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, including molecular epidemiology, disease surveillance and outbreak investigations.
- Be able to use statistical and other analytical methods appropriately to advise on the epidemiology, and the control and prevention of diseases of public health concerns.
- Advise on solutions for problems associated with the local and global transmission of infectious diseases, and the appropriate control and mitigation strategies.
- Communicate effectively, manage skillfully, and work closely with people from diverse educational, professional backgrounds and experience.
- Apply the One Health approach, theories, scientific, data analytical and modelling skills to address public health issues and/or undertake research and support data-driven decision-making.
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 Science in Public Health and Epidemiology (MSPHE) programme. MSPHE 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
Completion of 10 courses* and total 30 credits:
8 compulsory courses (24 credits)
2 elective courses (6 credits)
*Each course carries 3 credits
Compulsory Courses
- Principles of One Health and Epidemiology
- Introduction to Biostatistics in One Health
- Introduction to Health Economics
- Environment Health and Risk Assessment
- Advanced Epidemiology
- Infectious Disease Epidemiology
- Computational Biology, Experimental Design and Data Sciences
- Applied Public Health Projects
Elective Courses
- Public Health Surveillance
- Intermediate Level Statistics for One Health
- Time Series Analysis
- Spatial Data Analysis
- Statistical Data Analysis
- Statistical Modelling for Data Mining
Mode of Attendance & Study Period
Combined mode*, Self-financing
| Full-time Mode | Part-time Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Study Period | 1 year | 2 years |
| Maximum Study Period | 2.5 years | 5 years |
* 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 fulfil the following minimum English proficiency requirement:
• a score of 550 (paper-based test) or 59 (revised paper-delivered test) or 79 (Internet-based test) on 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 for 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 2023-24 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 Targeted Taught Postgraduate Programmes 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 will be invited to submit applications for the Fellowships.
Video
Contact Us
Programme Leader: Dr. Wai-Kit MING
Co-Programme Leader: Dr. 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.