Master of Public Health

Introduction

Programme Aims

• To prepare students with sound academic knowledge in One Health to identify, analyze and understand public health and health care issues, particularly those related to the control and prevention of emerging zoonotic diseases at the interface of humans, animals, and the environment and the role of ecology in infectious disease maintenance and transmission;
• To provide students with key skills to critically assess scientific literature, analyze and interpret epidemiological data to identify health determinants, infectious diseases incidents and their socio-economic impacts;
• To equip students with the necessary skills in designing and implementing public health research (e.g., study design, collection and analysis of data from different types of field studies, including molecular epidemiology), develop infectious disease predictive models and translate these findings to public health policy makers, front line workers and the public;
• To help students develop strong skills in statistical analyses for public health and animal disease data;
• To enable students to apply advanced statistical models to epidemiological data for predictions and surveillance of infectious diseases;
• To prepare students with good leadership, planning and management skills necessary to formulate evidence based effective prevention and control policies for diseases in both human and animal populations, for the betterment of public health.

Programme Intended Learning Outcomes (PILOs)

• Acquire essential concepts and knowledge of the fundamentals of disease ecology, risk factors and disease drivers at the interface between people, animals and the environment.
• Understand concepts of epidemiological investigations in real-world public health contexts, including executing molecular epidemiology studies, conducting disease surveillance, initiating outbreak investigations, and interpreting their results to guide public health policy and intervention strategies.
• Be able to apply statistical and other analytical methods in real-world scenarios to guide the epidemiology, control, and prevention of public health concerns, through designing studies, interpreting results, and developing evidence-based strategies.
• Develop and implement practical, evidence-based solutions to address both local and global transmission of infectious diseases, incorporating appropriate control and mitigation strategies in real-world public health contexts.
• Demonstrate effective communication, management skills, and collaboration in real-world public health settings, working harmoniously with individuals from diverse educational and professional backgrounds and varying levels of experience.
• Apply the One Health approach, theories, and scientific skills practically in addressing public health issues, orchestrating research, and developing evidence-based interventions in real-world contexts.

Career Prospects

After graduating from this programme students will have the skills to work in a range of disciplines and settings such as: 

• Government public health agencies (such as CDCs), research institutes, hospitals, NGOs, international  organizations (such as WHO)
• Private sector (pharmaceutical industry, consulting, health care organizations) 
• Health education and advocacy
• PhD studies in health related fields

Curriculum

Students are required to complete 30 credit units for graduation from this Master of Public Health (MPH) programme. MPH will be organised as an interdisciplinary programme among Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health (PH), Department of Biostatistics (BIOS), Department of Chemistry (CHEM), and Department of Mathematics (MA). 

Programme Structure

Core Courses (18 credit units)

• Introduction to Health Economics and Outcomes Research
• Basic Biostatistics in Public Health
• Fundamentals of Epidemiology in Public Health
• Environmental Health and Risk Assessment
• Advanced Epidemiology
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Elective Courses (12 credit units)

The Master of Public Health (MPH) programme is divided into two streams: the Research Training Stream and the Practicum Stream, each of them comprising 12 credit units. The Research Training Stream is designed for students who wish to focus on developing advanced research skills and knowledge, particularly those considering future doctoral study. On the other hand, the Practicum Stream is geared towards students who wish to gain practical experience in the field of public health, providing opportunities for experiential learning in professional settings. Students are required to select one of these streams at the beginning of their study, allowing them to tailor their MPH programme to their career goals and academic interests

1. Research Training (RT) Stream
a) Core Course for RT Stream (9 credit units)
•    Applied Public Health

b) Elective Courses for RT Stream (3 credit units)
1 elective course, a total of 3 credit units, from the list below:
•    Statistical Data Analysis
•    Statistical Modelling for Data Mining
•    Time Series Analysis
•    Spatial Data Analysis
•    Public Health Surveillance
•    Computational Biology, Experimental
•    Design and Data Science
•    Communication Skills - Conference Organisation
•    Intermediate Level Statistics for One Health

2. Practicum Stream
a) Core Course for Practicum Stream (6 credit units)
•   Practicum

b)   Elective Courses for Practicum Stream (6 credit units)
2 elective courses, a total of 6 credit units, from the list below:
•    Statistical Data Analysis
•    Statistical Modelling for Data Mining
•    Time Series Analysis
•    Spatial Data Analysis
•    Public Health Surveillance
•    Computational Biology, Experimental
•    Design and Data Science
•    Communication Skills - Conference Organisation
•    Intermediate Level Statistics for One Health

Mode of Attendance & Study Period

Combined mode*, Self-financing

* Local students taking programmes in combined mode can attend full-time (12-18 credit units per semester) or part-time (no more than 11 credit units per semester) study in different semesters without seeking approval from the University. For non-local students, they will be admitted to these programmes for either full-time or part-time studies. Non-local students must maintain the required credit load for their full-time or part-time studies and any changes will require approval from the University.

Medium of Instruction and Assessment

English

Admission

General Entrance Requirements

Applicants must satisfy the University's general entrance requirements and the following programme-specific entrance requirements:
•    Possess a recognised undergraduate degree in Biological/Medicine/Veterinary/Animal/Health/ Environmental Sciences/Statistics/Mathematics/Biostatistics/Data Science/Microbiology or a related discipline;
•    Preference for admission will be given to high calibre individuals with a scientific background and who have completed a holistic undergraduate education covering statistics, cell biology, biochemistry, physiology, pathology, ecology, infectious diseases, pharmacology, food engineering, health sciences.

English Proficiency Requirements

Applicants whose entrance qualification is obtained from an institution where the medium of instruction is NOT English should also fulfill the following minimum English proficiency requirement:
•    a score of 79 (Internet-based test) in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)@#; or
•    an overall band score of 6.5 in International English Language Testing System (IELTS)@; or
•    a score of 450 in band 6 of the Chinese mainland’s College English Test; or
•    other equivalent qualifications.
@TOEFL and IELTS scores are considered valid for two years. Applicants are required to provide their English test results obtained within the two years preceding the commencement of the University's application period.
# Applicants are required to arrange with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send their TOEFL results directly to the University. The TOEFL institution code for CityU is 3401.

Application

Interested applicants can apply for admission directly through the website of Chow Yei Ching School of Graduate Studies.

Application Period

Application for 2024-25 entry is now open. Please visit here to obtain more information about the application process.

Selection Criteria

Selection will be based on the applicants’ undergraduate qualifications and, if necessary, the interview results.

Fellowships Scheme

Fellowship awards are available for local students admitted to this programme under the Fellowships Scheme supported by the HKSAR Government. This programme in the priority area of “Health” is one of the targeted programmes listed under the Fellowships Scheme with 3 fellowship awards. Local students admitted to the programme in full-time, part-time or combined study mode may be invited to submit applications for the fellowships.

Video

Contact Us

Programme Leader: Prof. Wai-Kit MING
Co-Programme Leader: Prof. Ibrahim ELSOHABY
For application enquiries, please contact ph.tpg@cityu.edu.hk.
For visa matters, please contact Global Engagement Office (GEO) at geoins@cityu.edu.hk.