Public Health

he Master of Public Health (MPH) is widely recognised as essential for a career in population health, including health promotion, primary health care, policy formulation, research, and management of health programs. Many of our graduates occupy key positions in health services and universities in Australia, and the Western Pacific and Asian regions.

The Master of Public Health program provides preparation for education, research and service in all aspects of public health. The program includes study in epidemiology, quantitative and qualitative research methods, health services management, health promotion, development and education in health, as well as a systematic review of topical public health issues. It is designed to address the continuing education needs of specialists in public health as well as providing a general orientation to public health issues and methods for health professionals.

The program comprises the following components, for a total of 48 units of credit:

• Core courses - 18 units of credit
• Elective courses - 30 units of credit

Core Courses

• PHCM9012 Health Promotion & Social Pers (6 UOC)
• PHCM9041 Foundations (6 UOC)
• PHCM9498 Epidemiology and Statistics:PH (6 UOC)

Electives

The following electives enable students to focus on areas of interest and professional relevance. Electives may also be chosen from core courses offered in the health management or international health programs. In addition, students may enrol in electives offered by other schools and academic units within the University of New South Wales, as well as approved courses offered by other universities, in accordance with the UNSW policy on credit transfer. Students may undertake Independent Study to learn about a particular subject area of special interest where there is appropriate expertise in the School, but no formal course. Students choose 5 elective courses (30 UOC) from the list below:

• PHCM9010 Community Development (6 UOC)
• PHCM9050 Immunisation Policy & Practice (6 UOC)
• PHCM9082 Advanced HE & FM (6 UOC)
• PHCM9108 Program Design & Evaluation (6 UOC)
• PHCM9120 Qualitative Research Methods (6 UOC)
• PHCM9129 Prevent & Manag Chronic Dis (6 UOC)
• PHCM9132 Applied Research Methods: PH (6 UOC)
• PHCM9331 Ethics and Law in PH (6 UOC)
• PHCM9381 Policy Studies (6 UOC)
• PHCM9440 Economic Evaluation in HC (6 UOC)
• PHCM9443 Htl Econ & Fin for Dev. Count. (6 UOC)
• PHCM9471 Comparative H'lth Care Systems (6 UOC)
• PHCM9517 Advanced Biostatistics (6 UOC)
• PHCM9518 Advanced Epidemiology (6 UOC)
• PHCM9522 Politics, Surveillance, Health (6 UOC)
• PHCM9604 Tobacco, Alcohol and Illicit (6 UOC)
• PHCM9605 International Health (6 UOC)
• PHCM9606 Reprod, Matern & Child Health (6 UOC)
• PHCM9609 Rural and Remote Intnl Health (6 UOC)
• PHCM9612 Environmental Health (6 UOC)
• PHCM9615 Principles & Practice of PHC (6 UOC)
• PHCM9622 The Global HIV Epidemic (6 UOC)
• PHCM9626 Inequalities and Health (6 UOC)
• PHCM9628 Health Impact Assessment (6 UOC)
• PHCM9630 PH Perspectives of Ind Health (6 UOC)
• PHCM9632 Indigenous Health & Wellbeing (6 UOC)
• PHCM9662 Health Aspects of Crises (6 UOC)
• PHCM9731 Outbreak Investigation (6 UOC)
• PHCM9761 PH Aspects of Mental Health (6 UOC)
• PHCM9782 Infectious Diseases (6 UOC)
• PHCM9783 Com Disease Control in HE & D (6 UOC)
• PHCM9784 Tropical Disease Control (6 UOC)
• PHCM9785 Predictive modelling in PH (6 UOC)
• PHCM9786 Non-Communicable Disease (6 UOC)
• PHCM9787 Infection Prevention & Control (6 UOC)
• PHCM9788 Infect Diseases Intelligence (6 UOC)
• PHCM9789 Bioterrorism & Intelligence (6 UOC)

Electives are also available from Arizona State University as part of the PLuS Alliance

• YMED5000 Integrated Emergency Managemen (6 UOC)
• YMED5001 Homeland Security (6 UOC)
• YMED5002 Hazards Governance (6 UOC)
• YMED5003 Public Management (6 UOC)
• YMED5004 IT in Emergency Management (6 UOC)
• YMED5005 Community Resilience Recovery (6 UOC)
• YMED5006 Interoperability for Emergency (6 UOC)
• YMED5007 Critical Incident Stress Mangt (6 UOC)
• YMED5008 Applied Data Analysis in CJ (6 UOC)
• YMED5009 Program Analysis for Emergency (6 UOC)
• YMED5010 GIS and Analysis (6 UOC)

Note: PHCM9498 is a pre-requisite course for PHCM9517 and PHCM9518.
Students may also apply to the Program Director to be allowed to replace up to 12 UOC of course electives with a 6 UOC Research Project, 6 UOC Independent Study or 6 UOC Internship.

• PHCM9103 Independent Study (6uoc) (6 UOC)
• PHCM9143 Internship (6 UOC)
• PHCM9148 Project (6 uoc) (6 UOC)

Additional Course Requirement for International Students.

International Students who have not previously completed a degree in Australia and are enrolled in the full time program in Sydney (Kensington campus) are required to take the following additional course in their first semester.

• PHCM9100 Academic Practice (0 UOC)

This course is available for all students to assist them with academic literacy practice and includes critical reading, thinking and writing, oral communication and managing postgraduate study. The course is made available at no charge to students and does not contribute to the program requirements of the degree. Local students who have not studied recently are also welcome to enrol to assist them with the transition back to university and to assist them with their academic skills. 

Streams (Areas of Specialisation)

The following streams are available in the Master of Public Health. These allow students to focus their studies on areas where the School has considerable expertise, and may incorporate project work. Students who demonstrate capacity through achieving a Credit average and propose an appropriate project topic in the area of specialisation may apply to undertake a 6 UOC Project (PHCM9148). The project may be in the form of a small-scale research study, a case study, a program evaluation or a report on field experience, and will be negotiated in advance with the relevant Stream Convenor.

• 9045 Master of Public Health in Public Security (New in 2016)
• 9045 Master of Public Health in Quantitative Research Methods
• 9045 Master of Public Health in Social Research
• 9045 Master of Public Health in Health Economic Evaluation
• 9045 Master of Public Health in Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing
• 9045 Master of Public Health in Infectious Diseases Control
• 9045 Master of Public Health in International Health
• 9045 Master of Public Health in Health Promotion
• 9045 Master of Public Health in Primary Health Care

• An undergraduate degree in a field relevant to public health or health management (see list below)* and two years full-time professional or volunteer experience. This may also include equivalent professional experience acquired as part of a degree of 4 or more years duration (e.g. MBBS, MD)

OR

• An undergraduate degree plus an honours or postgraduate degree in a field relevant to public health or health management (see list below)*
• IELTS Academic version only 6.5 overall (min. 6.0 in each subtest)
• TOEFL Internet-based Test (iBT) 90 overall (min.23 in writing, 22 in reading, listening and speaking)
• TOEFL Paper-based Test  (PBT) 577 overall (min. 5.0 in TWE)

[*Examples include, but are not restricted to, medicine, nursing, allied health, health sciences, biomedical sciences, dentistry, social work, sociology, behavioural and social sciences, social work, psychology, marketing, human services, emergency services, environmental health, veterinary science, health administration, business, management, engineering, law, science, mathematics and statistics, economics, policy studies and development studies.]

Applications will be assessed in accordance with the UNSW Recognition of Prior Learning Policy and Procedure.