MASTER OF SCIENCE IN PUBLIC HEALTH (MSPH) IN HEALTH SYSTEMS
Required and Elective Courses, 2022-2023
Required and Elective Courses
All students in the MSPH in the Health Systems Program must take the required courses listed below. All required courses must be taken for a letter grade except for courses only offered for pass/fail grading. Below you'll find the lists of required and elective courses, as well as a general student timeline and an example of how a schedule might look for someone in their first year of the program.
Required Courses 2022-2023
| Course No. | Course Title | Term | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1: General Degree Requirements | |||
| 550.860 | Academic and Research Ethics | 1 | 0 |
| 340.721 | Epidemiological Inference in Public Health I | 1 | 5 |
| 140.621 | Statistical Methods in Public Health I | 1 | 4 |
| 140.622 | Statistical Methods in Public Health II | 2 | 4 |
| 140.623 | Statistical Methods in Public Health III | 3 | 4 |
| 550.604 | Qualitative Reasoning in Public Health* | 1,2 | 4 |
| 220.601 | Foundations of International Health (must take on-campus) | 1,4 | 4 |
| 220.600 | International Travel Preparation, Safety, and Wellness (take only once) | 2,3,4 | 1 |
| Health Systems Program Requirements | |||
| 221.840 | Special Studies & Research Health Systems: Individual Goals Analysis | 1 | 1 |
| 221.801 | Health Systems Seminar 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 221.802 | Health Systems Seminar 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 221.803 | Health Systems Seminar 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 221.804 | Health Systems Seminar 4 | 4 | 1 |
| 221.602 | Applications in Managing Health Organizations in Low and Middle-Income Countries | 1,3 | 3 |
| 221.646 | Health Systems in Low and Middle-Income Countries (must be taken on-campus) | 2 | 3 |
| 221.638 | Health Systems Research and Evaluation in Developing Countries | 3 | 4 |
| 221.650 | Health Policy Analysis in Low and Middle-Income Countries | 3 | 3 |
| 221.620 | Applying Summary Measures of Population Health to Improve Health Systems (must take on-campus) | 4 | 3 |
| 221.661 | Project Development for Primary Health Care in Developing Countries | 4 | 4 |
| Year 2: Capstone & Practicum Requirements | |||
| 221.810 | Health Systems Practicum | 1-4 | 28+ |
| 221.850 | MSPH Capstone Health Systems | 2-4 | 4+ |
| Required in Year 2 | 32 | ||
| Total Required | 81 | ||
* This requirement can be taken in-person during 1st term or online during 2nd term; it can be substituted by taking either of the courses in the International Health Qualitative series:
- 224.690.01 – Qualitative Research Theory and Methods or
- 224.691.01 – Qualitative Data Analysis
Elective Courses 2022-2023
|
Course No. |
Course Title |
Term |
Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Systems Planning and Management | |||
| 221.722 | Quality Assurance Management Methods for Developing Countries | 1 | 4 |
| 312.617 | Fundamentals of Financial Accounting | 1 | 3 |
| 410.620 | Program Planning for Health Behavior Change | 1,4 | 3 |
| 312.603 | Fundamentals of Budgeting & Financial Management (online only) | 1-4 | 3 |
| 312.604 | Quantitative Tools for Managers | 2,3,4 | 3 |
| 410.622 | Strategic Leadership Principles and Tools for Health System Transformation in Developing Countries | 2 | 4 |
| 221.654 | Systems Thinking in Public Health: Applications of Key Methods | 2 | 3 |
| 221.637 | Health Information Systems (online only) | 2 | 4 |
| 312.621 | Strategic Planning | 3 | 3 |
| 312.633 | Health Management Information Systems | 3 | 3 |
| 221.608 | Managing Non-Governmental Organizations in the Health Sector | 3,4 | 3 |
| 221.605 | History of International Health and Development | 4 | 2 |
| International Health Topics | |||
| 221.613 | Introduction to Humanitarian Emergencies | 1 | 2 |
| 180.620 | Introduction to Food Systems and Public Health | 1 | 4 |
| 221.639 | Health Care in Humanitarian Emergencies | 1,2 | 3 |
| 221.612 | Confronting the Burden of Injuries: A Global Perspective | 2 | 3 |
| 221.627 | Issues in the Reduction of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality in LMICs | 2 | 4 |
| 224.689 | Health Behavior Change at the Individual, Household, and Community Levels | 2 | 4 |
| 182.626 | Issues for Water and Sanitation in Tropical Environmental Health | 3 | 2 |
| 221.634 | Stress Management for Relief Workers | 3 | 2 |
| 221.635 | Advances in Community-Oriented Primary Health Care | 3 | 4 |
| 221.643 | Armed Conflict and Health | 3 | 2 |
| 221.688 | Social & Behavioral Foundations of Primary Health Care | 3 | 4 |
| 380.750 | Migration and Health: Concepts, Rates, and Relationships | 3 | 3 |
| 223.621 | Design and Implementation of Global Digital Health Interventions I | 3 | 3 |
| 222.665 | Planning for Food Systems and Public Health | 3 | 3 |
| 223.622 | Design and Implementation of Global Digital Health Interventions II | 4 | 3 |
| 221.642 | Mental Health Aspects of Disaster: PH Preparedness & Response | 4 | 2 |
| 221.616 | Ethics of Public Health Practice in Developing Countries | 4 | 2 |
| 221.624 | Urban Health in Developing Countries | 4 | 2 |
