Mastering public health

By: Steven Chen

As the rustling shuffles of students reawaken the campus this fall, McMaster aims to bring new flavour with the launch of the Master of Public Health graduate program.

Led by McMaster University’s Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, the MPH program applies the department’s rich expertise in health policy analysis and research within the practical field of public health.

McMaster’s interest in public health came shortly after the SARS outbreak of 2003. Professor Holger Schünemann, chair of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, lead the development of the MPH program over several years along with Professor Julie Emili, program director of the Public Health and Preventive Medicine Program at McMaster. The program is directed by Dr. Fran Scott, an alumni of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

The Master of Public Health program concentrates on advancing the education of students by offering a flexible, practical, meaningful and evidence-based approach to addressing public health challenges in local communities and beyond.

“The MPH program is very much going to be integrating community engagement in its courses,” said Scott. “There is also the practicum, which is a four-month placement at a public health or community agency. The students will bring their own expertise but they will also learn from the agency about how to work with the community.”

Additionally, the program sets out to encourage students to contribute to the community. “We are encouraging students within the program to take on leadership roles,” she said. “By providing them these practical opportunities to take on challenges, they will refine their skills in cultural competency, communication, advocacy, analysis and articulation of evidence.”

Applicants for the MPH program’s inaugural class had to meet a broad range of criteria, such as previous work experience and having career goals aligned with the program’s objectives.

“We are definitely looking for people that are self-directed…Teamwork skills are necessary because a considerable amount of the program revolves around peer learning,” said Scott.

Considering McMaster’s long-standing global reputation for innovative learning, the Master of Public Health program aims to distinguish itself from other Canadian programs by featuring a unique approach to the area of public and population health.

“We are starting locally and extending the material to the provincial, federal and global levels,” said Scott. “In this way, we offer an education that complements the Master of Science in Global Health, although much of what we teach are similar skills.”

The MPH program also offers the option of doing a thesis project along with the practicum. “Not many [master’s programs] do across Canada, most of them are practicum-based, but because we have a lot of research here at McMaster, we really wanted to create the next generation of research initiatives and collaborations,” Scott added.

With the first classes of the MPH program starting this week, Dr. Fran Scott has made it a priority to deliver a quality education for all her students.

“We wanted to start with 25 full-time students, since it helps to ensure a quality experience,” said Scott. “We do not wish to have agencies take on several students, we want them to take on just one student and make it a really good experience.”

“Public health in Ontario is continuously changing… and I expect for it to change in terms of its organization, the problems it will focus on and the resources it will have,” said Scott.

“We want very much for the students to be aware of this and we are hoping to teach them that kind of flexibility so that they will be able to respond to these changes when they graduate.”