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Medical College of Wisconsin MPH Program Competencies

MPH Program Competency Set

Foundational Competencies

Evidence-based Approaches to Public Health

  • Apply epidemiological methods to the breadth of settings and situations in public health practice
  • Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context
  • Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming and software, as appropriate
  • Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy or practice

Public Health & Health Care Systems

  • Compare the organization, structure and function of health care, public health and regulatory systems across national and international settings
  • Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and societal levels

Planning & Management to Promote Health

  • Assess population needs, assets and capacities that affect communities’ health
  • Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design, implementation, or critique of public health policies or programs
  • Design a population-based policy, program, project or intervention
  • Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management
  • Select methods to evaluate public health programs

Policy in Public Health

  • Discuss multiple dimensions of the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence
  • Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes
  • Advocate for political, social or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations
  • Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity

Leadership

  • Apply leadership and/or management principles to address a relevant issue
  • Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges

Communication

  • Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors
  • Communicate audience-appropriate (i.e. non-academic, non-peer audience) public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation
  • Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content

Interprofessional Practice

  • Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health

Systems Thinking

  • Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than standard narrative

Concentration-Specific Competencies

  • Apply basic theories and models from behavioral science disciplines that are used in public health practice
  • Demonstrate strategic planning and program planning in the contextual setting for when it is appropriate to use each process
  • Design a logic model as a component of program planning that addresses short, medium, and long term outcomes
  • Conduct outcome and impact analysis using evaluation design and data
  • Apply methods for evaluating efficiency, cost benefit, and cost effectiveness analyses