The Master of Public Health program at the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine is guided by the 22 foundational core public health competencies set forth by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) and 5 generalist concentration competencies established by the program. These competencies set a baseline for skills that graduate-level students should be competent in upon graduation to succeed as public health professionals. MPH students' success in achieving these competencies is measured by specific assessment activities developed to validate the student's ability to perform each competency.
Foundational Core Public Health Competencies
- Apply epidemiological methods to settings and situations in public health practice.
- Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context.
- Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming, and software, as appropriate.
- Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy or practice.
- Compare the organization, structure, and function of health care, public health, and regulatory systems across national and international settings.
- Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and systemic levels.
- Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design, implementation, or critique of public health policies or programs.
- Design a population-based policy, program, project, or intervention.
- Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management.
- Select methods to evaluate public health programs.
- Assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities' health.
- Discuss the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence.
- Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes.
- Advocate for political, social, or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations.
- Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity.
- Apply leadership and/or management principles to address a relevant issue.
- Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges.
- Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors.
- Communicate audience-appropriate (i.e., non-academic, non-peer audience) public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation.
- Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content.
- Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health.
- Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than standard narrative.
- Design programs for the surveillance and control of communicable diseases.
- Assess the burden of disease on health, service utilization and finance, and the importance of prevention.
- Evaluate environmental health laws and regulations to determine its feasibility to attend the issues in place.
- Analyze informatic methods and resources as tools to promote public health.
- Communicate health findings in writing at a level consistent with peer-reviewed journals, including descriptions of design, results, and interpretation.
The SJBSM Master in Public Health Program ensures that all graduates are grounded in foundational public health knowledge. Grounding in foundational public health knowledge is measured by the student’s achievement of the learning objectives listed below (CEPH, 2021).
- Explain public health history, philosophy, and values.
- Identify the core functions of public health and the 10 Essential Services.
- Explain the role of quantitative and qualitative methods and sciences in describing and assessing a population’s health.
- List major causes and trends of morbidity and mortality in the US or other community relevant to the school or program.
- Discuss the science of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention in population health, including health promotion, screening, etc.
- Explain the critical importance of evidence in advancing public health knowledge.
- Explain effects of environmental factors on a population's health.
- Explain biological and genetic factors that affect a population's health.
- Explain behavioral and psychological factors that affect a population’s health.
- Explain the social, political, and economic determinants of health and how they contribute to population health and health inequities.
- Explain how globalization affects global burdens of disease.
- Explain an ecological perspective on the connections among human health, animal health and ecosystem health (e.g., One Health).
