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At The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Master of Public Health students are turning their passion for health into a career and commitment to making a difference. They’re building a deep understanding of the sciences and social justice behind the prevention of disease and injury. As they look into behaviours, environment and policies that keep people healthy and safe, they’re building the competencies to spark meaningful change that impact populations.
The MPH has two concentrations: a STEM-designated concentration in Epidemiology and a concentration in Health Behaviour and Promotion, which are all Council on Education for Public Health accredited. The former explores Applied Epidemiology, Advanced Biostatistics, Analytical Epidemiology, and Computer Packages for Health Research courses. The latter concentration looks into Health Behaviour Theory, Chronic Disease Prevention, Health Programme Evaluation, and Cultural Competence in Public Health. Illinois hopes to introduce a new concentration “Physical Activity & Health” to help address health issues such as ageing, chronic diseases, and obesity.
Born in Kerala, the southernmost state of India and raise in Qatar, Angela Ajeesh joined the MPH in Epidemiology last fall. So far, she’s taken intermediate and advanced Biostatistics, gaining a comprehensive understanding of statistical methodologies for epidemiological research. “I have learned STATA and a programming language, R, which have been instrumental in honing my analytical skills. As an epidemiologist, these enable me to efficiently clean large datasets, a crucial step in ensuring data integrity and reliability,” she says.
Ajeesh knows the impact of these new skills on her career is profound. “Analysing data using statistical techniques allows for robust interpretation and inference,” she say. “The practical application of these skills through projects and assignments based on real-world scenarios not only reinforces theoretical knowledge but also instils confidence in applying these skills in professional settings post-master’s.”
The MPH is run by the College of Applied Health Sciences, where world-bettering takes the form of graduate degrees that set the foundation for students to pursue careers that improve our quality of life. These degrees have prepared generations of students to discover the next wave of medical innovations, help us build stronger bodies, do more with our disability than we thought possible, and create environments where health and enjoyment can flourish.
The university plans to launch an MPH Online in Fall 2025, adding another graduate degree that’ll make a real difference in the lives of others. The programme will focus on tackling current pressing issues including climate change, health inequities, syndemic of chronic and infectious diseases, ageing population, and brain health.“Students in the proposed MPH Online will experience a premier education, led by renowned faculty and instructors in the field of Public Health,” says Sara Shrader, Director of Online Learning at the College of Applied Health Sciences. “Our online courses are designed for students who want to gain real-world knowledge and skills that will establish themselves as leaders in their field.”
Source: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Department of KCH
Illinois prides itself on being one of the global leaders in the science of physical activity and health, and with the introduction of the online MPH Online, this will make studying the field easier and more accessible to a wider pool of talent. “Our online courses are designed specifically for online students, offering a level of flexibility and convenience required by students with busy work and life commitments,” says Shrader. What sets this programme apart is how it lets students work at their own pace. There arebuilt-in deadlines and multiple opportunities for real-time engagement and interaction with both instructors and other students. Teaching is asynchronous, so students can listen to recorded lectures as and when their personal and professional commitments permit. And as the programme will be kept small, this means that you will be surrounded by a tight-knit cohort of peers and can easily connect with the supportive faculty.
Although virtual, the programme is experiential. A field-based internship and opportunities to develop professional and applied skills are included. “Bridging theory and practice, students will work on real-world case studies, simulations, and other interactive activities designed to immerse students into the curriculum,” says Shrader.At Illinois, it is the university’s mission to connect public health and technology to help solve the population`s key health challenges. Take the SHIELD Illinois project, for example, which was the university’s initiative to make innovative COVIDSHIELD saliva-based COVID-19 tests available to K-12 schools, colleges and universities, companies, and the public across the state of Illinois. The project helped prevent further COVID-19 spread, hospital admissions, and deaths.
Hallal was awarded the David P. Rall Award for Advocacy in Public Health in 2023 for another COVID-19 related project: EPICOVID-19. He developed the project which tracked the spread of COVID-19 across Brazil and uncovered racial health disparities that were regularly dismissed by then-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. His data influenced some Brazilian cities and states to develop COVID-19 public health prevention policies which prevented further spread of the virus there.
“Some people in your neighbourhood will add a security camera, and you don’t think it’s important until your house gets robbed and then you see ‘Oh, I needed that camera.’ I think that is exactly what happened with public health,” says Hallal. “It [the pandemic] was the perfect storm for our time to grow.”
By launching the new MPH Online, the university will have more capacity to impact public health policies across the world and in preparation for future health crises.
In 2022, Chancellor Robert J. Jones launched a new Institute for Health Innovation (IHI) as a proposition for Illinois and its future role as a new technology-driven academic health research and education model that makes a significant, visible, and sustained impact on human health. Previously envisioned as the Translational Research Facility, the IHI will serve as a centralised physical hub for driving missions that will reach broadly across campus. With that being on-site and the MPH Online, Illinois is taking public health education and research to the next level, and you do not want to miss the opportunity to be part of this.
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