PhD-MPH Program Guidelines for Current and Prospective Doctoral Students at the University of Pennsylvania
Admissions Information
Prospective students who are matriculating into any School in the University have the option of applying to the MPH Program for Joint Degree status. Students apply separately to each program and each program makes an independent admission’s evaluation. One of the admissions requirements for the MPH program is two years or more of post baccalaureate experience in a health-related field or concurrent enrollment in another graduate program at Penn. If a joint-degree applicant lacks sufficient relevant experience, admission to MPH will be partially contingent on acceptance into the other graduate program. Joint-degree applicants are advised to apply to the MPH program as early in the Spring as possible, and to indicate on each application that they have applied, or have been admitted, to another program. Please note: students may have exploratory conversations with faculty/advisors/staff of each program before they apply; however, any curriculum planning prior to admission is considered tentative and will be re-evaluated after admission.
Before or upon admission to the MPH program, the student will obtain approval from their home school (primary program) chair/director to pursue a joint-degree program with the MPH. The program chair/director will sign the Joint Degree Approval Form to indicate his/her approval. This form will be kept in the students’ file in the MPH program office.
Curriculum
The student will develop a proposed plan of study indicating fulfillment of both degree program’s requirements. This proposal will be submitted to the MPH Program Co-director for Curriculum Committee approval and the Program Chair/Director or the student’s advisor in the home school (primary program). Both parties will review the proposal, make necessary revisions, and agree upon and approve a final plan of study. The MPH financial office will also review the plan of study and discuss tuition-related issues with the student and, if applicable, with the financial office of the student’s primary program of study. The financial office(s) will make the student aware of the financial implications of pursuing the joint-degree and the student’s responsibilities. The agreed-upon plan of study will be filed in the MPH office and can be updated whenever plans change.
In order for a student to receive an MPH degree in a joint-degree program, the student must complete 14 cu’s towards the MPH degree broken down into 10 cu’s required + 4 cu’s electives.
- The 14 CUs required for the MPH program must include at least 10 CUs taken under the PUBH prefix (the MPH core). To facilitate completion of the MPH as a joint degree option, the MPH will allow PhD applicants to apply for a waiver for up to two equivalent courses in the 10 CU core. The student must submit a written request to the program director with a course syllabus. The waiver does not apply to the capstone requirement.
- The curriculum plan for each PhD/MPH applicant must be reviewed and approved by the MPH curriculum committee.
- Required Courses: Equivalent courses can be accepted to meet MPH core requirements if the student has already taken an equivalent course or is required to take an equivalent course (e.g. NURS 500, NURS 570, EPID 520) as part of their primary program of study. This relates to the equivalent courses taken at Penn and does not apply to the capstone requirement.
- Up to four (4) courses from the primary program of study can be accepted as electives for the MPH. Students who substitute equivalent courses for core requirements would have fewer than 6 CUs available to use in meeting the MPH elective requirements. The number of acceptable electives will depend on the number of CU’s exchanged for MPH core courses and on the relevance of the courses to the student’s program of study in public health.
- Students may overlap the capstone integrative experience with their dissertation/thesis/practicum/fieldwork, but they must satisfy all requirements of the capstone, including registration in and attendance at PUBH 508 seminars, a minimum of 108 hours of field experience, a written report, and an oral presentation.
- Students must satisfy the degree requirements of both the primary program of study and the MPH program of study.