Master of Public Health Core Competencies & Disciplines
Foundational Competencies
1. Apply epidemiological methods to the breadth of settings and situations in public
health practice
2. Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given
public health context
3. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based
programming and software, as appropriate
4. Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy or practice
5. Compare the organization, structure and function of health care, public health
and regulatory systems across national and international settings
6. Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine
health and create challenges to achieve health equity at organizational, community
and societal levels
7. Assess population needs, assets and capacities that affect communities’ health
8. Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design or implementation
of public health policies or programs
9. Design a population-based policy, program, project or intervention
10. Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management
11. Select methods to evaluate public health programs
12. Discuss multiple dimensions of the policy-making process, including the roles
of ethics and evidence
13. Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships
for influencing public health outcomes
14. Advocate for political, social or economic policies and programs that will improve
health in diverse populations
15. Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity
16. Apply principles of leadership, governance and management, which include creating
a vision, empowering others, fostering collaboration and guiding decision making
17. Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community
challenges
18. Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors
19. Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through
oral presentation
20. Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health
content
21. Perform effectively on Interprofessional teams
22. Apply systems thinking tools to a public health issues
23. Characterize the unique challenges of the public health frontier including issues
of diversity, scarcity, adversity, and need
24. Use innovation problem-solving to impact the public health frontier
25. Apply ethical principles to public health program planning, implementation and
evaluation
26. Demonstrates approaches for assessing, preventing, and controlling environmental
and occupational health hazards that pose risks to human health and safety
27. Uses theory informed models for rural community engagement
Fundamental Public Health Knowledge
1. Explain public health history, philosophy and values.
2. Identify the core functions of public health and the ten essential services.
3. Explain the role of quantitative methods and science in describing and assessing
population health.
4. List major causes and trends of morbidity and mortality in the United States or
other communities relevant to the school or program.
5. Discuss the science of prevention at all levels, including health promotion, screening,
etc.
6. Explain the critical importance of evidence in advancing public health knowledge.
7. Explain effects of environmental factors on human health.
8. Explain biological and genetic factors that affect human health.
9. Explain behavioral and psychological factors that affect human health.
10. Explain the social, political, and economic determinants of health and how they
contribute to population health and health inequities.
11. Explain how globalization affects global burdens of disease.
12. Explain a One-Health, ecological perspective on the connections among human health,
animal health and ecosystem health.
Public Health Disciplines
Collection, storage, retrieval, analysis and interpretation of health data; design and analysis of health-related surveys and experiments; and concepts and practice of statistical data analysis
Environmental factors including biological, physical and chemical factors that affect the health of a community
Distributions and determinants of disease, disabilities and death in human populations; the characteristics and dynamics of human populations; and the natural history of disease and the biologic basis of health
Planning, organization, administration, management, evaluation and policy analysis of health and public health programs (includes policy making, public health law)
Concepts and methods of social and behavioral sciences relevant to the identification and solution of public health problems