Master of Public Health in the Field of Health Policy

Program Director: L. Cartwright-Smith

Dedicated to health policy education and research, our faculty members include some of the nation’s best-known health policy experts, as well as leaders from the public and private health policy sectors. Our program joins stimulating classes with hands-on experience with critical health policy issues. Our graduates can be found in congressional offices, federal health agencies, the most prominent professional health societies in Washington, D.C., trade associations, and health policy consultancies. With courses scheduled in the late afternoons and early evenings, our programs allow students to attain valuable career experience while they earn their degrees.

The MPH in health policy provides students with in-depth analysis skills for employment in government, private sector health policy consulting, and not-for-profit advocacy. Additionally, this program is available to attorneys, GW law students, and GW medical students who wish to enhance training with a thorough understanding of health policy.

Visit the program website for additional program information.

Visit the Milken Institute School of Public Health website for additional information about academic programs and information about GWSPH. Graduate admissions information, including application requirements and deadlines, can be found on the GWSPH Graduate Admissions website.

The following requirements must be fulfilled: 45 credits, including 17 credits in core courses, 20 credits in program-specific courses (including the 2-credit Health Policy Capstone), and 8 credits in elective courses.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required
Core courses
PUBH 6000	MPH Applied Practice Experience
PUBH 6002	Biostatistical Applications for Public Health
PUBH 6003	Principles and Practices of Epidemiology
PUBH 6007	Social and Behavioral Approaches to Public Health
PUBH 6009	Fundamentals of Public Health Program Evaluation
PUBH 6011	Environmental and Biological Foundations of Public Health
PUBH 6012	Fundamentals of Health Policy
PUBH 6021	Essentials of Public Health Practice and Leadership I
PUBH 6022	Essentials of Public Health Practice and Leadership II
PUBH 6023	Interprofessional Education Experience
Program-specific courses
PUBH 6310	Statistical Analysis in Health Policy
PUBH 6315	Introduction to Health Policy Analysis
PUBH 6320	Advanced Health Policy Analysis
PUBH 6325	Federal Policymaking and Policy Advocacy
PUBH 6330	Health Services and Law
or PUBH 6335	Public Health and Law
PUBH 6340	Health Economics and Finance
PUBH 6350	Health Policy Capstone
One 2-credit health policy selective course from the following:
PUBH 6355	Comparative Health Policy
PUBH 6356	State Health Policy
PUBH 6361	Health Workforce Policy
PUBH 6367	Population Health, Public Health, and Health Reform
PUBH 6370	Medicare/Medicaid Law and Policy
PUBH 6384	Health Care Quality and Health Policy
PUBH 6399	Topics in Health Policy (in topic Value-Based Payment Reform or Maternal and Child Health Policy)
or PUBH 6561	Maternal and Child Health Policy Analysis
Electives
8 credits in any graduate-level PUBH or HSML courses.

MPH graduation requirements

1. Graduate credit requirement: 45 graduate credits.
2. Course requirements: Successful completion of core and program-specific courses.
3. Practicum Requirement: Students are required to fulfill all requirements of the Applied Practice Experience (Practicum) to receive credit for PUBH 6000 MPH Applied Practice Experience.
4. Interprofessional Education Experience (IPE): Students are required to enroll and participate in an authorized IPE activity (PUBH 6023 Interprofessional Education Experience).
5. Minimum grade-point requirement: minimum 3.0 (B) cumulative grade-point average.
6. Time limit requirement: The degree must be completed within five years.
7. Transfer credit policy: With approval, up to 12 graduate credits that have not been applied to any previous graduate degree may be transferred to the master of public health program. External credits must have been earned from an accredited institution in the last three years with a minimum grade of 3.0 (B) in each course. Students in SPH graduate certificate programs can transfer as many credits earned toward the certificate to the MPH degree as meet MPH degree requirements, to a maximum of 18 credits.
8. Graduate certificate students wishing to transfer to a degree program may apply to do so after completion of three or more courses with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 via the online change of concentration petition. A minimum grade of B is required for a specific course to be eligible for transfer.  
9. CITI Training requirement: All students are required to complete training regarding human subject protection regulation and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
10. Integrity Quiz and Plagiarism requirement: All students are required to review the George Washington University Code of Academic Integrity and take the SPH Academic Integrity Quiz at GWSPH Source. within their first semester of study.
11. Professional Enhancement requirement: Students must participate in eight hours of public health-related lectures, seminars, and symposia, related to their field of study.

Combined programs

• Dual Master of Public Health in the field of health policy and graduate certificate in health care corporate compliance
• Joint Master of Science in Health Sciences in the field of physician assistant and Master of Public Health
• Joint Master of Public Health or SPH graduate certificate and Juris Doctor or Master of Laws