Course Descriptions

Our online students take the same courses as their on-campus peers. Regardless of which format you pursue, you’ll learn how to approach even the most complex public health challenges with a critical, solutions-oriented mindset.

The Gillings School MPH Core and Practicum

  • This course prepares students for public health practice by introducing fundamental leadership skills necessary to advance equity and recognize and address bias in organizational settings.

  • This course awards credit to required pre-practicum assignments.

  • This course awards credit to required post-practicum assignments.

  • This introductory course is part of the MPH core curriculum and focuses on the biostatistics and analysis methods commonly found in public health. Students will learn to produce, interpret and use straightforward data analyses. Read more about Core Course 3.

  • This course introduces epidemiologic concepts and teaches you how to describe population patterns of health, inequities and their determinants. Read more about Core Course 2.

  • This course introduces students to systems thinking approaches to understand the complex and interconnecting factors that underpin current public health issues. Read more about Core Course 1.

  • This course explores how public health practitioners establish priorities for action, with context and community as crucial factors. We examine strategies for addressing public health problems at each level of the social-ecological framework. Read more about Core Course 4.

  • Students will identify, analyze and prioritize potential public health solutions. In addition, students will learn to adapt evidence-based solutions, engage with stakeholders and disseminate solutions. Read more about Core Course 5.

MPH Applied Epidemiology

  • This course is an intensive introduction to epidemiological concepts and methods for students intending to engage in, collaborate on or interpret the results of epidemiologic studies. Some familiarity with biomedical concepts may be needed.

  • This course provides the conceptual foundations and practical skills for designing and implementing surveillance systems. Students also will learn how to use surveillance data to conduct an evaluation of public health programs and research.

  • This course provides the conceptual foundations and practical skills for designing and implementing surveillance systems. Students also will learn how to use surveillance data to conduct an evaluation of public health programs and research.

  • This course will focus on epidemiological methods required to investigate urgent public health problems. It will cover the skills and tools needed to conduct outbreak investigations and communicate findings to the public.

  • This course provides students with an overview of public health informatics and includes in-depth discussions on informatics approaches used in developing today’s public health information systems.

MPH Health Policy

  • This course provides an introduction to and overview of leadership, management, workforce challenges and organizational behavior. We emphasize the importance of aligning management practices with an organization’s mission and goals and equip you with essential leadership, managerial and organizational skills. Your coursework — which integrates theory with practice — will include readings, lectures, written assignments, experiential exercises, guest presentations, self and peer assessments, and small-group work.

  • This course teaches financial concepts for students seeking leadership roles in nonprofit and governmental public health organizations. Students will learn how to develop budgets, interpret financial information, and assess performance.

  • This elective course is designed to provide students with an overview of the structure, systems and policies of health care delivery in the United States. You will develop a deep understanding of health care issues, learning how to analyze and address those issues from management and policy perspectives.

  • This course gives students a greater understanding of programs available to underserved populations. You will learn to evaluate critically how the Affordable Care Act (or any replacement) and other policy changes affect how care is provided.

  • This class will provide students with an opportunity to learn about health policy analysis and advocacy processes in the United States. Students will gain an understanding of the different ways in which health policies are made by the legislative, regulatory and judicial systems. Students also will learn how to identify and analyze different policy options to address health problems, conduct a stakeholders’ analysis and design an advocacy campaign.

MPH Leadership in Practice

  • Using powerful tools from engineering and management, this course prepares students to conceptualize, design, and analyze public health and health care delivery systems for successful implementation.

  • This course, designed for working practitioners with current or future management or leadership responsibilities within their organizations, provides students with an overview of quality improvement (QI) and its important relationship to leadership. In addition to practical skills, you will focus on practical skills with sufficient theory to understand the origins of the philosophy and processes encompassed by QI.

  • This course provides students with the knowledge and skills to develop policies that address public health challenges with an emphasis on improving health equity, promoting social justice and creating systems that prioritize the human right to health.

  • This course provides graduate students with competencies to assess factors that influence the nutritional status of the population; identify community resources to promote and support nutrition and health; conduct community assets and needs assessments; and design, implement, and evaluate public health nutrition programs.

  • This course will introduce you to leadership theories and research, provide a context for leadership in public health and help you develop core leadership skills.

MPH Nutrition, Food Systems & Health

  • This course explores the fundamental scientific premises of human nutrition. We will cover the basic concepts of macro and micronutrients, food sources and the evidence-based requirements for a healthy diet. We also will discuss the nutritional needs of populations and emphasize nutrition-related diseases, including over and undernutrition.

  • This course covers nutrition across the life cycle. You will focus on a variety of populations — including women during preconception, pregnancy and lactation — and life stages — including infancy, childhood, adolescence and older adulthood (65+). In each unit, we will discuss nutrient and energy needs, assessing nutritional status, and cultural and socioeconomic barriers.

  • This course teaches the future nutrition professional the art and science of communicating with individuals, groups, and the public. Students will explore the role of nutrition in different cultures and how to frame nutrition messages for mass media including social media. The course will also focus on nutrition justice and nutritional health equity.

  • This course provides graduate students with competencies to assess factors that influence the nutritional status of the population; identify community resources to promote and support nutrition and health; conduct community assets and needs assessments; and design, implement, and evaluate public health nutrition programs.

  • This course introduces basic methods of dietary assessment, reviews various topics in nutrition epidemiology and teaches you how to evaluate the nutritional epidemiologic literature critically.

  • This course focuses on nutrition policy at federal, state and local levels. We will cover a variety of topics, including policy formation, interest and consumer advocacy groups, key legislation, equity and diversity, global food policy issues, sustainability, and health and advocacy. We also will review current public health nutrition policy examples and discuss how research informs policy.

MPH Electives

  • This course is intended to be the most effective and efficient way for students to establish a foundation in the R programming language, RStudio IDE, and functional programming modalities. Special attention is given to R topics and packages relevant for epidemiological data management, analysis, and visualization.

  • This course is an introduction to the study of the health effects of environmental exposures, based on the principles of epidemiologic study design. Fundamental concepts such as bias, confounding, and measurement error are applied to the critical evaluation of published literature in the field.

  • This course introduces the major issues affecting the health and well-being of women during the reproductive years, infants, children, and adolescents in domestic and international settings.

  • This course will provide an overview of global food systems drivers, elements and activities; key players, key problems and potential solutions. Students will explore these challenges worldwide, gaining insight into the design, implementation, and impact of programs, policies, and interventions aimed at addressing them.

  • This class will provide students with an opportunity to learn about implementation science and to apply relevant methods and tools to improve population health outcomes. Students will develop an understanding of implementation science frameworks and approaches. Students will also gain an understanding of the importance of implementation science for addressing public health concerns and the role implementation science can play in bringing public health practice and research closer together. This course will draw on concepts and practices related to public health leadership, quality improvement, systems and design thinking, and community engagement, among others.