Dual Degree Programs

There are several formal opportunities for students to complete joint or concurrent degree programs where one of the programs of study leads to an MPH degree from the OMPH Program.  

MPH/MURP

Portland State University has launched an innovative dual-degree program to prepare a professional at the intersection of urban planning and public health.  Students will earn both a Master of Public Health and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning after completing an intensive three-year course of full-time study.

The program will allow students to examine the relationships between physical and mental health, urban form, healthy lifestyles, human services, transportation, physical activity, public planning and investment decisions. In addition to the core courses, internship requirements, and culminating experiences required for each degree, students will participate in an integrative seminar that synthesizes the two disciplines.

Graduates of the program will be prepared for employment in either of the two fields, and positioned to lead innovative efforts in establishing and maintaining healthy communities.

Please see here for more information.

MD/MPH

A joint MD/MPH degree is offered through the School of Medicine at OHSU.  Interested students apply to the five-year joint MD/MPH Program, within which they complete an MPH in the Epidemiology & Biostatistics track at OHSU.  During the first two years, these students take selected courses required for the MPH concurrently with their MD courses.  Students take the rest of their MPH courses during a year between their third and fourth years of medical school, during which they complete their coursework and the majority of their thesis work.  Students in this degree option must complete all 60 credits of the curriculum. 

MPH/MSW

This option gives students the opportunity to graduate with both Master in Social Work and Master in Public Health degrees. The M.S.W./M.P.H. Dual Degree has two program tracks:

• The Health Management and Policy track (through PSU's Hatfield School of Government). See details on Combined M.S.W. and M.P.H. Health Management and Policy Track (PDF).
• The Health Promotion track (administered through PSU's School of Community Health). See details on Combined M.S.W. and M.P.H. Health Promotion Track (PDF).

It is possible for students to obtain both the Master of Public Health (in one of two tracks) and the Master of Science in Nursing, by completing an 83-84 credit program at OHSU.  These options are available for nurses interested in gaining advanced knowledge in nursing and either Epidemiology/Biostatistics (EPI/BIO) or Primary Health Care & Health Disparities (PHCHD). The program of study for the first option requires the five MPH core courses (17 credits), the five required courses (19 credits), field experience (3 credits), and the 6 credits of thesis in the EPI/BIO concentration.  Similarly, the program of study for the PHCHD emphasis requires the MPH core courses (16 credits), the required courses for the PHCHD concentration (22 credits), and 6 credits of internship.  The MS component includes 26 credits that are required for the Community and Public Health Nursing specialty, and the remaining 14 credits include two core courses from the School of Nursing masters program and a 6 credit masters research project.  All but four credits of the required curriculum for the MPH are covered in the EPI/BIO option for the Nursing MS/MPH program, as is all but six credits of the curriculum for the option in PHCHD.  One student has completed the MS/MPH degrees with an MPH in Community and Public Health Nursing, and one student with an MPH in Epidemiology/Biostatistics.

A program of study leading to joint PhD and MPH degrees at OHSU’s School of Nursing allows nurses to gain advanced knowledge in nursing research and public health.  Emphasis in this doctoral program is on developing research that contributes to the knowledge base for nursing practice.  Research skills are enhanced by study of core nursing research skills through in-depth study of methods related to inquiry, knowledge generation, and theory development.  The MPH track provides an opportunity for training in the population perspective toward health care and disease prevention. Courses in the track emphasize the use of epidemiologic methodology for analyzing and addressing health problems to support basic and applied research in public health and health care. Applicants must be admitted to both the PhD program and the Oregon MPH program in the Primary Health Care & Health Disparities (PHCHD) Track in the School of Nursing.  Students in the OHSU School of Nursing PhD/MPH program complete the MPH core courses (16 credits), all 21 credits of the track courses, and all of the focal courses for the PHCHD track.  The MPH courses count toward the 9 credits of the substantive theory and knowledge courses, as well as the 9 credits of the cognate courses, for the PhD in nursing program.  Students complete a total of 129 credits for the combined program of study.  Students complete both a dissertation in the School of Nursing and the Graduate Internship in the PHCHD Track.  Similar PhD/MPH programs of study were previously approved for the Epidemiology and Biostatistics track and the former Community and Public Health Nursing (CPHN) track of the OMPH Program.  No students have enrolled in the EPI-BIO combined program of study; three students are in progress for the CPHN PhD/MPH program.