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MASTER OF SCIENCE IN PUBLIC HEALTH (MSPH) IN HEALTH SYSTEMS

Required and Elective Courses, 2023-2024

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 2023-2024

Course No.

Course Title

Term

Credits

General Degree Requirements

550.860

Academic and Research Ethics 

1

0

221.840

Special Studies and Research Health Systems: Individual Goals Analysis 

1

1

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

Biostatistics Requirements

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

Epidemiology Requirement
340.721 Epidemiologic Inference in Public Health I  1 5

Health Systems Program Core Requirements

221.801

Health Systems Seminar I

1

1

221.802

Health Systems Seminar II 

2

1

221.803

Health Systems Seminar III 

3

1

221.804

Health Systems Seminar IV

4

1

221.602

Applications in Managing Health Organizations in Low and Middle-Income Countries 

1

3

221.646

Health Systems in Low and Middle-Income Countries (must be taken on-campus) 

2

3

221.650

Health Policy Analysis in Low and Middle-Income Countries 

3

3

221.638

Health Systems Research and Evaluation in Developing Countries 

3

4

221.661

Project Development for Primary Health Care in Developing Countries 

4

4

221.620

Applying Summary Measures of Population Health to Improve Health Systems (must take on-campus) 

4

3

Qualitative Research Requirement (choose one)

550.604 or

224.690

Qualitative Reasoning in Public Health

Qualitative Research Theory and Methods 

1, 2

1,3

2

3

Capstone and Practicum Requirement (Year 2 only)

221.810

Health Systems Practicum 

1 – 4

28+

221.850

MSPH Capstone Health Systems 

2 – 4

4+

Elective Courses 2023-2024

Course No.

Course Title

Term

Credits

Digital Health

223.621

Design and Implementation of Global Digital Health Interventions I

3

3

223.622

Design and Implementation of Global Digital Health Interventions II

4

3

223.626

Special Topics in Global Digital Health

4

1

Food Systems and Food Security

180.620

Introduction to Food Systems and Public Health 

1

4

222.665 

Planning for Food Systems and Public Health 

3

3

Gender and Health

221.621

Gender and Health: Foundational Theories and Applications

1

3

221.701

Applications to Gender Analysis Within Health Research and Interventions 

2

2

Health Economics

221.619

Introduction to Global Health Economics

1

3

313.601

Economic Evaluation I

1

3

313.602

Economic Evaluation II

2

3

313.603

Economic Evaluation III

3

3

313.643

Health Economics 

2

3

313.644

Intermediate Health Economics 

3

3

221.662

Health, Equity, and Economic 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

Health Policy and Politics

300.600

Introduction to Health Policy 

1

4

221.614

International Political Science for Public Health Practitioners 

2

2

300.712

Formulating Policy: Strategies and 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

300.713

Research and Evaluation Methods for Health Policy 

3

4

380.771

Understanding and Changing International Reproductive Health Policy

4

3

Health Systems Strengthening

221.637

Health Information Systems (online only) 

2

4

221.652

Financing Health Systems for Universal Health Care

3

3

312.633

Health Management Information Systems 

3

3

Humanitarian Health

221.613

Introduction to Humanitarian Emergencies 

1

2

221.639

Health Care in Humanitarian Emergencies 

1, 2

3

221.641

Measurement Methods in Humanitarian Emergencies 

2

2

221.712

Leadership and Management in Humanitarian Health

2

2

221.623

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Humanitarian Emergencies

3

2

221.643

Armed Conflict and Health 

3

2

380.750

Migration and Health: Concepts, Rates, and Relationships 

3

3

221.611

Food Security and Nutrition in Humanitarian Emergencies 

4

2

221.642

Mental Health Aspects of Disaster: Public Health Preparedness and Response 

4

2

Management and Leadership

312.617

Fundamentals of Financial Accounting 

1

3

312.603

Fundamentals of Budgeting and 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

312.621

Strategic Planning 

3

3

608.771

Non-Governmental Organizations and the Administration of Global Health Programs

4

3

Monitoring and Evaluation Methods

380.611

Fundamentals of Program Evaluation 

1, 3

4

221.645

Large-Scale Effectiveness Evaluations of Health Programs 

2, 4

4

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

Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries

221.612

Confronting the Burden of Injuries: A Global Perspective 

2

3

221.653

Hospital-Based Injury / Trauma Surveillance in LMICs 

4

3

Primary Health Care, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health Topics

