Health Equity

Overview

The MPH program in Health Equity from University of Maryland is designed to train students as public health scientists and practitioners that focus practice and/or research activities on the recognition, description and elimination of health disparities. Health disparities exist across several groups such as race/ethnic groups, geographic residence, gender, sexual orientation, age, and disability status. Public health and health care practitioners and researchers play a critical role in the identification and amelioration of health disparities and in working towards achieving health equity.

Key facts

The MPH program in Health Equity is a unique and interdisciplinary program with students taking courses across all departments at UMD-SPH and across the UMD campus. The expertise gained through the MPH in Health Equity prepares students for careers that involve integrating health equity into public health practice at various levels. Various agencies in the state (e.g., county and state health departments) and across the nation (e.g., NIH and CDC), including colleges/universities, health-related agencies, community groups, and even large corporations (hospitals and insurance plans), employ public health professionals with a deep understanding of health disparities in order to design, implement, evaluate, and monitor interventions and policies to improve the health of their constituents by working towards health equity.

To accommodate a variety of career pursuits, students have flexibility in designing their course structure. Once a foundational knowledge is acquired through the MPH program's core requirements, students are encouraged to take electives across a range of disciplines. A large number of elective courses are available within the existing graduate curriculum across all departments in the School of Public Health as well as across other UMD colleges and DC area institutions. Students will be advised to work with SPH faculty for recommendations about how certain elective courses will best support particular career aspirations.

The curriculum is adaptable to both a full and part-time student status.