What is the Oregon MPH Core Curriculum?

The Oregon MPH Program offers the MPH degree with emphases in eight specialty areas, all of which include requirements in the five core areas of public health.   The OMPH Program assures that students have a broad understanding of the areas of knowledge basic to public health by requiring that all students satisfactorily complete five core courses in biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health systems organization, and health behavior.  These courses present students with knowledge and skills basic to the practice of public health, and are coordinated by teams of instructors across the program to include the same competencies and foci per subject area.   Core course concepts and general content are the same, regardless of where the course is offered, and students may take these courses at any of the partner campuses.  In the Epidemiology & Biostatistics specialty more in-depth courses substitute for the Epidemiology and Biostatistics core courses.

Advanced study in each track flows from the OMPH core courses to the track required courses. Supporting or elective courses within each track allow students to further develop and apply the foundational knowledge and advanced practice attained from core and required courses to additional areas of particular interest.  

Between 58 and 61 quarter credits are required, dependent upon the track chosen. All students must take a common MPH core of five courses (16 credits) in the areas listed below. Core courses are shared between OHSU and PSU in Portland, and OSU in Corvallis.

The OMPH Core Courses listed below (click each to open the course competency matrix).

•  Epidemiology
• Biostatistics
• Health Systems Organization
• Environmental Health
• Principles of Health Behavior

Additionally, each track has a specific core concentration, electives, and some form of applied Field Experience (Internship/Organizational Experience).

• The OMPH curricula by Track
• Field Experience
  

Information about course offerings is available to students via a number of channels including student advisors, campus schedules, listservs, and a master core course schedule posted here. Links are provided to each of the university/departments schedules here:

• OHSU Public Health and Preventive Medicine courses
• OHSU School of Nursing Graduate Schedule
• OSU class schedule
• PSU class schedule

Incoming students are provided curricular and operational information via the OMPH Student Handbooks tailored to each track site and updated annually. These are distributed at the OMPH New Student Orientation held just prior to each fall term, and include information about the program, the tracks’ relationships to the program, curricular requirements, and campus policies and procedures.  The handbooks are also posted on the website here.