatively as mature students holding a 4-year degree in a related discipline with relevant work experience in population and public health. Students with advanced professional degrees in recognized health disciplines (e.g. MD, DVM) will also be eligible for admission.
The MPH program consists of 8 core courses, 3 elective courses and a 12 week applied practicum in a community or research setting. The MPH degree will normally be completed over a period of 20 months on a full time basis. Part time students must complete all of their degree requirements within four years of program entry. The curriculum is designed to reflect the basic core academic requirements of accredited US MPH programs but will also address the unique dimensions of public health in Canada and other countries.
Students have the opportunity to enrol in an MPH general program, or alternatively students can choose to specialize through the MPH sociobehavioural sciences stream.
The UW MPH curriculum will be offered through on-line learning format with course materials distributed over the internet and/or via CD-ROM, with minimal on-campus attendance required.
(See the Health Studies and Gerontology Program Information section for further program details.)