Public Health (MS)
The Master of Science in Public Health Program is aimed at developing a professional trained to provide high quality prevention and health promotion services. The program aims to provide students with an excellent preparation in the new trends on prevention, promotion, planning, administration, service provision, and health programs. It expects to develop a professional that contributes comprehensively and competently to the teaching and administrative work in different scenarios, in accordance with the institutional and international goals of health and well-being. The program is designed to meet the needs of a changing society and to encourage research and creative activity to enrich the educational efforts of the Institution.
The Guayama Campus is authorized to offer this Program.
Competencies Profile of Graduates
The program is designed to develop the skills that allow the student to:
Knowledge
- Analyze methods of collection, tabulation, and interpretation of health data.
- Evaluate statistical analyses and epidemiological designs according to the public health scenario.
- Know the population distribution of diseases, their risk factors and natural history.
- Analyze the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of the main theories of administration.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the processes of planning, management, and evaluation of health programs and the development of public policies.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the concepts and theoretical frameworks of social sciences and human behavior in the study of public health problems.
- Analyze the main components of a public health research and ethical principles.
- Judge critically the controversial issues related to public health and its implications in the profession.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the principles of environmental and occupational health.
Skills
- Apply descriptive and inferential statistical analysis methods to public health research.
- Examine the procedures for calculating measures of disease frequency and other epidemiological data.
- Apply the methods of qualitative and quantitative research in the design of epidemiological studies.
- Examine the environmental, biological, chemical, physical and psychosocial factors that affect health.
- Apply the appropriate tools to identify the risks of environmental and occupational health.
- Examine the social determinants of health in the population.
- Demonstrate leadership and an attitude of collaborative work with other members of the health team to comprehensively address the needs of promotion and health prevention.
- Apply different communication and marketing strategies framed in the ethical and legal principles for the dissemination of health information.
- Demonstrate mastery in the use of technological tools to conduct public health research.
- Apply ethical and legal principles in the performance of duties as a public health professional.
Attitudes
- Assume responsibility for own actions and professional development.
- Value the importance of keeping professional knowledge up to date.
- Recognize the importance of communication and information technology in the dissemination of health information.
- Self-evaluate and conduct the professional practice within the principles of respect to human dignity and the ethical principles of the profession.
Admission Requirements
In addition to the admission requirements established in the Graduate Catalog, candidates to this program must:
- Submit two (2) letters of recommendation.
- Attend an interview with the Program’s Admission Committee.
- Write an essay expressing the reasons why he/she wants admission to the program.
- Present the following updated documents:
- Professional Resume
- Health certificate
Graduation Requirements
In addition to the graduation requirements established in the Graduate Catalog, electronic version, students in this program must pass all courses with a minimum grade of B.
Requirements for the Master of Science in Public Health
| Core Requirements |
24 credits |
| Concentration Requirements |
15 credits |
| Prescribed Distributives |
6 credits |
| Total |
45 credits |
Core Requirements - 24 credits
Concentration Requirements - 15 credits
Prescribed Distributives - 6 credits