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MPH Foundational Knowledge

• Profession and Science of Public Health
  1. Explain public health history, philosophy, and values
  2. Identify the core functions of public health and the 10 Essential Services
  3. Explain the role of quantitative and qualitative methods and sciences in describing and assessing a population's health
  4. List major causes and trends of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. or other community relevant to the school or program, with attention to disparities among populations (e.g., socioeconomic, ethnic, gender, racial, etc.)
  5. Discuss the science of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention in population health, including health promotion, screening, etc.
  6. Explain the critical importance of evidence in advancing public health knowledge
• Factors Related to Human Health
  1. Explain effects of environmental factors on a population's health
  2. Explain biological and genetic factors that affect a population's health
  3. Explain behavioral and psychological factors that affect a population's health
  4. Explain the cultural, social, political, and economic determinants of health and how the determinants relate to population health and health inequities
  5. Explain how globalization affects global burdens of disease
  6. Explain an ecological perspective on the connections among human health, animal health, and ecosystem health (e.g., One Health)

MPH Foundational Competencies

Â鶹Éç's Master of Public Health program requires students to master 22 foundational competencies categorized into eight domains.
Council on Education for Public Health, accreditation criteria, amended March 2024.

• Evidence-Based Approaches to Public Health
  1. Apply epidemiological methods to settings and situations in public health practice
  2. Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context
  3. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming and software, as appropriate
  4. Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy, or practice
• Public Health and Healthcare Systems
  5. Compare the organization, structure, and function of healthcare, public health, and regulatory systems across national and international settings
  6. Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities, and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community, and systemic levels
• Planning and Management to Promote Health
  7. Assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities’ health
  8. Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design, implementation, or critique of public health policies or programs
  9. Design a population-based policy, program, project, or intervention
  10. Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management
  11. Select methods to evaluate public health programs
• Policy in Public Health
  12. Discuss the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence
  13. Propose strategies to identify communities and individuals and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes
  14. Advocate for political, social, or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations
  15. Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity
• Leadership
  16. Apply leadership and/or management principles to address a relevant issue
  17. Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges
• Communication
  18. Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors
  19. Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation to a nonacademic, nonpeer audience with attention to factors such as literacy and health literacy
  20. Describe the importance of cultural humility in communicating public health content
• Interprofessional Practice
  21. Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health
• Systems Thinking
  22. Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than standard narrative

Binghamton MPH Program Competencies

Binghamton MPH students acquire five additional competencies in their generalist degree.

• Program-specific competencies 
  1. Formulate a set of priorities and goals for a rural or vulnerable population.
  2. Synthesize community-based research or other forms of evidence that addresses the health concerns of a rural or vulnerable population.
  3. Develop a grant proposal to address an unmet need of a rural or vulnerable population.
  4. Apply translational science methodologies when planning a health intervention for a rural or vulnerable population.
  5. Employ organizational tools to plan or manage a quality improvement project.