Public Health, Epidemiology Concentration, M.P.H.

(SIMS Code: 557329) (SIMS Code: 557330 - SDSU Global Campus)

NOTE: Admissions to the Public Health, Epidemiology Concentration, M.P.H. will be suspended for the 2021-2022 academic year for Global Campus.

Admission to the Degree Curriculum

Applicants seeking admission to public health concentration areas leading to either the Master of Public Health or Master of Science degree should contact the School of Public Health requesting appropriate descriptive materials. Detailed application instructions can be obtained from http://publichealth.sdsu.edu.

Applicants for the biometry concentration are required to have successfully completed undergraduate courses in single and multivariate calculus.

Students who do not fully meet the requirements for admission with classified graduate standing may be considered for conditionally classified graduate standing upon recommendation of the admissions committee and the graduate adviser.

Advancement to Candidacy

All students must: (1) meet the general requirements for advancement to candidacy as described in Requirements for Master’s Degrees ; (2) satisfactorily pass a faculty evaluation of the progress that they are making in their graduate course of study; (3) complete the core courses, P H 601 , P H 602 , P H 603 , P H 604 , P H 605 (students in health management and policy will substitute P H 641 for P H 605 , and students in health promotion and behavioral science will substitute P H 661 and P H 662 for P H 603 ); have a grade point average of at least 3.0 and no grade less than a B- in each core course completed; and (4) have completed at least 12 semester units of approved public health coursework.

In addition, the student must be recommended for advancement to candidacy by the faculty of the School of Public Health.

Specific Requirements

(Students in health management and policy will substitute P H 641 for P H 605 and students in health promotion and behavioral science will substitute P H 661 and P H 662 for P H 603 )

In addition to meeting the requirements for classified graduate standing and the basic requirements for the master’s degree as described in Requirements for Master’s Degrees , the student must complete an officially approved course of study of not less than 51 units (59 units for students in Health Management and Policy) including:

P H 601 - Epidemiology Units: 3
P H 602 - Biostatistics Units: 3
P H 603 - Behavioral and Social Science in Public Health Units: 3
P H 604 - Environmental Determinants of Human Health Units: 3
P H 605 - Health Services Administration Units: 3
A minimum of 21 units of graduate courses in the area of concentration
A minimum of three and a maximum of 12 units of supervised field placement
Electives selected with the approval of the graduate adviser

In Addition

In addition, P H 797 - Research , P H 798 - Special Study , or P H 799A - Thesis , must be included in the program as a capstone experience.

Concentrations in biometry, epidemiology, and health promotion and behavioral science require three units of field placement for the Master of Public Health degree. The concentration in health management and policy and the concentration in environmental health both require six units of field placement.

Up to nine units of graduate credit may be accepted in transfer, with the approval of the graduate adviser.

In special circumstances, the graduate adviser may approve one course not on the list of prescribed electives. The substitution must be approved prior to enrollment in the course.

Concentration in Epidemiology

Courses required for the concentration:

P H 601 - Epidemiology Units: 3
P H 602 - Biostatistics Units: 3
P H 603 - Behavioral and Social Science in Public Health Units: 3
P H 604 - Environmental Determinants of Human Health Units: 3
P H 605 - Health Services Administration Units: 3
P H 620 - SAS for Biostatistics I Units: 3
P H 621 - Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases Units: 3
P H 622 - Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases Units: 3
P H 623 - Epidemiological Methods Units: 3
P H 627 - Advanced Statistical Methods in Public Health Units: 3
P H 629 - SAS for Biostatistics II Units: 3
P H 650R - Field Practice: Required Community Practice Units: 3-6 (3)

Prescribed Electives

A minimum of six units selected from the following public health courses in epidemiology:

P H 625 - Control of Infectious Diseases Units: 3
P H 626 - International Health Epidemiology Practicum Units: 3
P H 628 - Applications of Multivariate Statistics in Public Health Units: 3
P H 649 - Border and Global Public Health Surveillance Units: 3
P H 700A - Seminar in Public Health: Epidemiology Units: 1-3 (3)
P H 724 - Advanced Methods in Epidemiology Units: 3
P H 726 - HIV/AIDS Epidemiology and Public Health Units: 3
P H 823 - Case-Control Studies Units: 3
P H 824 - Cohort Studies Units: 3

Electives

Up to six units selected with approval of concentration faculty. These electives may include any public health course or selections from the following:

BIOL 585 - Cellular and Molecular Immunology Units: 3
GEOG 584 - Geographic Information Systems Applications Units: 3
GEOG 590 - Community-Based Geographic Research Units: 3
NUTR 600 - Seminar: Foods and Nutrition Units: 3
NUTR 607 - Child Nutrition Units: 3
NUTR 700 - Seminar in Nutrition Units: 3
STAT 550 - Applied Probability Units: 3
STAT 551A - Probability and Mathematical Statistics Units: 3
STAT 560 - Sample Surveys Units: 3
STAT 610 - Linear Regression Models Units: 3
STAT 672 - Nonparametric Statistics Units: 3
STAT 677 - Design of Experiments Units: 3

Culminating Experience

P H 797 - Research Units: 1-3 (Cr/NC/RP)
P H 799A - Thesis Units: 3 (Cr/NC/RP)
or
P H 798 - Special Study Units: 1-6 (Cr/NC/RP)
P H 725 - Scientific Writing for Epidemiology Units: 3 (Cr/NC)
P H 728 - Applied Data Analysis Units: 3
or
P H 720A - Capstone I Units: 3
P H 720B - Capstone II Units: 3
P H 798 - Special Study Units: 1-6 (Cr/NC/RP)