Public Health Schools in North America

For international students who want to become part of the solution to providing better health for all people, the field of public health offers excitement and challenges.

Students with interests in health administration, prevention, the bench sciences and the social sciences, as well as those students committed to improving the health of international populations will find that public health offers a rewarding career journey.

Global health concerns such as AIDS, bio-terrorism, avian bird flu, SARS, malnutrition and global warming have significantly increased awareness and understanding of the critical importance of public health in our society.

Consequently, the curiosity in pursuing a career in public health has increased steadily over the past decade. In the US, this new era is evidenced by significant increases in the number of applications to schools of public health.

Who studies public health?

During the period 1994-2004, when applications to US medical schools declined precipitously, the number of applications to US schools of public health doubled. In addition, while the number of new US medical schools remained relatively constant, the number of newly established schools of public health increased from 27 to 38 (ASPH & AAMC, 2006).

At most schools of public health there are several concentrations to choose from including biostatistics, environmental health, epidemiology, health education, health law, industrial hygiene, international health and development, maternal and child heath, nutrition, social and behavioral sciences, toxicology, tropical medicine and parasitology.

Public health students come from a wide array of academic backgrounds, including the biological sciences and pre-med, psychology, anthropology, economics, and women's studies to name a few.

Those with knowledge of the natural sciences contribute significantly in fields such as environmental health and epidemiology, while students with quantitative and organizational strengths often excel in biostatistics and health systems management.

Interdisciplinary training

Many public health degree programs are therefore strong on interdisciplinary interaction and maintain an interdisciplinary flavor designed to equip students with the analytical and practical tools needed to understand the ways in which societal, cultural, psychological, bureaucratic, economic and political processes affect health, illness and adequate health care delivery.

Relevant analytical tools are borrowed from a variety of disciplines such as methodology and statistics, epidemiology, sociology, social and cultural anthropology, social psychology, political science, economics and the science of management and organization.

Students learn how to utilise these tools to perform sound problem analysis and to ground appropriate health care policy as well as adequate health care interventions on the results of such analysis.

Effective public health professionals also rely on a variety of practical skills that enable them to realize the public health policies and interventions they deem necessary.

Students are taught how to plan, implement, monitor, evaluate and adjust programs, policies and interventions, but also how to identify, recruit, involve, commit, and guide stakeholders operating at the different levels (from international organizations to the general public) of health care systems. 

Centralized admissions in the US

Because of the increased awareness of public health as a viable option for graduate study in the US and an articulated need for a centralized information resource for public health education, the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) has led a national initiative to develop and facilitate a national centralized application for students interested in applying to US-accredited schools of public health.

ASPH has developed a centralized application service, SOPHAS (Schools of Public Health Application Service), to streamline the process for all: advisors, recommenders, and, most of all, students.

SOPHAS allows applicants the opportunity to apply to multiple schools using only one application, one set of transcripts and one group of recommendation letters. In addition, applicants have only one single point of contact rather than multiple contacts at different schools.

Currently, 22 out of the 38 members of the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) are using SOPHAS for the first cycle of the centralized application service. CEPH accredited schools of public health have a combined faculty of over 7,500 and educate more than 19,000 students annually from every state in the US and all schools welcome international students.

Admissions requirements

In most cases, admission to Master of Public Health (MPH) degree programs is based upon a file portfolio consisting of the following materials: completed application and fee, a personal statement describing the student’s potential to contribute to the field of public health, a resume reflecting work and volunteer history, evidence of an earned baccalaureate, graduate degree or equivalent from an accredited institution of higher education, official transcripts of all academic work, three letters of recommendation from academic or professional references and a strong undergraduate record overall, with a grade point average of 3.0 or better in their major.

Most pre-professional Master of Public Health programs require a minimum of 42 credit hours, but program, degree and hour requirements may vary by institution.

Most US institutions also require submission of standardized test scores (such as the GRE) taken within the last five years. In addition, applicants whose primary language is not English or whose undergraduate degree is from a college or university in a non-English speaking country must provide satisfactory TOEFL or IELTS scores. Again, check with each institution for school-specific requirements.

For the majority of institutions accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health, acceptance is not based simply on a single indicator such as the grade point average (GPA). Rather, the complete application is valued. This is particularly important if a student is weak in one area, but exceptionally strong in others. In such cases, it is important that students form direct lines of communication with admissions professionals working in the schools to which they are applying.