Master of Public Health Program Earns Accreditation

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

7-6-2016

Campus Unit

College of Business & Public Administration

Abstract

Health Management and Policy is a joint venture with the UND College of Business and Public Administration.

The Master of Public Health (MPH) Program at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences has earned full accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health, an independent agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit schools of public health and public health programs.

The intensive three-year review process ensures the quality and value of the public health education students receive and the degrees they are awarded and prepares competent public health graduates, many of whom will stay in North Dakota or the region. Accreditation also expands opportunities for MPH graduates. Some jobs and fellowships are only open to graduates of CEPH-accredited schools or programs, and graduation from an accredited program makes graduates eligible to become certified in public health through the National Board of Public Health Examiners.

“Accreditation of the MPH Program is a testament to the hard work of our exceptional faculty and staff and the steadfast support of our university and community stakeholders,” said MPH Program founder and director Raymond Goldsteen. “North Dakota and the public health community will be the beneficiaries of the quality educational experience this team provides.”

The MPH Program at UND has two specializations. Population Health Analytics provides a unique and rigorous preparation for highly competitive analytics jobs in health. These graduates have the strong quantitative skills needed to model and evaluate health improvement interventions. An emerging area in this specialization is application of system dynamics to population health improvement, which is a joint venture with the University of Bergen in Norway. Health Management and Policy is a joint venture with the UND College of Business and Public Administration. Both specializations prepare students to contribute to population health improvement through understanding the multiple determinants of population health—medical care, public health interventions, the social environment, the physical environment, and individual behavior.

A special feature of the program is the personalized attention given to each student by the faculty. Faculty members work tirelessly to instruct and to create opportunities for their students in and out of the classroom.

“The School is very pleased and proud that our MPH Program has been recognized for the quality of its educational offerings,” said Joshua Wynne, vice president for health affairs and dean of the SMHS. “The program is an important component of our Healthcare Workforce Initiative that is focused on improving health care delivery across the state.”

“The CEPH accreditation of the UND MPH Program is a great achievement for UND and the state and will significantly impact public health practice and our public health workforce needs in North Dakota,” said North Dakota State Health Officer Terry Dwelle, who heads the North Dakota Department of Health.

The MPH Program at the UND SMHS welcomes applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds, including the social and behavioral sciences; the biomedical sciences; mathematics, statistics and computer science; and the humanities. In addition, the MPH is an excellent partner for all clinical degrees, including medicine, nursing, medical laboratory science, physician assistant, physical therapy, and occupational therapy, because it expands professional opportunities in these fields. Also, those who wish to apply for a clinical program find that the MPH degree can enhance their application as well as their preparation for their clinical career.

Because of the diversity of its students, the program is designed for full- and part-time study, as well as distance education through live broadcast of all classes, including to satellite sites at the SMHS’s Southwest Campus in Bismarck and Northwest Campus in Minot and Casper College in Casper, Wyo.

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