The Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine administers the graduate public health degree in the Doctor of Medicine/Master of Public Health (MD/MPH) program. The department also delivers the Community Preventive Medicine component of the Doctor of Medicine degree program.
For dual MD/MPH degree-seeking students, 12 credits from the medical curriculum will be included towards the MPH degree. These credits form the basis of the Preventive Medicine track specialization for the MD/MPH dual degree. Students are required to complete 30 credits of graduate public health coursework, including the field-based practicum, for a total of 42 credits and the award of an MPH degree.
Students who enter during the August term complete Term 1 of the MPH program and begin the medical program in spring of the following year. Term 2 of the MPH program continues in the summer term. These students then resume their Term 2 of the medical program in the fall term while completing the MPH coursework including the Capstone and Practicum during the remaining period of basic sciences for the medical program.
MD students who enter during the January term complete Terms 1 and continue with the MPH terms 1 and 2 during the summer and fall terms respectively. They continue their medical program, in the spring term of the following year. They will then complete the 6 credits of Capstone and Practicum for the MPH program during the remaining period of basic sciences in the medical program
MD students who enter during the April term complete Term 1 of the MD program and begin the MPH Term 1 in the Fall term. They continue with MD terms 2 and 3 in the spring and summer terms of the following year and Term 2 of the MPH in the Fall term. They will then complete the 6 credits of Capstone and Practicum for the MPH program during the remaining period of basic sciences in the medical program.
Students seeking admission to the MD/MPH program will first be reviewed for acceptance into the four-year medical program. Upon acceptance, the Office of Admission will forward the application to the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine for review and consideration.
The US accreditation authority for public health programs, The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), has granted SGU’s Master of Public Health program accreditation for an additional seven years, affirming the University’s leadership position in the region through the year 2022. The MPH program was initially accredited by the CEPH for a five-year term beginning in 2010.
MPH graduates and students who complete 21 credits of coursework are eligible to sit the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE) to become Certified in Public Health (CPH). The Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine also hosts the Gamma Kappa chapter of Delta Omega, an honorary society into which alumni with distinguished service to public health are inducted