Graduate and Undergraduate Program Competencies

Upon graduation, a successful student with an MPH degree specialization in Biomedical Informatics will be able to:

1. Compare and contrast types of major domestic and international public health issues, including sources/causes of infectious/chronic diseases, transmission, risk factors, morbidity and mortality;
2. Discuss various approaches/strategies for identification, response and intervention to address and attempt to resolve common public health issues;
3. Identify genetic, social, political, cultural, behavioral, socioeconomic, demographic and ethical factors and relationships to domestic and international public health issues and determinants of health;
4. Access data sources (e.g., databases) commonly used for biomedical informatics;
5. Discuss core biomedical informatics theories, methods, and practice areas from individual and population-based perspectives;
6. Interpret applicable research articles; and,
7. Apply principles of ethics for professional practice and responsible conduct of research.

Upon graduation, a successful student with an MPH degree specialization in Biostatistics will be able to:

1. Address problems arising in public health and medicine through appropriate statements of hypotheses, study design, data collection, data management, statistical analysis, and interpretation of results.
2. Recognize strengths and weaknesses of study designs and data sources commonly encountered in public health.
3. Identify strengths and weaknesses of standard analytic methods.
4. Describe basic concepts of probability, random variation and commonly used statistical probability distributions
5. Use computational methods to effectively analyze complex public health and medical data.

Upon graduation, a successful student with an MPH degree specialization in Clinical Translational Science will be able to:

1. Design a clinical investigation relevant to the student’s field of clinical specialty, including the definition of study aims and objectives and the creation of an appropriate study design;
2. Collaboratively prepare a grant application to seek funding for a clinical investigation project;
3. Use decision analysis and relevant evaluation methods to examine issues of appropriate implementation of treatments or technologies;
4. Recognize ethical issues that are likely to arise in clinical investigations and the procedures for handling them appropriately;
5. Apply ethical principles to the conduct of clinical investigations, with special emphasis on protection of research subjects; and,
6. Prepare a manuscript suitable for publication and/or for reporting to a sponsor on the conduct and results of a clinical investigation.

Upon graduation, a successful student with an MPH degree specialization in Environmental Health Sciences will be able to:

1. Explain the significance of the community and workplace environment to public health;
2. Outline the health challenges that natural and anthropogenic contaminants in the environment can pose to population health;
3. Explain the physiological factors that influence human exposure and the uptake of chemical and biological environmental agents;
4. Identify and explain individual (e.g., genetic, physiologic and psychosocial) and community (e.g., social, built, economic, race) susceptibility factors that heighten the risk for populations for adverse health outcomes from environmental hazards;
5. Apply various risk assessment, risk management and risk communication approaches for environmental hazards;
6. Explain exposure and  the underlying mechanisms of toxicity and infectivity resulting from chemical, biological and physical  agents;
7. Describe federal and state regulatory programs, guidelines and authorities relevant to environmental and occupational health;
8. Access state, federal, and local resources for assessing environmental and occupational health;
9. Compare the principle components and influencing factors in the exposure continuum from source to disease; and,
10. Determine the role of exposure assessment in environmental and occupational health.

Upon graduation, a successful student with an MPH degree specialization in Epidemiology will be able to:

1. Design a survey to examine a public health problem or for use in an epidemiologic investigation;
2. Choose the correct analysis for data obtained from an epidemiologic investigation, including data from surveys, matched and unmatched case-control studies, cohort studies, and clinical trials;
3. Analyze and interpret data obtained from an epidemiologic investigation, including data from surveys, matched and unmatched case-control studies, cohort studies, and clinical trials;
4. Assess confounding and effect modification in data from an epidemiologic investigation;
5. Demonstrate familiarity with the basic content and issues in at least two substantive areas of application in epidemiology (e.g., cardiovascular epidemiology, cancer epidemiology, chronic disease epidemiology, infectious disease epidemiology, injury epidemiology);
6. Identify the natural histories of major types of disease and their relevance to epidemiologic investigations; and,
7. Use appropriate computer software for the management and analysis of epidemiologic data;

