Master of Public Health and Master of Arts in Counseling
Public Health Goals and Objectives
Our Master of Public Health (MPH) has a Community Health Concentration, and is offered through the College of Health Sciences. The MPH degree extends clinical health orientation by incorporating broader knowledge and action related to preventing disease and disability and improving individual and population-level outcomes. Public health is centered in achieving health equity and reducing disparities, including understanding and addressing the social and community context of disease, illness, disability and recovery, as well as health promotion and health research. Our MPH trains students to work effectively as public health professionals in local and global communities through a wide variety of health-related organizations.
Highlights of our program curricula includes the following:
- Program planning and evaluation
- Healthcare and broader public health policy
- Epidemiology, research methods, and biostatistics
- Public health communication for the community
- Capstone projects that integrate practice and research
- Internships that give students first-hand experience in public health settings
- Domestic and international service projects and internship opportunities
- Interprofessional education experiences
- Four dual-degree programs: Physician Assistant; International Peace and Conflict Resolution; Physical Therapy; and Counseling.
The MPH program educates future community public health professionals to promote the health of individuals, families, communities, and the environment. This is accomplished through a program that integrates education, research and practice in a globally-minded environment. Our goal is that our students:
- Understand community public health and develop the skills needed to succeed in a public health career.
- Are engaged in an academic, applied environment that integrates community public health education with research and practice.
- Recognize the connection between health status and human rights and act to improve outcomes.
- Translate knowledge into practice through collaborative service projects and internships, both domestically and internationally with community-based organizations, health facilities, government organizations, and local health departments.
- Employ scientific investigation to advance public health knowledge of the relationship between health and the structural environment within which individuals live and work.
Our program allows for broad interests in public health but we also encourage students to focus their coursework on a specific area of interest, choose an Internship experience that emphasizes their individualized interests, and plan a Capstone project focused in the same area. In this way, each student can develop a specialized knowledge base about public health issues related to his or her specific area of interest.
Our dual-degree programs train health professionals in the core areas of community-based public health. The application of the public health skill set added to the skills learned within the clinical and behavioral primary degree instills a public health perspective to blend and build an interdisciplinary career.
Counseling Goals and Objectives
The Master of Arts in Counseling (MAC) educates and socializes students to become practitioners skilled in the art of behavior assessment and change. This is accomplished through a program that integrates theory and practice (both within and outside of the classroom) from the beginning of the program.
The program is structured to develop professional-level competence in:
- Applying an evidence-based model of counseling
- Integrating multicultural practice in counseling
- Developing the professional skills to pursue specific careers in counseling
- Incorporating self-care into their counseling careers
Dual Degrees Requirements
Master of Arts in Counseling (MAC) and Master of Public Health (MPH) Dual Degree
78 credits: 42 credits for the MAC program (sharing x credits from MPH) and 42 credits for the MPH program (sharing 3 credits from MAC)
The sequencing of courses is presented here based on a full-time schedule (9-12 credits/semester), with a summer start, but many students can complete this combined degree on a part-time basis on a schedule to be arranged with the advisers.
- PBH501 Achieving Health Equity: From Individuals to Systems
- PBH 510 Health Care Systems and Public Health Policy: An Integrated Approach to Population Health
- PBH 530 History, Theories and Core Functions of Public Health
- PBH 560 Environmental Health: Impact of Community Health
- PBH 565 Effective Communication Strategies for Public Health Impact
- PBH 600 Introduction to Epidemiology
- PBH 620 Introduction to Biostatistics
- PBH 640 Research Methods and Design for Health Professionals (counts as research methods course for both programs)
- PBH 645 Developing Leadership and Practice Skills for Program Evaluation
- PBH 689.1 Public Health Internship Planning non-credit
- PBH 689.2 Public Health Internship
- PBH 695 Capstone Research Project Seminar I
- PBH 696 Capstone Research Project Seminar II
- PY 572 Concepts of Mental Health and Mental Illness
- PY 572L Multicultural Lab: Self-Awareness I non-credit
- PY 516 Human Development: Life Span
- PY 586 Theories and Techniques of Counseling
- PY 500 Educational and Career Counseling
- PY 587 Practicum 2 Credits
- PY 535 Neuroscience and Psychopharmacology for Counselors
- PY 570 Professional Issues in Counseling
- PY 620 Advanced Counseling Techniques
- PY 626 Assessment in Counseling
- PY 688 Cultural Bases of Counseling
- PY 688L Multicultural Lab: Self-Awareness II non-credit
- PY 610 Group Counseling
- PY 630B Internship: Mental Health Counseling 300 hrs. 6 credits
- PY 630L Multicultural Lab: Knowledge I non-credit
- PY 631B Internship: Mental Health Counseling 300 hrs. 6 credits
- PY 631L Multicultural Lab: Knowledge II non-credit
- PBH 630 Program Planning and Evaluation
