MSPH in International Health (Health Systems)

The Health Systems MSPH Program prepares students to take on leadership and management roles in health policy and planning, health financing and management, and monitoring and evaluation of health programs. Our graduates contribute to strengthening health systems through the implementation of equitable and cost-effective interventions for improving access, quality, and efficiency of health services for underserved populations.

Students are trained in the toring and evaluation of large-scale programs, health policy analysis, comparative health systems analysis, and health financing. Students also receive a strong background in key areas such as primary health care and maternal and child health.

The practicum experience and capstone paper allow students to apply the knowledge gained through academic coursework to solving pressing health problems. For the practicum, students have the opportunity to work on faculty projects or to be placed within a number of organizations across the world, including the School’s wide array of international collaborators. Research centers based in the Department of International Health, for example, offer a variety of opportunities for students.

Student timeline

Students can complete their degrees in 1.5 years. All requirements should be completed within 2 years.

Students enrolled in the program take a common core of courses and have the opportunity to specialize, based on their interests and experience, by taking additional elective courses. The curriculum focuses on planning and managing health projects and programs at the community, district, national and global levels; the Academic Guide contains degree-specific information, competencies, learning objectives, and course requirements. A written comprehensive exam at the end of the first year of the Program tests students on core competencies.

Academic Terms 1 - 4

• Intensive coursework
• Comprehensive departmental examination at the end of the first academic year
• Practicum proposal

Academic Terms 4 – 6 (minimum)

• Practicum: field placement or School-based investigation and analysis of a significant issue related to the health of underserved populations
• Practicum update at the end of every term
• Capstone essay reviewed and approved by two faculty readers. The capstone should provide tangible evidence of expertise on a specific applied topic of international health relevance.

Practicum

In addition to completing the requisite coursework, students must gain practical experience in the application of the principles and methods learned through a practicum. Ideally, students will complete their practicums abroad. The Department has many field sites across the world where students are often placed. Faculty and staff also help students find opportunities with other global health organizations.

Typical practicum experiences include working in health programs directly serving disadvantaged populations in low- and middle-income countries. Examples of places where our students have completed their practicum include UNICEF, UNAIDS, USAID, WHO, PAHO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, and through various Johns Hopkins-affiliated institutes.

Upon graduation, our MSPH graduates take on strategic and management roles in health services organizations in a variety of national and international settings. Alumni enjoy careers in academia, government and non-government sectors, and industry. Graduates become public health practitioners who provide technical assistance to public health researchers and public health managers in the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs to address public health problems facing underserved populations in the US and abroad.

Where our recent alumni work:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Clinton Health Access Initiative
• Catholic Relief Services
• ORISE Research Fellow
• Innovations for Poverty Action
• Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry at the Cambridge Health Alliance

Learning Outcomes

1. Interpret knowledge of public health problems pertinent to disadvantaged populations and approaches to their assessment, management, and control;
2. Apply concepts and principles of management and finance to the operation of health systems in resource-poor settings;
3. Analyze and synthesize data relevant to the management and control of health problems of public health importance in resource-poor settings;
4. Produce written and oral reports for public health professionals and policy makers.