Upon graduation, a successful student with an MPH degree specialization in Health Promotion and Health Behavior will be able to:

1. Explain the history, scope, and philosophical basis of public health education.
2. Critically assess the evidence linking behavioral and psychosocial factors to health and illness.
3. Apply behavioral and social science theory to the development and implementation of health promotion and disease prevention programs at multiple targets and different levels of intervention (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and community).
4. Critically assess the scientific literature describing health promotion interventions.
5. Identify mechanisms to secure funding, manage and administer health promotion and disease prevention programs so as to ensure optimal program delivery.
6. Design and carry out process evaluation for the improvement of health promotion programs.
7. Collaboratively design and carry out outcome evaluations of health promotion programs.
8. Apply ethical principles to the planning and evaluation of social and behavioral change efforts.
9. Demonstrate cultural competency when planning health promotion and disease prevention activities.
10. Recognize the importance of health literacy in creating and/or evaluating health promotion and disease prevention materials.
11. Explain how health promotion efforts enable communities to influence their own well-being.
12. Anticipate challenges and opportunities in working collaboratively with communities.

Upon graduation, a successful student with an MPH degree concentration in Population Health Management and Leadership will be able to:

1. Apply concepts of population health science to describe roles of public health, healthcare and community partners in improving population health outcomes.
2. Discuss current health policy issues using appropriate economic perspectives
3. Apply key elements of microeconomic concepts to the analysis of health care cases.
4. Use needs analysis data to develop strategic approaches to support goal achievement.
5. Use systems-thinking and analytic methods to assess operations performance and improve organizational processes.
6. Apply quality improvement methods to create and sustain PHM and public health program improvements.
7. Apply evidence-based decision-making techniques to understand population health concerns and assess population health programs.

Upon graduation, a successful student with an MPH degree specialization in Veterinary Public Health will be able to:

1. Describe common zoonotic and foodborne infectious diseases, with respect to their etiology and epidemiology especially those classified as reportable, bioterrorism threats, or have a major impact on public health and/or agriculture;
2. Identify the major pathways for transmission of zoonotic agents and foodborne hazards to humans, as well as the reservoirs for many common pathogens;
3. Identify methods and instruments for collecting and transporting valid and reliable samples, determine the appropriate diagnostic technique for human, animal, arthropod, food product, and/or environmental specimens, and provide an accurate interpretation of the results;
4. Identify methods and programs utilized to prevent, control and/or eradicate zoonotic and foodborne diseases, including pre- and post-harvest interventions;
5. Evaluate the integrity of emergency preparedness programs, including biosecurity, biocontainment, and natural disaster response plans;
6. Review and apply methods for planning, initiating and conducting case and outbreak investigations of zoonotic and foodborne diseases;
7. Recognize applicable regulations and laws governing zoonotic diseases, food safety and security, or foreign animal diseases, and the agencies with authority to enforce these laws;
8. Define the role of epidemiology in maintaining human and animal health; and identify strategies in the design and conduct of surveillance, monitoring, and epidemiological studies that assess the prevalence and distribution of zoonotic and foodborne diseases;
9. Analyze approaches for assessing and controlling environmental and biological agents and strategies for reducing risks to human and animal health, especially in agricultural settings.
10. Conduct comprehensive literature reviews of the scientific evidence related to a veterinary public health issue, concern, or intervention.
11. Use individual, team, and organizational learning opportunities for personal and professional development.

Upon graduation, a successful student with a MS degree specialization in Biomedical Informatics will be able to:

1. Explain how the core public health concepts of biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health behavior/health promotion, and health administration relate to the student’s area of specialization.
2. Synthesize literature in student’s area of specialization relative to their thesis topic and its importance for public health.
3. Summarize relevant theories and conceptual models that inform their research.
4. Conduct a research project using appropriate research methods and ethical approaches.
5. Prepare a thesis summarizing the research project and interpreting the results.
6. Communicate in writing and orally a research project’s methods, results, limitations, conclusions and public health relevance.
7. Utilize existing knowledge sources (e.g. databases) commonly used for biomedical informatics research and applications.
8. Discuss core biomedical informatics concepts, methods, and practice areas from individual and population-based perspectives.
9. Apply biomedical informatics methods to address challenges in the field of public health.

