Advanced Professional MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) teaches students about the social and structural factors that interact with behavioral and biological factors to influence health, illness and recovery. The impetus comes from the increasing recognition that social and structural factors (e.g., stigma, housing, poverty, social relationships, norms) play a crucial role in epidemiology and public health, both as risk factors for adverse health outcomes and in strategies to promote health and prevent disease. The SBS Department teaches skills aimed to improve health equity and social justice including how to evaluate and develop multilevel interventions that eliminate barriers to health, from infancy to old age.

The Advanced Professional MPH degree requires a total of 16 course units. The Advanced Professional MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences requires the student to complete or acquire an exemption from the following courses. If a course is waived, a substitute course must be identified.

• BIS 515 Accelerated Biostatistics - 2 units
• SBS 505 Accelerated Social Foundations of Health - 1 unit
• CDE 515 Accelerated Epidemiology - 1 unit
• EPH 510 Health Policy and Health Care Systems - 1 unit
• EPH 513 Major Health Threats - 1 unit

One of the following (public health practice requirements):

• EPH 500 Public Health Practicum - 1 unit
• HPM 555 Health Policy or Health Care Management Practicum - 1 unit
• HPM 556 Advanced Health Policy Practicum - 1 unit
• EPH 555 Clinic in Climate Justice, Law, and Public Health - 1 unit
• EMD/SBS 588 Health Justice Practicum - 1 unit
• EMD/SBS 596 Health Justice: Theory to Practice - 1 unit
• SBS 541 Community Health Program Evaluation - 1 unit

• CDE 534 Applied Analytic Methods in Epidemiology - 1 unit
• SBS 541 Foundations of Behavior Change - 1 unit

One of the following:

• SBS 676 Questionnaire Development - 1 unit
• SBS/BIS 640 User-Centered Design of Digital Health Tools - 1 unit

Two of the following (or permission of academic adviser to substitute):

• CDE 572 Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle Interventions - 1 unit
• SBS 531 Health and Aging - 1 unit
• SBS 573 Social and Cultural Factors in Mental Health and Illness - 1 unit
• SBS 581 Stigma and Health - 1 unit
• SBS 583 Sexual and Reproductive Health - 1 unit
• SBS 585 Sexuality, Gender, Health, and Human Rights - 1 unit
• SBS 594 Maternal-Child Public Health Nutrition - 1 unit
• CDE 545 Health Disparities by Race and Social Class - 1 unit
• HPM 545 Health Disparities - 1 unit
• SBS 537 Social and Interpersonal Influences on Health - 1 unit
• SBS 570 LGBT Population Health - 1 unit
• SBS 560 Sexual and Reproductive Health - 1 unit
• SBS 562 Inclusive Design for the Built Environment - 1 unit
• SBS 577 Health Communication and the Media - 1 unit

One of the following capstone courses:

• SBS 574 Developing a Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Intervention - 1 unit
• CDE 617 Developing a Research Proposal - 1 unit
• HPM 597 Capstone in Health Policy - 1 unit
• EPH 557 Evidence-Based Decision Making in Global Health - 1 unit
• HPM 575 Evaluation of Global Health Policies and Programs - 1 unit

Elective Courses (3 course units)