Public Health

Program Description

Public health is defined as the practice of helping members of society live healthier, longer lives. Public health is both an art and a science, and is practiced by multidisciplinary teams of professionals whose training spans a wide array of medical, social, and physical sciences. Public health focuses on the general health of communities through efforts to monitor the spread of diseases, initiatives, (both clinical and policy- oriented) to prevent disease and disability, and by promoting healthy lifestyles through education and community engagement.

The program focuses on rural health, health promotion and prevention, disease state management, and related activities of interest to North Dakota public health care practitioners and policy makers. Specializations include American Indian public health, community health sciences, food safety, and management of infectious diseases. The MPH degree consists of 42 credits and can be completed in two years as a full time graduate student.

The intention of the accelerated Dietetics BS/MPH Program is to promote health and well-being in diverse populations through promoting healthy food system approaches. Public health nutrition professionals look at nutrition practice from the realm of creating and sustaining environments that promote access to healthy foods for all people.

The field of Public Health Nutrition enjoys a long history of connecting dietitians with public health theory and practice. Jobs in this field include: public health nutrition program administrator, health care delivery specialist for chronic disease management and prevention, community health coach, and maternal and child health program specialist. After graduating with a MPH, the public health nutritionist RD will quickly become a leader in the nutrition field across the health care and public health workforce.

Dietetics students are able to complete a BS/MPH dual degree in as little as one extra year of study. Students who are in good academic standing are eligible to apply to the program during the fall semester of their third year in undergrad/first year in the Dietetics program.

A admission decisions are based upon full review of all information in the application in order to ensure fairness and to balance the limitations of any single element of the application. Strong preference for admission will be given to applicants with at least one year of practical experience in their field, including practical field experience gained within an academic program.

Minimum Program Admission Requirements

In addition to the Graduate School admission requirements, applicants must have adequate preparation in a field related to public health and show potential to undertake advanced study, research and practical training as evidenced by previous academic accomplishment and experience.

The Admissions Committee will invite selected applicants for an interview on the basis of the Committee's review of all submitted application materials.

Final decisions will be made after all interviews are completed. Satisfactory completion of a background check is required prior to admission.

Policy on Transfer of Credit

A limited amount of graduate work completed at a regionally accredited North American institution prior to, or after matriculation in the program, may be applied toward the MPH. Graduate work is considered for transfer only on an individual basis and only after the student has completed satisfactory work in the program. Transfer credits approved by the student’s adviser, course instructor, Program Director, and the Dean of the Graduate School will be included in the Program of Study for the MPH degree and recorded on the transcript.

The basic purpose of the transfer policy is to ensure that transferred work is of comparable content, level, timeliness, and quality to that of NDSU's and included on a master’s degree program of study. The following policies are generally applicable to the acceptance of the graduate work for transfer:

• The work must have been undertaken at an accredited North American institution.
• The student must have been enrolled at that institution as a graduate student
• The work must have received graduate credit at the institution where it was earned.
• The student must have earned a grade of B or better.
• The work must be less than seven years old at the time the MPH degree is awarded.

The maximum amount of transfer credit that will be accepted toward the MPH degree is nine (9) semester credit hours.

Community Health Sciences OPTION

Integrative Learning Experience/Master’s Paper

PH 789, master’s paper is a requirement for graduation for students in the Master of Public Health (MPH) Program. This is an opportunity to work on public health projects under the direction of faculty and community public health practitioners or researchers. The goal is to synthesize, integrate and apply the skills and competencies acquired in the PH Program to a public health problem. Completion of the PH master’s paper requires both written and oral components.

Practicum/Internship

Concepts and competencies learned from PH coursework are integrated through a minimum of 240 hours practicum that provides an opportunity to apply knowledge in a practice setting. A wide range of settings and opportunities are available and are individually tailored to assure competence in general PH and specialization-specific skills. The practicum is designed to meet student goals, specialization criteria, and the needs of the agencies or institutions involved. The practicum is selected by the student in consultation with faculty and approved by the adviser. This experience is usually completed in the student's final term in the program and often results in the capstone project written report and presentation. However, students may register for 1 to 3 credits, repeated up to 3 times if appropriate.

All work must be approved in advance by the PH program. Students cannot receive credit for past work experience.

For more information about PH specializations, please visit the PH website http://www.ndsu.edu/publichealth/specializations/.

American Indian Public Health

Donna Grandbois, RN, Ph.D.
Andrea Huseth, Ph.D.
Siobhan Wescott, M.D., M.P.H

Food Safety

Teresa Bergholz, Ph.D.
Rick Jansen, Ph.D.

Mary Larson, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., C.D.E.

Community Health Sciences

Molly Secor-Turner, Ph.D.
Mark Strand, Ph.D., CPH
Abby Gold, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D.
Mary Larson, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., C.D.E.

Management of Infectious Diseases

Paul Carson, M.D.
Abby Gold, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D.
Rick Jansen, Ph.D.