Upon graduation, a successful student with a MS degree specialization in Biostatistics will be able to:

1. Explain how the core public health concepts of biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health behavior/health promotion, and health administration relate to the student’s area of specialization.
2. Synthesize literature in student’s area of specialization relative to their thesis topic and its importance for public health.
3. Summarize relevant theories and conceptual models that inform their research.
4. Conduct a research project using appropriate research methods and ethical approaches.
5. Prepare a thesis summarizing the research project and interpreting the results.
6. Communicate in writing and orally a research project’s methods, results, limitations, conclusions and public health relevance.
7. Address problems arising in public health and medicine through appropriate statements of hypotheses, study design, data collection, data management, statistical analysis, and interpretation of results.
8. Recognize strengths and weaknesses of study designs, data sources, and analytic methods.
9. Explain core concepts of probability, random variation and commonly used statistical probability distributions and how they relate to statistical inference.
10. Use computational methods to effectively analyze complex public health and medical data.

Upon graduation, a successful student with a MS degree in Environmental Science with specialization in Environmental Public Health will be able to:

1. Explain how the core public health concepts of biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health behavior/health promotion, and health administration relate to the student’s area of specialization.
2. Synthesize literature in student’s area of specialization relative to their thesis topic and its importance for public health.
3. Summarize relevant theories and conceptual models that inform their research.
4. Conduct a research project using appropriate research methods and ethical approaches.
5. Prepare a thesis summarizing the research project and interpreting the results.
6. Communicate in writing and orally a research project’s methods, results, limitations, conclusions and public health relevance.
7. Explain individual and community susceptibility and vulnerability factors that heighten the risk for populations for adverse health outcomes from environmental hazards.
8. Apply the environmental health paradigm (i.e., EHS Model) to characterizing hazardous physical, chemical and
   biological agents relative to sources, categories, exposure matrices/pathways, distribution, human exposures, responses, societal/regulatory actions, and technological controls.
9. Work with various stakeholders and other professions to proactively and reactively address environmental and occupational regulatory, policy and human health issues and concerns.

Upon graduation, a successful student with a MS degree specialization in Epidemiology will be able to:

1. Explain how the core public health concepts of biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health behavior/health promotion, and health administration relate to the student’s area of specialization.
2. Synthesize literature in student’s area of specialization relative to their thesis topic and its importance for public health.
3. Summarize relevant theories and conceptual models that inform their research.
4. Conduct a research project using appropriate research methods and ethical approaches.
5. Prepare a thesis summarizing the research project and interpreting the results.
6. Communicate in writing and orally a research project’s methods, results, limitations, conclusions and public health relevance.
7. Identify and understand the impact of potential sources of bias, including selection bias, measurement error, and confounding, in epidemiological studies.
8. Demonstrate familiarity with the content and issues in at least one substantive epidemiological topic.

Upon graduation, successful students with a PhD degree in Biostatistics with specialization in Public Health are expected to be able to:

1. Understand the theoretical foundations of statistical methods
2. Critique general scientific research articles and assess the appropriateness of the statistical applications and methodology involved
3. Work effectively and collaboratively in a team on a biological or health-related scientific question
4. Design biological or health-related research studies and construct and implement statistical analysis plans
   appropriate for such studies
5. Effectively communicate the results of statistical analyses to statistical and non-statistical audiences
6. Review and critique existing literature in students’ general area of specialization, and can identify gaps in
   that literature
7. Make a contribution to biostatistical methodology and/or practice

Upon graduation, a successful student with a PhD degree in Environmental Science with specialization in Environmental Public Health will be able to:

