MSc Public Health for Development

Structure

The below structure outlines the proposed modules for this programme. Module specifications provide full details about the aims and objectives of each module, what you will study and how the module is assessed.

Term 1

Students take the following compulsory modules, which are assessed formatively during the term and form the basis of one of the final exam papers in the summer:

• Extended Epidemiology
• Health Policy, Process & Power
• Introduction to Health Economics
• Principles of Social Research
• Statistics for Epidemiology and Population Health

Terms 2 and 3

Students take a total of five study modules, one from each timetable slot (Slot 1, Slot 2 etc.), working with personal tutors to identify a pathway through the programme which best serves their career. Students may choose to develop research skills in statistics and epidemiology; qualitative methods; health policy; or health economics. They may also choose to develop a specialist public health focus such as vector control; maternal and newborn health; sexual and reproductive health; or water, sanitation and health.

Most students take the unifying module Applying Public Health Principles in Developing Countries in Slot 5. This module builds on the learning from Terms 1 and 2 so students apply public health disciplines to review evidence, produce policy recommendations, develop strategic public health programme plans and conduct strategic reviews.

Slot 1

• Health Care Evaluation
• Health Promotion Approaches and Methods
• Malaria: From Science to Policy and Practice (formerly Epidemiology & Control of Malaria)
• Maternal & Child Nutrition
• Research Design & Analysis
• Sociological Approaches to Health
• Study Design: Writing a Study Proposal

Slot 2

• Conflict and Health
• Design & Analysis of Epidemiological Studies
• Family Planning Programmes
• Health Systems
• History & Health
• Population, Poverty and Environment
• Qualitative Methodologies
• Statistical Methods in Epidemiology

Slot 3

• Applied Communicable Disease Control
• Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections
• Current Issues in Maternal & Perinatal Health
• Economic Analysis for Health Policy
• Epidemiology of Non-Communicable Diseases
• Evaluation of Public Health Interventions
• Medical Anthropology and Public Health
• Nutrition in Emergencies
• Organisational Management
• Social Epidemiology
• Spatial Epidemiology
• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, and Health (formerly Tropical Environmental Health)

Slot 4

• Design & Evaluation of Mental Health Programmes
• Environmental Epidemiology
• Epidemiology & Control of Communicable Diseases
• Ethics, Public Health & Human Rights
• Global Disability and Health
• Globalisation & Health
• Reviewing the Literature
• Sexual Health

Slot 5

• Applying Public Health Principles in Developing Countries
• Advanced Statistical Methods in Epidemiology
• Neglected Tropical Diseases

Field Trip

The field trips, or retreats, are an integral part of the programme, where we introduce students to peer learning.

The first is a compulsory residential two-day retreat during the orientation period. Students spend one day on a rural walk and learn about one another's public health experience. On the second day they form groups based on common themes in public health, which may be based on geography, disease-specific or skill-specific such as delivery care, logistics or health promotion.

These discussions form the basis of reflections and presentations at the Student Seminar Series.

During the second retreat after the summer examinations, students reflect in a structured way on their public health learning over the year and undertake a formal evaluation of the course.

There is an additional fee for students on the programme, which covers the cost of the retreats.

Examinations

All students take two examinations in the summer, one to assess understanding of the material covered in Term 1 and the other to assess their overall understanding of Public Health for Development.

Project Report

During the summer months (July - August), students draw on all their academic skills by undertaking a project on a subject of importance to public health in a low- or middle-income country, for submission by early September. The project can take the form of a literature review, analysis of a data set, a policy report or a study protocol. The project is an independent piece of work, but students have contact with their supervisors who guide them in this work.