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Academic Programs: Master of Public Health
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Health and Nutrition Sciences

Academic Programs: Graduate
Master of Public Health with Concentration in Community Health Education

Coordinator: Amanda Birnbaum
Office: University Hall, Room 4175
Department Administrator: Ann Schurmann
Phone Number: (973) 655-7681
Email: mph@mail.montclair.edu

Overview

The mission of the Master of Public Health program is to prepare culturally and professionally competent leaders in community health education by providing an interdisciplinary academic and experiential program with a focus on social justice. Through this program, students will master public health knowledge and skills while developing professional values and dispositions. Graduates of the program will be prepared for careers as public health leaders in local and state health departments, public and private health agencies, voluntary organizations focused on specific health issues (e.g. cancer or heart health), schools, health care settings, community based organizations, policy and advocacy organizations, and other settings in which health monitoring and health education initiatives are implemented.

The core of the proposed program comprises the five core disciplines of public health: biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, and social and behavioral sciences Community Health Education is a concentration that aims to prepare public health professionals to protect and enhance the health and well-being of populations through health promotion and disease prevention initiatives. Communities may be large or small geographic areas, institutions such as schools or workplaces, groups affiliated by common characteristics (race or ethnicity, religious practices, sexual behaviors, common experiences, etc.), or other groups of people.

Program Objectives

The Master of Public Health program has the following objectives:
  • To prepare public health practitioners with strong skills in performing community health need assessments

  • To prepare public health practitioners with strong skills in planning, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining community health education initiatives.

  • To prepare public health practitioners who are committed to social justice and the elimination of health disparities and who actively and continually examine their discipline using critical thinking.

  • To collaborate with field-based professionals - based on parity, trust, and mutual interests - to improve the public's health and advance the standing of the profession.

Course Requirements:

All candidates must meet the basic admission requirements for graduate study at Montclair State University. Students will be expected to enter into the program in the Fall semester of each academic year (applications will not be accepted for Spring semester admission).

Core Courses
Number Name Hours
HLTH 501 Public Health Seminar: Foundations, Ethics, and Cultural Competency 3
HLTH 502 Determinants of Environmental Health 3
HLTH 504 Behavioral and Social Science in Health 3
HLTH 565 Foundations of Epidemiology 3
HLTH 580 Health Policy and Politics 3
STAT 500 Biostatistical Methods for Research Workers I 3
 
Required Courses
Number Name Hours
HLTH 503 Research Methods in Health 3
HLTH 520 Foundations and Methods in Health Education 3
HLTH 528 Evaluation in Health 3
HLTH 555 Health Disparities and Social Justice 3
 
Electives
Number Name Hours
Select two courses (6 credits) from the following:
 
ANTH 560 Applied Medical Anthropology 3
FCST 518 Families, Communities, and Schools: Diversity, Culture, and Democracy 3
HLTH 510 Health Education Workshop I 3
HLTH 511 Biomedical and Psychosocial Perspectives on Drugs 3
HLTH 505 School Health Program Management 3
HLTH 525 Grant Writing 3
HLTH 526 Curriculum Development in Health Education 3
HLTH 530 Health Issues Seminar 3
HLTH 533 Behavioral Aspects of Diet, Activity and Health 3
HLTH 540 Selected Topics in Mental Health 3
HLTH 544 Community Organization and Health Advocacy 3
HLTH 551 Selected Topics in Gerontology 3
HLTH 560 Human Diseases 3
HLTH 575 The Teaching of Human Sexuality 3
HLTH 577 Selected Topics in Health 3
HLTH 585 Organization and Administration of Health Care Facilities 3
HLTH 592 Controversies in Sexuality Education 3
LSLW 560 Bullying Prevention in Schools 3
NUFD 557 Food Safety and Sanitation Management 3
NUFD 577 Social Marketing in Nutrition 3
NUFD 585 Food and Nutrition Issues 3
PSYC 551 Mental Health Issues of Hispanics 3
PSYC 582 Behavior Modification 3
PSYC 592 Graduate Seminar in Health Psychology 3
SOCI 568 Social Research Methods I 3
SOCI 581 Sociological Perspectives on Health and Medicine 3
SOCI 582 The Sociology of Health Care Systems 3
SOCI 588 Aging Individual in an Aging Society 3
 
Fieldwork/Culminating Experience*
Number Name Hours
HLTH 604 Internship 3
HLTH 605 Community Project 3
 
* Each student will complete a community-based project as part of the field experience, which will serve as the culminating experience in this program. As such, students must complete all of the core and required courses prior to or along with the community project. Students will undertake a wide variety of projects including performing community health assessments, developing public health resource materials, writing public health proposals and serving as public health educators. The type of project is dependent on the student's interests and nature of the field experience.
 
PROGRAM TOTAL: 42 credits