1. Explain how the core public health concepts of biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health behavior/health promotion, and health administration relate to the student’s area of specialization.
2. Synthesize and critique existing literature in student’s area of specialization to identify gaps in the evidence base and justify their importance for public health.
3. Apply relevant theories and conceptual models to inform and ground research design and interpretation.
4. Formulate hypotheses, plan and conduct a research study using appropriate research methods, and ethical approaches.
5. Analyze data and prepare an original manuscript, suitable for publication, summarizing the results and interpreting the findings from a research study.
6. Communicate in writing and orally a research study’s purpose, methods, results, limitations, conclusions and public health relevance to both informed and lay audiences.
7. Quantify individual and community susceptibility and vulnerability factors that heighten the risk for populations for adverse health outcomes from environmental hazards.
8. Apply the environmental health paradigm (i.e., EHS Model) to characterizing hazardous physical, chemical and biological agents relative to sources, categories, exposure matrices/pathways, distribution, human exposures, responses, societal/regulatory actions, and technological controls.
9. Work with various stakeholders and other professions to proactively and reactively address environmental and occupational regulatory, policy and human health issues and concerns.

Upon graduation, a successful student with a PhD degree specialization in Epidemiology will be able to:

1. Explain how the core public health concepts of biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health behavior/health promotion, and health administration relate to the student’s area of specialization.
2. Synthesize and critique existing literature in student’s area of specialization to identify gaps in the evidence base and justify their importance for public health.
3. Apply relevant theories and conceptual models to inform and ground research design and interpretation.
4. Formulate hypotheses, plan and conduct a research study using appropriate research methods, and ethical approaches.
5. Analyze data and prepare an original manuscript, suitable for publication, summarizing the results and interpreting the findings from a research study.
6. Communicate in writing and orally a research study’s purpose, methods, results, limitations, conclusions and public health relevance to both informed and lay audiences.
7. Identify and address potential sources of bias, including selection bias, measurement error, and confounding, in both the design and analysis phases of epidemiological studies.
8. Demonstrate familiarity with the content and issues in at least one specific substantive area of epidemiology.

Upon graduation, a successful student with a PhD degree specialization in Health Behavior and Health Promotion will be able to:

1. Explain how the core public health concepts of biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health behavior/health promotion, and health administration relate to the student’s area of specialization.
2. Synthesize and critique existing literature in student’s area of specialization to identify gaps in the evidence base and justify their importance for public health.
3. Apply relevant theories and conceptual models to inform and ground research design and interpretation.
4. Formulate hypotheses, plan and conduct a research study using appropriate research methods, and ethical approaches.
5. Analyze data and prepare an original manuscript, suitable for publication, summarizing the results and interpreting the findings from a research study.
6. Communicate in writing and orally a research study’s purpose, methods, results, limitations, conclusions and public health relevance to both informed and lay audiences.
7. Critically assess methods for involving diverse communities in research.
8. Apply principles of behavioral science to the design of public health interventions.
9. Critically assess strengths and limitations of theories used in public health behavior change interventions.

Upon graduation, a successful student with a PhD degree specialization in Health Services Management and Policy will be able to:

1. Explain how the core public health concepts of biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health behavior/health promotion, and health administration relate to the student’s area of specialization.
2. Synthesize and critique existing literature in student’s area of specialization to identify gaps in the evidence base and justify their importance for public health.
3. Apply relevant theories and conceptual models to inform and ground research design and interpretation.
4. Formulate hypotheses, plan and conduct a research study using appropriate research methods, and ethical approaches.
5. Analyze data and prepare an original manuscript, suitable for publication, summarizing the results and interpreting the findings from a research study.
6. Communicate in writing and orally a research study’s purpose, methods, results, limitations, conclusions and public health relevance to both informed and lay audiences.
7. Critically assess the key institutions and system relationships within the US health system.
8. Critically assess relevant health management and policy theories and concepts as applied in health systems research.
9. Apply appropriate statistical techniques to enhance causal inference and to address the problems that arise in health systems research relying on observational data.