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Master of Public Health

E172 General Hospital
200 Hawkins Drive
Iowa City, IA 52242
(319) 384-5991

Nutrition and Exercise Focus Area (42 s.h.)

Objective

This focus area allows students who are aiming for clinical work in the field of public health to learn skills in behavioral change. Course work emphasizes strategies needed to work in an epidemiological setting with patients who would be altering both diet and exercise. The objectives of this focus area are that students will be able to:

Demonstrate their level of knowledge academically, practically and from an applied research standpoint.
Identify clinical research studies or community health promotion programs where nutrition and exercise are applied.
Apply skills in nutrition research to the work setting during a practicum.

Prerequisite

To be considered, applicants must have a Bachelor's degree or equivalent from an accredited institution with a minimum undergraduate grade-point-average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

MPH Core Courses (18 s.h.)

The following course work is required for all MPH students. Students must earn ≥ B- (2.67) on each core course and must earn a ≥ B (3.0) cumulative grade point average on all core courses. When necessary, a student may repeat courses to achieve this standard.

170:101	Introduction to Public Health Practice [Fall/Su.]	3 s.h.
171:161	Introduction to Biostatistics [Fall/Spr./Su.]	3 s.h.
172:101	Intro to Health Promotion and Disease Prevention [Fall/Spr.]	3 s.h.
173:140	Epidemiology I: Principles [Fall/Spr./Su.]	3 s.h.
174:102	Introduction to the US Healthcare System [Su.] or	3 s.h.
174:200	Introduction to Health Care Organization and Policy [Fall]	3 s.h.
175:197	Environmental Health [Fall/Spr.]	3 s.h.

Practicum Requirement (3 s.h)

170:299

The MPH Practicum Experience [Fall/Spr./Su.]

3 s.h.

The experience from this course, including a final written report and oral presentation, constitutes the final examination for the MPH.

Pre-Requisite:

Students should complete all Core Courses prior to registering for the Practicum. In special circumstances, students may request to take a Core Course concurrently with the Practicum.

For additional information, regarding the practicum experience, please visit the official practicum website.

Bioscience Requirement* (3 or 4 s.h.)

Or elective if previous course taken in bioscience

Any of the following courses may be used to meet this requirement:

069:133	Introduction to Human Pathology [Fall]	4 s.h.
069:270	Pathogenesis of Major Human Diseases [Spr.]	3 s.h.
096:114	Human Pathophysiology: Organ Systems [Fall/Spr.]	3 s.h.
096:115	Human Pathophysiology: Cellular/Neuro/Immune [Fall/Spr.]	3 s.h.

* If a student has had such coursework in the past, a bioscience course does not need to be taken, but the hours are replaced with three more hours of electives. Some programs have proposed that this be replaced with a three-hour elective. You will be informed if this affects your degree and you will have the option of completing the requirement either way.

Required Courses (11 s.h)

Students choose a minimum of 11 semester hours from the following courses.

028:138	Principles of Exercise Testing and Prescription [Spr.]	4 s.h.
173:233	Evidence-Based Nutrition Policy [Su.]	3 s.h.
173:235	Nutritional Epidemiology [Spr.]	2 s.h.
173:245	Epidemiology of Physical Activity [Fall]	3 s.h.
173:236	Nutrition Interventions in Clinical Trials [Fall]	2 s.h.
173:260	Epidemiology of Chronic Disease [Spr.]	3 s.h.

Recommended Electives (7 s.h.)

Research Emphasis

171:162	Design and Analysis of Biomedical Studies [Spr.]	3 s.h.
173:145	Public Health Data [Spr.]	2 s.h.
173:160	Introduction to Epidemiology Data Analysis with Computers [Fall]	2 s.h.
173:240	Epidemiology II: Advanced Methods [Spr.]	3 s.h.

Community Emphasis

048:242	Health Promotion Policy Seminar	3 s.h.
172:106	Designing and Implementing Interventions [Fall]	3 s.h.
172:130	Social Determinants of Health [Spr.]	3 s.h.
172:150	Health Behavior and Health Education [Spr.]	3 s.h.
172:181	Evaluation I: Theory and Applications [Fall]	3 s.h.

Other possible electives

171:163	Introduction to the Design of Sample Surveys [Fall]	3 s.h.
171:241	Applied Categorical Data Analysis [Fall]	3 s.h.
173:261	Epidemiology of Aging [Spr.]	1 s.h.
173:262	Neuroepidemiology [Spr.]	1 s.h.
173:263	Reproductive Epidemiology [Fall]	2 s.h.
173:265	Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology [Fall]	3 s.h.
173:267	Psychiatric Epidemiology [Spr.]	3 s.h.
173:270	Cancer Epidemiology and Control [Spr. - even years]	3 s.h.
173:285	Outcomes Research [Spr.]	2-3 s.h.
173:290	Intervention and Clinical Trials [Fall]	3 s.h.
173:291	Pharmacoepidemiology [Fall - even years]	3 s.h.

Students are required to complete 170:299, The Practicum Experience, in a setting where nutrition and/or exercise activities are occurring. Students are expected to spend a minimum of 200 hours in the practicum setting. Students are expected to work with their faculty advisor and the course director to design a practicum experience that demonstrates the student's knowledge and skills in nutrition and/or exercise as well as competency in public health as described by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Generally, the practicum is open only to students who have completed or are concurrently enrolled in the public health core courses, which would complete their MPH core course requirements. Upon completion of the practicum, students must write a report and make an oral presentation about their project to a faculty committee in an appropriate public forum such as a departmental seminar. This report and presentation serve as the final examination requirement for the MPH degree program.

Summary of Degree Requirements

MPH Core	18 s.h.
Bioscience	3 s.h. or 4 s.h.
Practicum	3 s.h.
Required Focus Area Hours	11 s.h.
Elective Focus Area Hours	7 s.h.
Total	42 s.h.