Public Health

The Master’s in Public Health programme is multi-disciplinary and trans-professional in both its content and the students it generally attracts. The MPH has been run successfully in Cardiff since 1989 and has a national and international reputation.

Delivered by leading experts in the broad field of public health, our Master of Public Health (MPH) programme provides a high quality, evidence based, multi-disciplinary learning experience.

A well-established and internationally renowned programme, the MPH develops public health professionals to become leaders in the protection and promotion of population and planetary health and wellbeing.

Applicants are encouraged to apply from a range of backgrounds, from medical and health professionals to analysts, computer and data scientists, engineers, architects, planners, environmental health officers, journalists, lawyers, economists, innovators, entrepreneurs and business professionals. This represents the interdisciplinary nature of public health research and practice, in line with the World Health Organisation Health In All Policies approach.

This is a full-time, face to face programme, delivered in 1 academic year. It consists of 6 core modules that will help you explore the fundamentals of epidemiology, critically apply statistical methods in public health and apply epidemiological principles in a public health context.

It will also provide you with the expertise to promote and lead change through engaging with health policy, leadership and management research and theory. It will support you in making strategic decisions about health protection and improvement and will allow you to apply your learning on the programme by the critical evaluation of relevant case study scenarios in this field.

To gain the Master’s qualification, you will be undertake a final dissertation project, agreed with your supervisor, on a suitable public health topic. Dissertation projects can be undertaken on a range of topics, from research, service evaluation, innovation or entrepreneurship across health protection, health improvement, or healthcare public health. You will be fully supported by a dissertation supervisor and the programme faculty.

The course aims to provide you with the knowledge to:

• Quantitatively and qualitatively assess the population’s health and health needs, including the determinants and status of health and well-being and development of effective action
• Critically evaluate the evidence relating to the effectiveness of health and healthcare interventions, programmes and services
• Reflect on theory and evidence, synthesising findings to promote the health of populations by influencing lifestyle and socio-economic, physical and cultural environment through methods of health promotion, including health education
• Synthesise contemporaneous evidence bases and key guidelines to protect the public’s health from communicable and environmental hazards
• Collect, generate, synthesise, appraise, analyse, interpret and communicate intelligence that measures the health status, risks, needs and health outcomes of defined populations
• Strategically develop, manage, and lead innovative and inter-sectoral solutions to tackle contemporary problems, such as global climate change, environmental pollution, antimicrobial resistance, obesity and non-communicable diseases.

Distinctive features

• The MPH is a required course for public health trainees in Wales preparing for the examination for membership of the Faculty of Public Health.
• Course content fits closely with the syllabus of the UK Faculty of Public Health Membership examination. A long-running programme with a national and international reputation, the curriculum takes account of the changing nature of public health practice globally.
• Our public health case study workshops give you an opportunity to reflect on your learning to tackle a range of scenarios. We focus on contemporary issues that can be as far-ranging as planetary health, antimicrobial resistance, mental health, lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases, to Big Data, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain and digital health.
• Uniquely, Cardiff University’s position in the heart of the Welsh capital provides students with access to a full range of public bodies including the Welsh Assembly Government, NHS Trusts and Public Health Wales.
• Our collaboration with Public Health Wales offers opportunities to join the Health Intelligence Team and participate in real-world public health investigations and applied research.