| 221.611 | Food Security and Nutrition in Humanitarian Emergencies | 4 | 2 |
| 221.653 | Hospital-Based Injury/ Trauma Surveillance in LMICs | 4 | 3 |
| 185.600 | One Health Tools to Promote and Evaluate Healthy and Sustainable Communities | 4 | 3 |
| 223.626 | Special Topics in Global Digital Health | 4 | 1 |
| Health Policy | |||
| 300.600 | Introduction to Health Policy | 1 | 4 |
| 221.614 | International Political Science for Public Health Practitioners | 2 | 2 |
| 300.712 | Formulating Policy: Strategies & Systems of Policymaking in the 21st Century | 2 | 3 |
| 301.645 | Health Advocacy | 2,4 | 3 |
| 308.610 | The Political Economy of Social Inequalities and Consequence | 2,4 | 3 |
| 223.687 | Vaccine Policy Issues | 3 | 3 |
| 300.652 | Politics of Health Policy | 4 | 4 |
| Research Methods | |||
| 330.657 | Statistics for Psychosocial Research: Measurement | 1 | 4 |
| 340.728 | Advanced Methods for Design and Analysis of Cohort Studies | 1 | 5 |
| 140.655 | Analysis of Longitudinal Data | 1 | 4 |
| 224.690 | Qualitative Research Theory and Methods | 1,3 | 3 |
| 340.696 | Spatial Analysis I: ArcGIS | 1 | 3 |
| 340.697 | Spatial Analysis II: Spatial Data Technologies | 2 | 2 |
| 221.641 | Measurement Methods in Humanitarian Emergencies | 2 | 2 |
| 221.701 | Introduction to Gender Analysis within Health Research & Interventions | 2 | 2 |
| 309.716 | Advanced Methods in Health Services Research: Research Design | 1 | 4 |
| 340.717 | Health Survey Research Methods | 2 | 4 |
| 410.710 | Concepts in Qualitative Research for Social & Behavioral Sciences | 2 | 3 |
| 550.601 | Implementation Research and Practice | 2 | 3 |
| 224.691 | Qualitative Data Analysis | 2,4 | 3 |
| 340.722 | Epidemiological Inference in Public Health II | 2,4 | 4 |
| 223.664 | Design and Conduct of Community Trials | 3 | 4 |
| 224.694 | Mental Health Intervention Programming in LMICs | 3 | 3 |
| 300.713 | Research & Evaluation Methods for Health Policy | 3 | 4 |
| 340.606 | Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis | 3 | 6 |
| 380.711 | Issues in Survey Research | 3 | 3 |
| 224.692 | Methods in Formative Research and Human Centered Design for Intervention Development | 3,4 | 4 |
| 140.664 | Causal Interference in Medicine and Public Health | 3,4 | 4 |
| 309.616 | Introduction to Methods for Health Services Research and Evaluation I | 3 | 2 |
| 410.635 | Applications of Innovative Methods in Local and Global Health Equity Research | 3 | 4 |
| 140.698 | Spatial Analysis III: Spatial Statistics | 3 | 4 |
| 140.699 | Spatial Analysis IV: Spatial Design and Applications | 4 | 3 |
| 380.712 | Methods of Analysis of Large Population Surveys | 4 | 3 |
| 140.624 | Statistical Models in Public Health IV | 4 | 4 |
| 309.617 | Introduction to Methods for Health Services Research and Evaluation II | 4 | 2 |
| Monitoring and Evaluation | |||
| 380.611 | Fundamentals of Program Evaluation | 1,3 | 4 |
| 221.641 | Measurement Methods in Humanitarian Emergencies | 2 | 2 |
| 221.645 | Large-Scale Effectiveness Evaluations of Health Programs | 2,4 | 4 |
| 221.631 | Evaluation Methods for Injury Interventions | 3 | 3 |
| 300.713 | Research and Evaluation Methods for Health Policy | 3 | 3 |
| 223.632 | Methods for Planning and Implementing Evaluations of Large-Scale Programs in LMICs | 4 | 4 |
| 380.612 | Applications in Program Monitoring and Evaluation | 4 | 4 |
| Health Economics | |||
| 318.603 | Applied Microeconomics for Policymaking | 1 | 3 |
| 313.601-3 | Economic Evaluation I - III | 1-3 | 3 |
| 313.643 | Health Economics | 2 | 3 |
| 313.644 | Intermediate Health Economics | 3 | 3 |
| 221.652 | Financing Health Systems for Universal Health Care | 3 | 3 |
| 221.662 | Globalization and Health: Economics Development | 3 | 3 |
| 221.617 | Behavioral Economics in Health Decisions | 3 | 2 |
| 221.651 | Econometrics I | 3 | 4 |
| 221.663 | Globalization and Health: A Framework for Analysis | 4 | 3 |
Student Timeline
The MSPH degree can be completed in 1.5 years; all requirements should be completed within 2 years.
In the first year of their degree, MSPH students will engage in intensive coursework, complete a comprehensive departmental examination, and write their practicum proposal. The second year will consist of various elective courses, a capstone essay about an applied topic of international health, and a field-based practicum focused on a significant issue related to the health of underserved populations.
Sample Year 1 Plan
This is an example schedule for the first year of the MSPH in Health Systems with required courses, listed in bold, and example elective courses. Please note this is just an example for students to use as a guide as they develop their own schedule.
1st Term
3rd Term
2nd Term
|
4 credits |
|
|
3 credits |
|
|
1 credit |
|
|
1 credit |
|
|
Issues in the Reduction of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality in LMICs |
4 credits |
|
4 credits |
|
|
Total: 9 required credits + 8 elective credits |
|
4th Term
|
Applying Summary Measures of Population Health to Improve Health Systems |
4 credits |
|
4 credits |
|
|
1 credit |
|
|
4 credits |
|
|
3 credits |
|
|
Total: 9 required credits + 7 elective credits |
|