Public Health Foundations & Practice Certificate

This certificate program provides training in the fundamental core principles of public health. Coursework will emphasize fundamental concepts, methods and aspects of public health that are primarily used in a rural, practice-based setting. The program applies a practice-based perspective to introduce students to disease prevention methods and to develop skills that will provide job opportunities in various health sectors. The program is designed for working professionals or individuals with or without public health experience and can be used as a stepping stone towards the Master of Public Health degree.

Admission Requirements

This certificate program is open to students who have successfully completed a baccalaureate program with a 2.5 GPA or greater. Applicants must submit two letters of recommendation, a curriculum vitae/resume and a statement of purpose. The GRE or other standardized test score is not required.

Curriculum and Course Descriptions

The PHFP certificate requires completing 15 credit hours with a final cumulative GPA of 3.0. Courses are part of the standard core curriculum included in the Masters of Public Health degree program. Courses can be transferred into the Master of Public health program upon meeting university department requirements. All courses are offered completely online.

*individuals who do not have a former health related degree must complete this course before enrollment in other courses

MPH 6000 – Public Health Practice (3)
Foundation for public health administration. Introduces MPH degree program. Applied focus on public health problems, issues, and resources of eastern North Carolina. Describes how empirical assessment of population health status informs managerial decision-making and describes the organization of the public health infrastructure. Overview range of practice in public health and of tools and resources for health improvement.

MPH 6010 – Fundamentals of Environmental Health (3)
Effects of environment on human health with focus on rural environment. Considers water supply and wastewater disposal, water quality, solid and hazardous wastes, air quality, occupational health and safety, food protection, and vector control.

MPH 6011 – Introduction to Epidemiology (3)
Introduces methods and concepts of epidemiologic methodology and application of epidemiology in public health.

MPH 6013 – Behavioral Sciences and Health Education (3)
Introduces concepts of role of social factors in health and illness as well as health education/promotion. Overview of relationships between various social factors, with health outcomes. Includes theories and approaches of health education/promotion programs.

BIOS 7021 – Biostatistics for Health Professionals I (3)
Prerequisite: MATH 1065 or consent of instructor. Applies statistical methods to health sciences. Types, organization, and display of data; elementary probability; parametric and nonparametric techniques when dealing with one or two samples (matched and independent); one way ANOVA; and simple linear regression.

Checklist for Students in the Public Health Foundations & Practice Certificate Program

For application materials and further information, contact:

Lok R Pokhrel, MSc, MS, PhD, Program Director
Department of Public Health
Brody School of Medicine
115 Heart Drive
Mailstop 660
Greenville, NC 27834