MPH-PA Dual Public Health Degree

As the US healthcare system continues to evolve, the job market is being forced to create new and expanding roles for healthcare professionals. The Masters of Public Health-Physician Assistant (MPH-PA) dual degree is meant to develop health care professionals with both the depth of medical knowledge and the range of leadership and policy skills needed to meet future challenges in healthcare.

Masters of Public Health-Physician Assistant dual degree program exposes students to the core competencies that are required to shape local and global health systems, along with individualized and group care. MPH-PA programs will provide advanced training in both didactic and clinical settings. The MPH portion of the program tends to focus on the design of health studies, epidemiological methods, health policy, implementation of health interventions, community medicine, and techniques of health promotion. While the PA portion focuses on introducing the concepts of basic and clinical sciences, principles of human behavior, research methodology, how to master diagnostic assessments and how to manage a wide range of medical conditions. Students will also develop analytical thinking skills to integrate prevention concepts into community-oriented primary care organizations, and learn how culture, personal beliefs, and socioeconomic factors influence health and healthcare.

Graduates who receive this dual degree should be equipped to assess the health needs of a community, develop and implement health promotion and disease prevention programs at local, national, or international levels, aid in clinical or community-based research, and manage patients in clinics, hospitals, and schools.

Common roles of those who receive their MPH-PA dual degree include:

• Healthcare Administrator
• Quality Improvement Specialist
• Research Assistant
• Health Program Manager
• Public Health Practitioner