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Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health To Offer First Fully Online Masters Degree

Published

The Master of Applied Science in Spatial Analysis for Public Health will be first of its kind

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will offer its first wholly online, part-time masters degree program beginning this fall.

The Master of Applied Science in Spatial Analysis for Public Health is a completely new degree and is designed to meet the growing need for trained experts in this burgeoning field. From identifying cancer clusters to tracking the potential spread of the Zika virus, the science of spatial analysis allows researchers to examine the role of geography in public health and use it to interpret public health data.

“Spatial analysis is a fast-growing field in the public health sector and this new degree program is meant to produce highly skilled experts who can help shape the future of public health at local and global levels,” says Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH ’87, dean of the Bloomberg School. “We continue to see new possibilities in how spatial analysis can influence disease control and transmission, injury and public safety, assessment of environmental exposures and examination of risky behaviors. Our students will be prepared to meet the needs we see now and be able to adapt to changes coming well into the future.”

The Master of Applied Science in Spatial Analysis for Public Health provides students with foundational knowledge and skills in epidemiology and biostatistics. It will teach students to effectively collect, map, integrate and interpret geographic information to answer crucial questions and test and refine hypotheses in the public health sector. The fully online program can be completed as little as 24 months and the degree will not be offered at the Bloomberg School’s Baltimore campus. Applicants are not required to have work experience or prior study in spatial analysis. The program is also ideal for professionals working in related fields looking to further develop their skills and careers.

Maps have become a powerful and popular tool in public health research and practice, not only for conveying information and synthesizing data from multiple sources but for leading to new directions for analyzing and interpreting public health data. Among the many applications of spatial analysis are characterizing environmental conditions such as air pollution, temperature or access to healthy food; providing tools for improved assessment of these and other exposures; or mapping the risk of infectious diseases such as Ebola or malaria.

The Bloomberg School has long been a pioneer in online learning. In 1999, the School offered the very first online Master of Public Health. This online MPH continues to produce high quality graduates, providing 80 percent of learning online and the rest in a classroom setting.

The Master of Applied Science in Spatial Analysis for Public Health will be the first fully online degree at the Bloomberg School, with additional online programs currently being developed.

Bloomberg School faculty members will be involved in course development, teaching and advising students. For more information, please contact admissions at 844-379-1319 or visit the program page on the School's website.

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Media contacts for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Barbara Benham at bbenham1@jhu.edu or 410-614-6029 and Stephanie Desmon at sdesmon1@jhu.edu or 410-955-7619.