Graduate Certificate: Public Health Preparedness and Response

About the Certificate

Public health and emergency preparedness are considered central concepts in regional, national, and global public health and emergency management agencies and systems. To prevent and respond to future public health emergencies, including outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics, the number of public health professionals with training in public health preparedness and emergency response needs to increase. To prepare students for employment in this field, the College of Public Health's graduate certificate in Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHPR) provides students with training in bioethics, cultural sensitivity, emergency preparedness, health equity, outbreak response, public health surveillance and vulnerable populations. Students learn to identify and respond to public health threats with a focus on outbreaks and epidemics and leave the program with the skills required to work with public health agencies to make effective decisions in responding to emergencies and mitigating risk. Courses in the PHPR certificate program provide a risk-assessment and decision-making framework for students' graduate study and a foundation for a career in public health leadership.

Time Limit for Certificate Completion: 2 years

Campus Location: Online

Full-Time/Part-Time Status: The graduate certificate may be completed on a part-time basis.

Non-Matriculated Student Policy: The certificate program is currently not open to non-matriculated graduate students. It is structured to be completed by graduate students currently enrolled in MPH and public health-related doctoral programs or in other graduate programs at Temple. Students are permitted to take up to 9 credits of certificate coursework before applying. Those who are accepted into the certificate program may then apply the coursework completed prior to matriculation toward the certificate requirements. Matriculation is required to earn the certificate.

Admission Requirements and Deadlines

Application Deadline:
Fall and Spring admissions are on a rolling basis. Students who are currently enrolled in a graduate program in Temple University's College of Public Health or in another Temple school or college are welcome to apply to the PHPR graduate certificate program. For more information on how to apply, interested applicants should contact Natasha Benoit, Senior Academic Advisor, at nbenoit@temple.edu or 215-204-5105.

Laptop: Beginning in Fall 2020, all incoming students in the College of Public Health are required to have a laptop. Academic programs in the college are technology intensive. They incorporate statistical and database analyses; utilize specialized tools for athletic training, kinesiology and physical therapy; stream audio and video for communication sciences; facilitate online interactive counseling for social work; and foster clinical experiences and online assessments. The laptop requirement enables the College of Public Health to improve opportunities for active learning and provide greater access to specialized software and required tools in and out of the classroom, better preparing students for the workforce. Learn more about device specifications and suggested vendors. Students can use excess financial aid (i.e., funds that are reimbursed after all tuition and fees are paid) to meet student needs, including the purchase of a laptop. Scholarships may also provide funding.

Certificate Requirements

Number of Credits Required to Complete the Certificate: 12

Required Courses:

Course List
Code	Title	Credit Hours
Core Courses
EPBI 5205	Surveillance, Epidemics and Outbreaks	3
EPBI 5206	Risk Assessment and Preparedness Decision Making	3
Electives
Select two from the following:		6
BIOL 5128	Genomics and Infectious Disease Dynamics
EPBI 8206	Infectious Disease Epidemiology
EPBI 8209	Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS
GUS 5069	GIS for Health Data Analysis
HIM 5127	Privacy and Security: Protecting Healthcare Data
HPM 8015	Public Health Policy and Legal Issues
SBS 5009	Risk Communication and Public Health
SBS 8105	Health Communication
SSWG 8303	Dynamics of Health, Health Care, and Health Systems
Total Credit Hours		12