Public Health

The Advanced Standing pathway is designed to increase the number of professionals with advanced training in public health, with the goal of promoting wellness, assuring quality, and addressing the social determinants of health in social service, healthcare, government, non-profit, business, research, and community settings.

The Advanced Standing pathway complements the College’s existing efforts to train healthcare and other professionals to be more effective and to contribute to population and community health. This program provides those with a terminal degree (including MD, DO, PhD, JD, DSW, EdD, DNP, DHSc, DBA) with an opportunity to pursue a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree. The program provides training in leadership, epidemiology, biostatistics, research, health behavior, healthcare delivery, healthcare quality and safety, policy, advocacy, wellness and prevention. Professionals with an MPH degree assume leadership positions in the healthcare setting, in state and local public health departments, non-profit and non-governmental health organizations, and in the global context and are prepared to conduct research, inform policy, and lead advocacy efforts.

Advanced Standing students earn 45 credits: they complete at least 33 credits (11 courses) of MPH coursework at Jefferson and are able to transfer up to 12 credits of prior coursework that comprehensively addresses public health content toward the degree. Students will be asked to provide syllabi for prior course work (note transfer credits must be approved by the MPH Program Director). Jefferson supports Advanced Standing students by providing a host of structured activities to augment classroom learning. These activities focus on the interdisciplinary nature of public health work and include a lecture series and an enhanced field experience. Additionally, students work closely with faculty to design and complete an independent research project on a topic of their choice.