Online MPH Leadership in Practice

The critical work we do in public health can’t be done alone — we need to develop integrated solutions in concert with other professional sectors and the populations we serve.

The Master of Public Health (MPH) Leadership in Practice concentration gives you the strategic and specialized skills you need to work with communities right now. We’ll teach you how to enact large-scale change that spans disciplines, challenges inequities and promotes health for all.

“Some people think of leadership as a position or title. We think of it as a mindset and a skillset that puts our students and alumni at the forefront of tackling complex, systems-level problems, wherever they are in their career paths or in the world. Public health is at a crossroads, requiring leaders who create positive change by working with others across disciplines and sectors to elevate the voices and the needs of individuals and communities and to improve health, health systems, and health equity.”

Aimee M. McHale, JD, MSPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Leadership & Practice
Leadership in Practice Concentration Lead

The online Leadership in Practice concentration prepares you to meet the following Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) competency requirements:

The MPH Leadership in Practice curriculum is designed to help students realize their full potential as informed leaders and effective problem solvers.

Once students have completed the MPH Core courses, which focus on foundational public health principles and frameworks, they’ll begin concentration-specific training:

Guided by faculty from diverse areas of public health, our leadership training model focuses on two complementary skill sets:

Our goal is to equip you with a systems-level perspective of the public health landscape. Throughout the curriculum, and in fieldwork and research, we’ll show you how to break down complex public health problems and how to address their root causes, rather than only their symptoms.

This concentration is also available on-campus. For more information on our residential offering, please visit the Leadership in Practice homepage.

MPH Leadership in Practice graduates apply their knowledge in community-based and clinical settings, as well as at every level of governmental and non-governmental organizations. Our alumni work in a wide variety of public health disciplines, including global health, maternal and child health, epidemiology and health policy.

Some Leadership in Practice graduates are stepping into their first public health roles upon graduation, while others assume senior management or executive-level positions. Depending on their level of experience, their duties include supervising complex research or projects, facilitating interorganizational collaboration or partnering with multidisciplinary teams to tackle significant public health challenges.

“One of the things I found myself thinking about when working with patients was the systems that got them to the hospital in the first place. [MPH Leadership in Practice] is about addressing root causes and it’s about addressing inequities — the gamut is very broad.”

Askia Dunnon, MD
MPH Leadership in Practice Student | September 2018 Cohort

The versatile nature of our graduates’ skills makes them a natural fit for a wide variety of careers, including professions that are expected to grow over the coming years. From 2022–2032, employment of health care occupations is expected to grow significantly, including for medical and health services managers (28%), social and community service managers (9%), health educators (7%) and community health workers (14%).¹

¹ Healthcare Occupations (2024) Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed July 12, 2024.arrow_upwardReturn to footnote reference