MPH Concentrations & Tracks

The goal of the Behavioral Science and Health Communication concentration is to provide students with a solid foundation in the science, theory, and practice of effective health promotion and health communication in a population-based environment. Students in the concentration gain skills to develop, implement, and evaluate effective programs and messages to achieve a broad range of public health goals from information dissemination to behavior change. The program seeks to instill in students a lifelong commitment to the highest ethical standards of public health practice.

Skills & Competencies

• Segment audiences on the basis of essential characteristics and develop tailored behavior change communication messages or activities.

• Apply communication theory to the development of persuasive messages.

• Use insights from qualitative and/or quantitative evidence to develop health messages or interventions.

• Explain how to use theory in the development of interventions or program messages and materials.

• Describe effective strategies for community-engaged public health program planning or practice.

Courses required in addition to the core

• PH 287 Field Course: Introduction to Building Healthy Neighborhoods and Communities
• HCOM 548 Applications of Communication Theory to Health Communications
• HCOM 549 Media Strategies for the Health Professional
• Three credits from a concentration approved list of courses
• Six credits from an MPH program approved list of courses

Three semester schedule

Concentration Leader

Susan Koch-Weser, ScD
Susan.Koch_Weser@tufts.edu

The Epidemiology and Biostatistics concentration prepares students for public health careers in which the collecting, analyzing, and interpreting of data are critical components. Although emphasis is placed on the application of epidemiologic and biostatistical methodology to public health policy and practice, students develop a solid foundation in the underlying theory.

Skills & Competencies

• Describe, in an in-depth manner, the strengths and weaknesses of cohort studies, case-control studies, and randomized trials in regards to their design and analyses.

• Analyze quantitative epidemiologic and other public health data using multivariable regression models and interpret the results in oral and written formats.

• Construct surveys to collect different types of public health data and describe the best methodology for implementing survey instruments.

• Use statistical software to demonstrate proficiency in data management and documentation of analyses.

• Use analytical tools to assess for the presence of confounding, mediation, and effect modification in a data set.

Courses required in addition to the core

• PH 206 Intermediate Biostatistics: Regression Methods (or equivalent)
• PH 222 Survey Research Methods (or equivalent)
• PH 251 Intermediate Epidemiology (or equivalent)
• PH 265 Introduction to SAS
• Three credits from a concentration-approved list of courses
• Four and one-half credits from an MPH program-approved list of courses

Three semester schedule

Concentration Leader

Misha Eliasziw, PhD
misha.eliasziw@tufts.edu

The Health Services Management and Policy concentration is designed for students with a career interest in health services administration or public health policy work. Students gain exposure to a wealth of knowledge and skills that are vital in a variety of organizational settings. The concentration promotes an understanding of public health as practiced alongside a complex health care system and within a changing policy context.

Skills & Competencies

• Generate recommendations to inform policy change at the organization, local, state, or federal level.   

• Employ quantitative and/or qualitative analysis techniques to a health services, management, or policy problem.

• Apply economic theory to health care services and systems.

• Assess the impact of laws, regulations, or cases on public health practice and/or health care delivery and financing.

• Explain the challenges of the organization, financing, and delivery of health care services in the U.S.

Courses required in addition to the core

• PH 210 Law and Public Health
• Health Care Policy Analysis (course number to be determined)
• PH 234 Public Health Economics or PH 235 Public Health Economics II
• Six credits from a concentration-approved list of courses
• Four and one half credits from an MPH program-approved list of courses

Three semester course schedule

Concentration Leader

Amy Lischko, DSc, MSPH
amy.lischko@tufts.edu

The Nutrition concentration introduces students to those applied methods used in nutrition program and policy assessment, development, and evaluation, with a particular emphasis on diverse and/or vulnerable populations and community-based interventions. Students will understand relationships between macronutrients, micronutrients and food intake patterns and health outcomes, and have a foundation in a variety of skills used in the  promotion of healthy eating and active living.  This concentration is offered in cooperation with the Tufts University Gerald J. and Dorothy J. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. 

Skills & Competencies

• Describe the components of a healthy diet and the national dietary and physical activity recommendations for healthy eating and physical activity.

• Demonstrate the application of nutrition-related concepts to growth and development.

• Explain the role of nutritional factors in the prevention, promotion or treatment of chronic diseases.

• Identify evidence- and/or theory-based approaches for promoting healthy eating and/or active living.

• Demonstrate the application of community-based strategies to a nutrition and/or physical activity intervention.

Courses required in addition to the core

• NUTR 202 Principles of Nutrition Science 
• NUTR 228 Community and Public Health Nutrition
• NUTR 301 Nutrition in the Lifecycle
• NUTR 312 Nutrition and Chronic Disease   
• Six credits from a concentration approved list of courses
• Three credits from an MPH program approved list of courses

Three semester course schedule

Concentration leader

Virginia Chomitz, PhD.
virginia.chomitz@tufts.edu

Students with a graduate clinical degree or with substantial professional experience (five or more years), may petition to pursue an individualized area of study in lieu of a concentration. Developing core knowledge in public health is the primary goal and the student must work closely with a faculty advisor to design a curriculum that identifies a minimum of four specific competencies demonstrated through a cohesive set of courses outside of the core knowledge requirements.