A Masters in Public Health degree qualifies you for roles involving analytics, policy and communications. You can do a public health masters online with a leading Australian university.
A well recognised qualification in public health is a Masters in Public Health or MPH degree. With this masters, you position yourself for almost any public health role: from administrative support through to leading a health agency or government department. Online MPH courses allow you to study as a working professional.
Master of Public Health Online
Studying for a public health masters online is extremely doable. Online masters programs are actually built for working professionals these days. You do one subject at a time, each requiring 6-7 weeks of part-time study. An accelerated Masters in Public Health takes just under 2 years of work-compatible online study.
UTS Online Master of Public Health
The UTS Online Master of Public Health is designed for professionals who are passionate about creating positive change for population and community health. With this program, you can advance your skills to gain a more global perspective on public health. Through the course, you'll develop specialist knowledge and skills that span health data, education and promotion, and graduate ready to lead public health programs at a local, national and global level. You have the choice to follow a general pathway or a specialisation pathway with a major in data analytics or sub-major in leadership, allowing you to tailor your studies to your career goals. Delivered part-time and 100% online, this course enables you to continue working full-time while gaining the skills to add value to your career.
What You'll Study (Course Structure)
A public health master's degree is typically 12 subjects. The course structure will include core subjects and electives, which may be available from other programs such as health services management or data analytics.
To give you an idea of what you will study, here are several subject examples from the UTS Online program.
In this subject, we demonstrate using case studies the essential strategies for controlling communicable disease, such as outbreak investigation, surveillance, control measures and prevention. Students also examine interactions between microorganisms, animals and humans, with a focus on transmission dynamics, susceptibility and primary disease prevention. Public health responses and challenges are examined using historical and recent examples, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this unit, students acquire core knowledge of epidemiology and population health, with an emphasis on the requirements of public health practitioners such as project officers, clinicians, health service managers and health planners. You learn to apply analytical epidemiology strategies to the health service and public health environments. As well, students explore how to interpret and assess the quality of evidence from health service studies. The courses emphasises linkages between epidemiological theory of population health and its use in decision making in public health and health-services settings.
You need to know social science concepts and views to understand health issues and how individuals and society should respond to them. This course explores theories on the human experiences of illness and the social structures underpinning health and disease. Students also consider the impact of social processes on health outcomes, including mechanisms behind social inequality, knowledge and power, professional relationships, and consumption and risk. You will examine how social determinants of health inform challenges associated with technological, social and economic change.
In this course, you learn biostatistics concepts, become familiar with statistical reasoning, and gain the ability to evaluate healthcare practice and research. Students are introduced to the statistical concepts of data management, confidence intervals, descriptive statistics, data presentation, sample size and power, and bivariate statistical analysis. You become capable of choosing the right statistical analysis tests for the research question and contributing to study design and calculations.
In this course, students explore health systems in different societies and how organisations and institutions influence global health policy. Case studies of countries with different income levels are used to illustrate the challenges posed to health systems. Students consider how public health research and practice can be used to strengthen health systems and improve public health outcomes.
Learning Outcomes
From a Master's in Public Health, you'll gain strong familiarity with topics and disciplines such as biostatistics, epidemiology, health inequality and health promotion. You may also develop skills in other areas such as health management, leadership and statistical analysis.
Learning outcomes from any good public health degree should include the following.
- Understands epidemiological principles underpinning disease prevention and control
- Knows multiple methods for data collection and statistical analysis
- Can recommend approaches to collecting and using population health data
- Has strategies to evaluate health promotion campaign effectiveness
- Applies leadership principles and practices in health or public administration.
Career Opportunities
With a master's in public health, career opportunities may be found across health and public service sectors. Public health officials are involved in population health research, epidemiological research, health policy formulation, program creation and administration, and health promotion.
Here's a random selection of the kinds of jobs you may be well-positioned for after graduating.
Snippets from jobs ads. Positions may be closed.
Health Promotion Officer – South West Healthcare
The Health Promotion Officer is responsible for implementing and assessing health promotion activity in the South West Healthcare Health Promotion Plan. A key focus is to address food insecurity in the community. Successful candidates will have relevant tertiary qualifications in health promotion, public health or related disciplines.
Public Health Officers – Queensland Government
The Department of Health is seeking expressions of interest to register for a Public Health COVID-19 response talent pool. Be notified of temporary opportunities as they become available during our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Expressions of interest are being sought from qualified Public Health Officers. Required: A tertiary (degree) qualification in Public Health.
Public Health Nurse – Queensland Government
The Public Health Nurse will be responsible for managing, implementing and evaluating strategic initiatives for communicable disease prevention and control. Applying high levels of nursing knowledge and skills, you will do systematic analysis and identify innovative evidence-based interventions for the prevention and control of communicable disease.
Public Health Officer – Sydney Local Health District
Sydney Local Health District is seeking a Public Health Officer to join our team at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. You should have a health-related degree and/or demonstrated experience in public health. Responsibilities include managing contact tracers who've had close contact with a person affected by COVID-19. You will risk assess and allocate cases/contacts for interview, mentor interviewers, and support persons affected by COVID-19. You'll also support public health programs.
Public Health Executive Manager – Anyinginyi Health
We are a multi-disciplinary organisation providing primary health care services to the Aboriginal people of Tennant Creek and surrounding Barkly region. You will oversee delivery of a holistic model of care for clients. To implement public health and health promotion strategies, you will monitor ill health and social determents of health. Candidates with a Masters in Public Health will have a distinct advantage.
Program and Policy Officer – Dept of Health
The Life Saving Drugs Program and Stoma Appliance Scheme Program (LSDP & Stoma) Section runs a program that gives patients with rare and life-threatening diseases access to essential medicines. Your key responsibilities: Lead a team to develop, drive and deliver policy advice leading to program improvements. Tertiary qualifications in a relevant field will be viewed favourably, especially a degree(s) in science, public health or public policy.
Director Public Health & Community Medicine – Qld Govt
The role is to provide strategic leadership, management and delivery of public health services and programs. You'll give strategic direction to anticipate, respond to and manage existing and new public health and other public medicine issues across Darling Downs Health.
Entry Requirements
The entry requirements for a Masters in Public Health are essentially that you have a bachelor degree. Public health is a broad field that's open to professionals from different disciplines.
Without a degree, you may still be eligible to enrol if you have extensive experience in a healthcare or human services field.
