Location:

Ashville, United States

Program Type:

Full Degree

Degree Level:

Master

Specialty:

Public Health, Public Health

Program Overview

Program Description:

LR’s Master of Public Health (MPH) furnishes students the opportunity to prepare for entry or advancement into a myriad of Public Health professions. The program is offered on both the university’s Hickory and Asheville campuses. Various classes in the degree is offered through a combination of delivery modes: face-to-face instruction on one of the two campuses, online instruction through synchronous streaming classrooms; or in a fully online format.

Public health is an exciting and growing field of study where individuals work to protect and improve the health of communities/ populations through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and sustained environmental changes through assessing and monitoring health, developing policy, and assuring society has access to appropriate and cost-effective care. Public health professionals analyze the effects on health of genetics, personal choice and the environment in order to develop programs designed to enhance individual and community health at the local, national, and//or international levels. The profession is necessarily interdisciplinary by nature: public health professionals are found in education, journalism and mass communication, research, business, environmental science, nursing, social work, laboratory science, law, and many other areas.

LR’s Public Health program provides a well-rounded professional education that offers instruction through open-minded inquiry and assessment, research opportunities with real community benefit, and service learning in diverse settings that enrich the development of public health professionals. Through seminar settings and other educational experiences focused on close mentoring and collaborative learning models, students develop the necessary competencies to become successful professionals. Special focus is given to health assessment with local, regional, and global comparisons; health policy and programs for improving health status; and change leadership for better health and wellness.

 

CURRICULAR OPTIONS

LR’s Master of Public Health degree requires 42 credit hours for graduation. As such, it aligns with the accreditation standards set forth by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). CEPH requires programs in public health include the following core areas of public health knowledge and the LR program matches these standards: Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Environmental Health Science, Health Services Administration, Social and Behavioral Science. Students integrate classroom and applied learning experiences in courses related to biostatistics, epidemiology, health program planning, health administration, policy implementation and evaluation, environmental health, health communication and informatics, diversity, and research methodologies, among others. All students complete an extensive field experience.

Students who successfully complete their Dietetic Internship through Lenoir-Rhyne (which focuses on child obesity prevention) may apply nine credits toward their Master of Public Health degree.

Completion of the internship allows students to sit for the Registered Dietitian (RD) certification exam administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). Combining this opportunity with the MPH degree furnishes graduates with exceptional professional preparation. 

Additional Program Information

Accreditation:

Lenoir-Rhyne University is accredited through SACS. Our MPH is program is currently seeking accreditation through CEPH.

Financial Aid:

No