The interdisciplinary health services administration group offers a two-year program leading to the MHA degree. The program prepares students for careers in management, planning, and policy analysis in a variety of settings in the health care field. While the School of Public Health has primary responsibility for the program, there is close collaboration with the Graduate Schools of Public Affairs and Business. The Social and Behavioral Sciences track in the MPH program in the Department of Health Services focuses on the application of social and behavioral sciences to public health problems. Students concentrate on health promotion strategies and their evaluation, sociocultural issues in chronic diseases and disability, community intervention and research, or health policy from a social science perspective.
Graduates pursue careers in research or in public health practice.
The program focuses on community health and primary health care systems of the developing world. Students learn to identify the social, political, and economic determinants of illness and how to plan, manage, and evaluate health care systems. Admission is generally limited to those with health-related experience in developing countries. Training in public health nutrition prepares graduates to work in policy analysis and program development at local, state or federal levels. The program also focuses on the design and implementation of community-based dietary interventions for health promotion.