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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: 

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

Statistical Methods in Public Health I 

4 credits

Epidemiologic Inference in Public Health I 

5 credits

Qualitative Reasoning in Public Health 

2 credits

Foundations of International Health 

4 credits

Applications in Managing Health Organizations in LMICs 

3 credits

Health Systems Seminar 

1 credit

Special Studies Health Systems: Individualized Goals Analysis 

1 credit

Academic and Research Ethics at BSPH (can be taken any term) 

0 credits

Total: 20 required credits

3rd Term

Statistical Methods in Public Health III 

4 credits

Health Systems Research and Evaluation in Developing Countries 

4 credits

Health Policy Analysis in Low and Middle-Income Countries

3 credits

Health Systems Seminar

1 credit

Methods for Planning and Implementing Evaluations of Large-Scale Programs in LMICs 

4 credits

Total: 12 required credits + 4 elective credits

2nd Term

Statistical Methods in Public Health II 

4 credits

Health Systems in Low and Middle-Income Countries

3 credits

Health Systems Seminar 

1 credit

International Travel Preparation, Safety, and Wellness 

1 credit

Issues in the Reduction of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality in LMICs 

4 credits

Lage-Scale Effectiveness Evaluations of Health Programs 

4 credits

Total: 9 required credits + 8 elective credits

 

 

 

 

4th Term

Applying Summary Measures of Population Health to Improve Health Systems 

4 credits

Project Development of PHC in Developing Countries 

4 credits

Health Systems Seminar 

1 credit

Applications in Program Monitoring and Evaluation 

4 credits

Urban Health in Developing Countries (online only) 

3 credits

Total: 9 required credits + 7 elective credits