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

221.635

Global Advances in Community-Oriented Primary Health Care 

3

4

221.688

Social and Behavioral Foundations of Primary Health Care 

3

4

Program Design and Implementation

221.722

Quality Assurance Management Methods for Developing Countries 

1

4

410.620

Program Planning for Health Behavior Change 

1, 4

3

221.654

Systems Thinking in Public Health: Applications of Key Methods 

2

3

Research Methods

Advanced Qualitative Methods

224.691

Qualitative Data Analysis 

2, 4

3

410.631

Introduction to Community-Based Participatory Research: Principles and Methods

2

3

410.710

Concepts in Qualitative Research for Social and Behavioral Sciences 

2

3

224.692

Methods in Formative Research and Human Centered Design for Intervention Development 

3, 4

4

Advanced Statistical Methods

140.655

Analysis of Longitudinal Data 

1

4

330.657

Statistics for Psychosocial Research: Measurement 

1

4

340.728

Advanced Methods for Design and Analysis of Cohort Studies 

1

5

140.656

Multilevel and Longitudinal Models Data Analysis Workshop

2

4

340.696

Spatial Analysis I: ArcGIS 

1

3

340.697

Spatial Analysis II: Spatial Data Technologies 

2

2

140.698

Spatial Analysis III: Spatial Statistics 

3

4

140.699

Spatial Analysis IV: Spatial Design and Applications 

4

3

140.624

Statistical Methods in Public Health IV 

4

4

Health Services Research Methods

309.716

Advanced Methods in Health Services Research: Research Design 

1

4

309.616

Introduction to Methods for Health Services Research and Evaluation I 

3

2

309.617

Introduction to Methods for Health Services Research and Evaluation II 

4

2

Health Survey Research

340.717

Health Survey Research Methods 

2

4

380.711

Issues in Survey Research 

3

3

140.664

Causal Inference in Medicine and Public Health 

3, 4

4

380.712

Methods of Analysis of Large Population Surveys

4

3

Other Advanced Research Methods

340.722

Epidemiologic Inference in Public Health II 

2, 4

4

550.601

Implementation Research and Practice 

2

3

223.664

Design and Conduct of Community Trials 

3

4

340.606

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis 

3

6

410.635

Applications of Innovative Methods in Local and Global Health Equity Research 

3

4

340.667

Health Equity Research Methods to Address Social Determinants of Health

4

4

Other Key Topics

180.611

The Global Environment, Climate Change, and Public Health

1

4

550.610

Using Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Improve Public Health

1

1

180.607

Climate Change and Public Health

3

3

182.626

Water and Sanitation in Low-Income Countries

3

2

224.694

Mental Health Intervention Programming in LMICs 

3

3

185.600

One Health Tools to Promote and Evaluate Healthy and Sustainable Communities 

4

3

221.605

History of International Health and Development 

4

2

221.616

Ethics of Public Health Practice in Developing Countries 

4

2

221.624

Urban Health in Developing Countries 

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

140.621

Statistical Methods in Public Health I

4 credits

340.721

Epidemiologic Inference in Public Health I

5 credits

550.604

Qualitative Reasoning in Public Health

2 credits

220.601

Foundations of International Health

4 credits

221.602

Applications in Managing Health Organizations in LMICs

3 credits

221.801

Health Systems Seminar

1 credit

221.840

Special Studies Health Systems: Individualized Goals Analysis

1 credit

550.860

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

0 credits

 

Total: 20 required credits

3rd Term

140.623

Statistical Methods in Public Health III

4 credits

221.638

Health Systems Research and Evaluation in Developing Countries

4 credits

221.650

Health Policy Analysis in Low and Middle-Income Countries

3 credits

221.803

Health Systems Seminar

1 credit

223.632

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

4 credits

 

Total: 12 required credits + 4 elective credits

2nd Term

140.622

Statistical Methods in Public Health II

4 credits

221.646

Health Systems in Low and Middle-Income Countries

3 credits

221.802

Health Systems Seminar

1 credit

220.600

International Travel Preparation, Safety, and Wellness

1 credit

221.627

Issues in the Reduction of Maternal and Neonatal Mortality in LMICs

4 credits

221.645

Lage-Scale Effectiveness Evaluations of Health Programs

4 credits

 

Total: 9 required credits + 8 elective credits

 

 

 

 

4th Term

221.620

Applying Summary Measures of Population Health to Improve Health Systems

4 credits

221.661

Project Development of PHC in Developing Countries

4 credits

221.804

Health Systems Seminar

1 credit

380.612

Applications in Program Monitoring and Evaluation

4 credits

221.624

Urban Health in Developing Countries (online only)

3 credits

 

Total: 9 required credits + 7 elective credits