Environmental Health, M.P.H.

COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH

About the Program

Admission Requirements and Deadlines

Application Deadline:

Fall: March 1
Spring: November 1

All applicants to the M.P.H. program must apply via the Centralized Application Service for Public Health (SOPHAS). The system can be accessed at https://portal.sophas.org/. A supplemental application is also required to be submitted directly to Temple University at http://www.temple.edu/apply/common/appcheck.asp. Late applications may be considered for admission.

Applicants should check their application status on the SOPHAS portal often and inquire directly of SOPHAS about receipt of materials. For other questions, please contact Theresa White, Senior Graduate Advisor, at theresawhite@temple.edu or 215-204-5105.

Letters of Reference:
Number Required: 3

From Whom: Letters of recommendation, which are completed electronically through the SOPHAS system, should be obtained from college/university faculty members familiar with academic competence. If the applicant has been out of school for a long time, please ensure that letters are from professional colleagues and that they address academic abilities, such as writing and research.

Coursework Required for Admission Consideration: Applicants' files are reviewed for undergraduate coursework in mathematics and/or statistics, social science, and writing.

Bachelor's Degree in Discipline/Related Discipline: A baccalaureate degree is required.

Statement of Goals: In 500 to 1,000 words, address the following items:

• What are your interests in Public Health, and why are you planning to pursue an M.P.H. in Environmental Health?
• What are your future career goals, and what have you done either academically or professionally to guide your interest in Public Health?
• Are there any exceptional circumstances related to previous academic performance that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider?

Standardized Test Scores:
GRE: Required. While the program takes a portfolio approach to admissions, standardized tests provide important insight into quantitative and verbal abilities. Minimum scores are 500 (old test) on both the verbal and quantitative sections or, on the new test, 153 on the verbal section and 144 on the quantitative section.

Standardized tests considered in lieu of the GRE include DAT, GMAT, MCAT, OAT, and PCAT. The LSAT, which is also considered for some M.P.H. specialties, is not accepted when applying for Applied Biostatistics or Epidemiology.

TOEFL: 79 iBT or 550 PBT minimum.

Clearances: The M.P.H. programs require students to complete clinical/field education experiences at facilities both on and off Temple University’s campuses. These placements may require criminal background checks, Act 33/34 clearances, and perhaps a drug screen. Placements may also require the student to maintain personal health insurance. The results of these requirements may limit and potentially eliminate placement options for the student, thus resulting in her/his inability to meet graduation requirements.

Resume: Current resume or CV required.

Transfer Credit: Graduate credits from an M.P.H. program accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) may be transferred into the M.P.H. The credits must be equivalent to coursework offered at Temple, and the grade must be a "B" or better in order to transfer. The M.P.H. advisor approves the transfer of credits based on a review of course materials provided by the student. The maximum number of credits a student may transfer is 9.

Test Waivers: Graduates with a terminal degree from a U.S. medical school, foreign-trained physicians who have obtained licensure to practice in the United States, and those with Ph.D.’s may have the GRE requirement waived.

Program Requirements

General Program Requirements:
Number of Credits Required Beyond the Baccalaureate: 45

Required Courses:

Internship: An internship is required as part of a student's M.P.H. fieldwork.

Culminating Events:
Fieldwork Practicum:
M.P.H. fieldwork requires a student to synthesize and integrate the knowledge acquired in coursework and other learning experiences and to apply theory and principles in a situation that approximates some aspect of professional practice through an internship or practicum experience with a public health agency or under the supervision of a faculty preceptor. The M.P.H. fieldwork experience serves as the culminating event as required by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), the accrediting body of all U.S. schools of public health, for completion of the Master of Public Health degree. In addition, this culminating experience provides the student with the opportunity to develop expertise in a topic area and to contribute original and independent observations to a body of knowledge.

For the culminating experience to fulfill the requirements of ENVH 9289 and ENVH 9389, M.P.H. in Environmental Health students are expected to complete a fieldwork experience, which enables them to:

• Describe environmental health hazards and their potential effects on human health; discuss methods for evaluating risks associated with such hazards; and discuss strategies for preventing or controlling hazards that pose risks to human health.
• Identify chemical, biological, and physical agents by media, their principal sources, and general approaches for their quantification.
• Specify pathways of exposure, including environmental transport and fate and routes of transfer from the source, through all environmental media, to humans.
• Explain the general mechanisms of toxicity and the roles that dose-response and time-response play in eliciting a toxic effect.
• Describe extrinsic (socioeconomic and behavioral) and intrinsic (genetic and physiologic) factors that affect environmental exposure-response relationships.
• Discuss issues of environmental justice, equity, and health disparities.
• Describe the local, regional, and global impact of environmental hazards (direct and indirect) on human and ecological health.
• Identify the major causes of injury and illness in the workplace and approaches to reducing occupational health risks.
• Describe the components of a risk assessment, including the types of evidence that are used and the sources of uncertainty and variability.
• Discuss risk management and risk communication approaches for preventing and/or reducing environmental health risks, including regulatory, engineering, and behavioral interventions.
• Develop a research question that pertains to an environmental hazard and its potential effects.

A final paper is the required deliverable for the M.P.H. fieldwork requirement. Students must also demonstrate their proficiency and the application of theory and principles in the paper and demonstrate mastery of the required competencies during the oral defense. The evaluation of the M.P.H. fieldwork practicum experience, therefore, is integrated into the culminating experience requirement.

Contacts

Department Contacts: