Degree Pathways: MPH and Combined Degrees

Sackler 4th floor

When public health students at Tufts talk with their advisors about their course schedules, they are likely to end up discussing their careers. The program is designed to meet the future work plans of each student, and advisors are eager to help explore and map a path to that future.

The Tufts MPH program enrolls less than 100 students per year, which gives advisors time to get to know and counsel each student personally. Small classes also encourage discussion between faculty members and students, both of whom are deeply engaged in current public health issues and projects, and many of whom work in health-related fields.

In fact, the program is designed to meet the needs of people with jobs. Many classes are offered in the late afternoon or evening, and students can take up to five years to earn their degrees, although full-time students, whose numbers are growing, can finish in three semesters.

Combined Degrees

Tufts University is known for recognizing complementary areas of study and developing degree programs around them. In fact, the combined MD/MPH is the flagship of Tufts MPH Program and was the first program in the United States to permit both degrees to be earned in four years. It is now one of five Tufts MPH dual degrees; the others involve earning the MPH while pursuing degrees in nutrition, veterinary medicine, law, or even a bachelors degree.

Although dual or combined degrees can be rigorous, the Tufts MPH dual degrees allow for maximum synergy between disciplines and blend, when possible, requirements of both degrees.

Because the educational experience in such programs equals more than the sum of its parts, Tufts students graduate with more than just two degrees. Other students also benefit from the varied perspectives their classmates enrolled in the different dual degrees bring to class discussions and presentations.

Anthony L. Schlaff, MD, MPH
Director, Master of Public Health Program

The Tufts MPH Program is an accredited MPH Program. The Council on Education in Public Health (CEPH) accredits both schools of public health and MPH Programs that reside within other schools, such as the Tufts University School of Medicine.

 "An MPH from Tufts gives students an analytic framework, a solid research background, powerful strategy tools, and an in-depth understanding of the health care system. Our students learn to implement change that is historically and empirically based."

 - Amy Lischko, DSc, MSP

2012 Conferences
Global Health and Innovation Conference (GHIC)
Date: April 21-22, 2012
Loc: Yale University, New Haven, CT
Presented annually by the nonprofit organization Unite for Sight, GHIC is the world's leading global health and social entrepreneurship conference, with 2,200 professionals and students from across the US and from more than 55 countries. GHIC brings together leaders, change-makers, and participants from all fields of global health, international development, and social entrepreneurship. Students get a discounted rate. Register.