Master of Public Health – Global Health
Summary
The 45-credit Master of Public Health in Global Health provides students with the intellectual foundation and specialized skills they need to lead change and make a difference in communities around the world.
Students benefit from an innovative curriculum that employs unique educational experiences in and out of the classroom. Questions about the program? Contact mph@hsph.harvard.edu.
About
The MPH in Global Health prepares health professionals with prior relevant global health experience for leadership and management roles in global health at subnational, national, or international levels. The strongest applicants will have significant and sustained global health experience.
The program explores the emerging professional and academic domain of global health, emphasizing the development of analytical and methodological skills to effectively address important population health challenges in a global context. Students will enhance their ability to apply epidemiological, economic, political, and managerial analysis to the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of health policies and programs.
Graduates of the MPH in Global Health are typically health professionals with prior global health experience who advance into leadership and management roles at subnational, national, or international levels. They work across a range of sectors, including provincial and national ministries of health, intergovernmental organizations, donor aid agencies, nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations, entrepreneurial initiatives, and private organizations.
On Campus (Fall start) • Full-time (1 year) • Part-time (2 years)
Curriculum
MPH core requirements:
- ID 100: Foundations for Public Health
- ID 201: Core Principles of Biostatistics and Epidemiology for Public Health Practice
- MPH 101: Qualitative Methods for Public Health
- MPH 103: Leadership and Communication
- MPH 104: Social, Behavioral, and Structural Determinants of Health
- MPH 105: Public Health Policy and Politics
Applied practice experience and integrative learning experience:
- GHP 945: Applied Practice Experience for Global Health
- GHP 530: Consequential Leadership in Practice
Field of study requirements:
- GHP 230: Introduction to Economics with Applications to Health and Development
- GHP 557: Fundamentals of Global Health
- Learning Module: Ethics in Global Health Practice
- 5 credits of additional GHP coursework beyond the field of study requirements
- GHP 255: HIV Interventions: Rationale, Design, and Evaluation
- GHP 504: Introduction to Qualitative Research for Global Health
Competencies
- Examine the quantitative and qualitative evidence of a wide variety of global health challenges and settings
- Evaluate global health interventions under different circumstances with different objectives (e.g., their relationship with health system reform)
- Solve economic problems and write critically about applying concepts from health economics to global health
- Identify key principles and domains of consequential leadership, and how they are applied in the practice of public health in global institutions
- Analyze the ethical dimensions of global health problems, policies, and/or systems according to various ethical perspectives
Our Community
Committed, Accomplished, Collaborative
As a Harvard Chan MPH student, you will work in a collaborative classroom environment alongside talented students from around the world and from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds. You will take advantage of the extraordinary resources of Harvard University and Boston’s Longwood Medical Area—home to Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and other world-class health facilities. You will meet global leaders and work with world-renowned faculty members. And when you graduate, you will benefit from Harvard’s unparalleled global network of alumni leaders.
People always ask me why I’m smiling all the time, and I say being here was my dream.
Alberto Inzulza Galdames, MPH ’24
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Career Outcomes
An MPH degree opens an extraordinary number of pathways to a meaningful career. Graduates of the MPH program are trained to pursue careers in a variety of industries:
- Academic medicine
- Biotech/pharma
- Consulting
- Government
- Health care management
- Hospital/health care delivery
- Non-profit/Non-government organizations
- Private practice
- Private sector institutions
- Public health agencies
- University/research
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants for the MPH 45-credit degree program in Global Health must have one of the following:
- A bachelor’s degree, plus five or more years of relevant health experience.
- A master’s degree in a health-related field—for example, MSN, MSW, MBA—plus at least two years of relevant health experience.
- A prior doctoral degree—for example, MD, DO, DMD, DDS, PhD, SD, JD—or equivalent.
- Completed the primary clinical year of medical or dental school or be a 1L student at Harvard Law School. For more information, visit Joint/Combined Degrees.
Application Requirements
All applications must be submitted through SOPHAS – the centralized application service for public health programs. In addition to the application, applicants must submit:
- Statement of purpose and objectives
- Standardized test scores (optional with guidance)
- Three letters of reference
- Resumé/curriculum vitae
- Post-secondary transcripts or mark sheets (World Education Services credential evaluation for applicants with degrees from outside of the United States)
- English language proficiency (TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo English Test), if applicable
Application Deadline: December 1
Applicants may apply to only one degree program for either full- or part-time status. Applications are reviewed in their entirety and decisions are released via email in late February/early March. Decisions are not released until all application components are received.