UIS Graduate and Undergraduate Catalog
Academic Year 2004 - 2005

PUBLIC HEALTH
Master of Public Health

Faculty Kathy DeBarr, Shahram Heshmat, Remi Imeokparia, James Veselenak
Emeritus Faculty Michael Quam
Adjunct Faculty Phillip Davis, Beth Dawson, Nancy Parsons, Gary Robinson, Ken Runkel, Ross Silverman

Contact: (217) 206-6301
mph@uis.edu or www.uis.edu/publichealth/

The goal of the public health department is to prepare graduates as competent public health practitioners. Public health is an essential function of modern society. It is, in the words of the Institute of Medicine, "What we as a society do collectively to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy." Assuring the public's health at the community level often means affecting policies and actions at the national, or even international, level. Public health professionals must deal with myriad issues: access to quality health care, prevention and control of disease, environmental protection, the health needs of special populations, data analysis and evaluation, policy planning and administration, and health promotion.

The primary objective of the department is to graduate public health generalists with a strong interdisciplinary foundation for practice. The curriculum enables students to understand 1) the various factors that affect the health of a community; 2) the methods to identify and measure community health; and 3) the components that comprise public health services delivery systems (cost, planning, and administration). While the department's required courses provide the generalist background needed by all students, the elective courses allow students to concentrate on a particular aspect of public health.

Joint Degree Offering
UIS' departments of public health and public administration have an articulation agreement that allows interested students to obtain a master's degree with a double major (MPA/MPH), public health and public administration. Contact either department for details.

The Master's Degree
Entrance Requirements
Applicants must submit an admission application and transcripts from previous college-level academic work to the UIS Office of Admissions and Records. As a second part of the admissions process, applicants must 1)complete a department application specifying professional goals and identifying past academic work and/or employment related to these goals; 2) submit three completed recommendation forms from employers, professional peers, or educators; and 3) submit Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores in the general examination. Other aptitude tests -- Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Dental Aptitude Test (DAT), Law School Admission Test (LSAT), or the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) -- can be submitted. Applicants with postbaccalaureate degrees are exempted from submitting GRE scores.

Applicants must have earned an overall GPA of 3.00 (4.00 point scale) for previous academic work. Conditional admission is possible for those with extensive public health experience whose undergraduate GPA is between 2.50 and 3.00. To be fully admitted, applicants must have a 3.00 GPA at the end of their first 12 semester hours of study. Students who take TOEFL exams must score 580 or better.

Undergraduate work should include at least three semester hours of biology. Courses in physiology, chemistry, and statistics are desirable but not required.

Advising
Advising in the public health department provides an individual approach to the academic and professional development of each student. On admission, each student is assigned a temporary adviser to assist with academic planning. Thereafter, students may choose an adviser from department or associated faculty.

Grading
Students must earn a grade of B- or better in all courses counting toward the M.P.H. degree. Courses taken on a credit/no credit basis will not count toward the degree. Students must maintain a B average to remain in good standing in the program.

Program Requirements
The master of public health degree requires that students complete 48 semester hours of course work, 32 hours of which are required core courses, including a four-hour internship. The 12 hours of electives must be in a specific area of study, either within or outside the department.

Required Core Courses
MPH 503 Biostatistics for the Health Professional 4 Hrs.
MPH 506 Community Health Research 4 Hrs.
MPH 511 Foundations of Epidemiology 4 Hrs.
MPH 521 Environmental and Occupational Health 4 Hrs.
MPH 531 Public Health Policy 4 Hrs.
MPH 545 Sociocultural Aspects of Health 4 Hrs.
MPH 551 Public Health Administration 4 Hrs.
MPH 561 Community Health Education 4 Hrs.
MPH 581 Internship 4 Hrs.
36 Hrs.
Approved Electives 12 Hrs.
Total 48 Hrs.

Closure Exercise
The closure experience is a comprehensive written examination with questions designed to test students' ability to integrate the knowledge that they have gained from the core curriculum. A student must successfully complete the exam within one year after completing course work for the degree. Students who do not complete the examination during their final semester of study must enroll in MPH 583 for one hour of audit credit each semester until they pass the exam. Details about the procedure are provided in the MPH Student Handbook.

MPH Professional Option
The MPH professional option provides an opportunity for physicians and others with earned doctorates and at least one year of health-related experience to earn a master of public health degree at UIS. The option requires completion of the 36 hours of core courses including the internship.

Other applicants may be eligible for admission to this option and will be considered by the admissions committee on a case-by-case basis. Included are 1) those currently enrolled in a physician residency-training program, 2) those who are in the process of completing a doctoral-level health-related degree and who have at least one year of health-related experience, and 3) those who have an earned master's degree in a health field and who have at least three years of health-related experience. Interested applicants should contact the UIS public health department for information about the application process.