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Master of Public Health (MPH)

Why Earn an MPH?

While many healthcare professionals care for the individual, public health experts take a wider view. You'll use community engagement and data to prevent disease and improve health across the entire population.

Why Earn an MPH from SUNY Downstate?

SUNY Downstate isn't just located in Brooklyn—the borough is an inextricable part of our identity. When our School of Public Health opened in 2001, we were the first public institution in New York City to focus on urban and immigrant populations. Today, as we continue building the bridge to health equity, that commitment is stronger than ever.

Many of Brooklyn's 2.3 million residents are immigrants. Studies prove people who live here are disproportionately affected by many common diseases. Their needs are at the center of our program.

You'll become immersed in local communities as part of your classwork in this program, and see how public health policy and practice can change lives. As a student at Brooklyn's only academic medical center, you'll collaborate with our other colleges and schools as well as the University Hospital of Brooklyn.

What You Will Learn

  • Urban areas, populated by a broad spectrum of racial, ethnic and other groups, have unique public health challenges. You'll learn to identify, address and resolve public health issues and manage public health programs in Brooklyn and other cities.
  • Core classes cover public health basics such as biostatistics, epidemiology, health systems management, environmental health, health behavior, and risk reduction. Additional courses and electives depend on which of five concentrations you choose.
  • You'll gain a thorough grounding in both academics and ethics. Courses, fieldwork and service opportunities expose you to fundamental professional values.
  • Every MPH student completes a Culminating Experience, which integrates theory and practice. You'll be able to work with hospitals, community organizations, or government agencies on this project.
  • Courses are offered both full- and part-time.

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All certificates are graduate Level
 

School of Public Health


Careers & Outcomes

Our students come from backgrounds as diverse as the communities we serve. Many students have experience in the law, patient care and hospital administration, to name a few. When they graduate, they find opportunities in an equally wide array of places.

Job Titles

  • Journalist
  • Health Educator
  • Epidemiologist
  • Public Health Lawyer
  • Policy Advisor

Employers

  • NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
  • U.S. Navy
  • Doctors Without Borders
  • Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health

Concentrations

 

Biostatistics

Focus on quantitative methods in this concentration, which includes courses on data analysis, designing clinical trials and statistics.

Community Health Sciences

Learn about issues that affect urban and immigrant communities, and how to design and implement programs that address common health challenges.

Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

When physical, chemical or biological agents hurt the environment, they often hurt the people who live there. You'll learn to identify and manage threats through this concentration.

Epidemiology

Focus on urban and immigrant populations as you build the skills and knowledge to plan studies, collect data and draw conclusions about what you learn.

Health Policy & Management

Healthcare is a $3 trillion industry. This concentration trains new leaders to use those resources wisely, and identify areas ripe for change.

Healthcare Administration

Prepare the next generation of healthcare leaders with the skills in healthcare management, strategic development and leadership, and systems improvement to provide equitable access to quality healthcare.

Meet Our Faculty

Faculty in the School of Public Health are nationally recognized public health leaders. They investigate clinical outcomes and health care quality improvement; risk management in health care institutions; HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases; cancer epidemiology; and more. Their work is often published in outlets such as the New England Journal of Medicine.

At the same time our faculty are national experts, they are also acutely aware of health care disparities that affect many in Brooklyn. Downstate faculty are committed to being a part of the vital national conversation about closing these gaps.

Meet Our Faculty

Program Highlights

 

Hands-on experience.

Classes integrate service learning experiences in the community. You'll conduct fieldwork at a local or state health agency or a local organization, putting your lessons to work in real life.

Bring change abroad.

Downstate's Center for Global Health provides educational, research and service initiatives overseas. You can even participate in student field practicums abroad.

Use your voice.

You'll have the chance to influence policy while you're still a student. In fall 2020, students published opinion pieces in publications such as the Queens Eagle, Amsterdam News and Guyana Chronicle about the need to support older residents during the pandemic.

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