About the Masters in Public Health
Public health is an essential function of modern society. It is, in the words of the Institute of Medicine, “What we as a society do collectively to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy.”
Public health professionals must deal with myriad issues:
- Prevention and control of disease,
- Access to quality healthcare,
- Environmental protection,
- The health needs of special populations,
- Data analysis and evaluation,
- Policy planning and administration, and
- Health promotion.
While some positions require specialist training, most demand a strong interdisciplinary foundation for practice.
The UIS Department of Public Health prepares students to become productive members of the public health community to help accomplish the Healthy People vision of healthy people in healthy communities at the local, state, national, and international levels.
- Prepare students with analytical skills, cultural competence, scientific knowledge and understanding of social justice necessary for practicing the core functions of public health: assessment, policy development, and assurance.
- Build public health capacity through instruction and service to the university and community and profession.
- Work within the teacher-scholar model focusing on translating research into evidence-based public health practice.
- Work toward social justice to improve health equity and eliminate disparities through a diverse public health workforce represented by faculty and student diversity.