Master of Public Health

CDE Thesis award winners

2013 Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Social and Behavioral Sciences thesis award winners. Left to right: Osama Zayyad, Raj Kumar, Anna Kruse, Hannah Rose Mitchell, Jennifer Sanderson and Bianca Carrion.

The program in Chronic Disease Epidemiology emphasizes the acquisition of skills in epidemiologic and biostatistical methods that can be applied to a variety of problems covering both descriptive and analytic epidemiology. Students also gain knowledge of common chronic diseases and their epidemiology. Among the resources available to students are the Yale Cancer Center, the Connecticut Tumor Registry, the Yale Center for Perinatal, Pediatric, and Environmental Epidemiology, and the Program on Aging.  Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences program learn to apply their skills to observational studies in psychosocial epidemiology and to health promotion/disease prevention interventions.

MPH Competencies

Core Competencies

Upon completing the core curriculum of the MPH program, the student will be able to:

  • Demonstrate a knowledge base in the disciplines of biostatistics, chronic and infectious disease epidemiology, health systems, public policy, social and behavioral sciences, and environmental health.
  • Apply basic research skills to specific public health problems in both group and individual settings, including the ability to define problems; construct, articulate and test hypotheses; draw conclusions; and communicate findings to a variety of audiences.
  • Explain the interrelationships between a multitude of factors that can impact on a public health problem, including scientific, medical, environmental, cultural, social, behavioral, economic, political, and ethical factors.
  • Review, critique, and evaluate public health reports and research articles.
  • Apply public health concepts, principles, and methodologies obtained through formal course work to actual problems experienced in the community or work environment.
  • Critically evaluate programs, interventions, and outcomes that relate to public health practice.
  • Apply ethical standards and professional values as they relate to the practice of public health.
  • Demonstrate sensitivity to the social context within which public health professionals practice.

CDE Competencies

Upon receiving an MPH degree with a concentration in Chronic Disease Epidemiology, the student will be able to:

  • Evaluate the scientific merit and feasibility of epidemiologic study designs      
  • Describe the epidemiology of common chronic diseases with more in-depth knowledge of a specialty area     
  • Synthesize information from a variety of epidemiologic and related studies
  • Design and carry out epidemiologic studies, with minimal supervision     
  • Analyze data and draw appropriate inferences from epidemiologic studies at an intermediate level       
  • Demonstrate oral and written communication and presentation skills to effectively communicate and disseminate results to various professional and community audiences
  • Describe basic pathophysiologic and/or psychopathologic mechanisms
  • Identify, interpret, and use routinely collected data on disease occurrence
  • Review, critique and evaluate epidemiologic reports and research articles at an intermediate level
  • Apply basic principles of health promotion and disease prevention to prevent and control chronic diseases.

Curriculum

PDF Version

Download the PFDF version of the MPH requirements.

The M.P.H. degree requires a total of 20 course units. The M.P.H. in Chronic Disease Epidemiology requires the student to complete or acquire an exemption from the following courses. All “a” courses are offered in the fall term, and “b” courses are offered in the spring term. Full time students must carry a minimum of 4 course units each semester.

Requirements
Completed?

CORE REQUIREMENTS

Course Units


BIS 505a, Introduction to Statistical Thinking I

1


BIS 505b, Introduction to Statistical Thinking II

1


CDE/EMD 508a, Principles of Epidemiology I

1

EPH 100a, Professional Skills Seminar

n/a

EPH 515b, Introduction to Research and Professional Ethics Seminar

n/a

One of the following two:

CDE 505a, Social and Behavioral Foundations of Health

1

CDE 571b, Psychosocial and Behavioral Epidemiology

1

One of the following two:


EHS 510a, Contemporary Issues in Environmental Health

1

EHS 503b, Introduction to Toxicology

1

One of the following two:


HPM 510a, Health Policy and Health Systems

1

HPM 560b, Healthcare Finance and Delivery

1

To fulfill the Public Health Practice requirement, choose one of the following three:

CDE 542b, Community Health Program Planning

1

EPH 500b, Public Health Practicum

1

EPH 520c, Summer Internship (Approval Required)

n/a

EPH 520c, Summer Internship (required whether or not used to fulfill the Public Health Practice Requirement)

n/a

DEPARTMENTAL  REQUIREMENTS


CDE 516b, Principles of Epidemiology II

1


CDE 523b, Measurement Issues in Chronic Disease Epidemiology

1


CDE 534b, Applied Analytic Methods in Epidemiology

1

CDE 525a and b, Seminar in CDE and SBS

n/a

One additional Biostatistics course beyond BIS 505a and 505b

1

EPH 525, Thesis

2

One of the following four:

CDE/EHS 502b, Physiology for Public Health

1

CDE 532b, Epidemiology of Cancer

1

CDE 535b, Epidemiology of Heart Disease and Stroke

1

CDE 562a, Nutrition and Chronic Disease

1

Chronic Disease Epidemiology students are advised to take two additional Chronic Disease Epidemiology elective courses.

Revised 7/23/12

Recent thesis topics:

  • Diabetes-Related Pre Hospital Delays in Younger Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction
  • Molecular Epi of CD: Genetic and Epigenetic Association Studies in Cancer & Asthma
  • A Menstrual & Reproductive Composite & It's Synergy with Long-term Overweight in Endometrial Cancer
  • Potential impact of single-risk-factor versus total risk management for the prevention of cardiovascular events in Seychelles
  • Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Use & Risk of Adult Glioma
  • Response to the Treatment Summary by Adult Survivors of Pediatric and Young Adult Cancers
  • Mammography Screening in Latino Women
  • Employment Experience Among Cancer Survivors
  • Potential Ultraviolet Light Exposure from Driving and Body Site Distribution of Basal Cell Carcinoma
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Samples of Positions at Graduation: 2012, 2011, 2010

  • Michael Allen Company, Research Associate, Darien, CT
  • CSTE/CDC - New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Fellow, New York, NY
  • Neurology Dept. Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
  • UConn Health Center, Research Assistant, Farmington, CT
  • Altamed, Jr. Medical Informatics Reporting Analyst, Los Angeles, CA
  • Humana, Analyst, Louisville, KY
  • GlobalData, Epidemiologist, New York, NY
  • The Peer Health Exchange, Program Associate, San Francisco, CA
  • Global Health Strategies, Senior Associate, New York, NY
  • National Cancer Institute, Research Analyst, Washington, DC
  • American Cancer Society, Epidemiologist, Atlanta, GA