Competencies - Health Policy Track

When you graduate from YSPH, you have options! Our curriculum is closely mapped to the core and departmental competencies so that you will have a foundation in the skills you need for a successful career in public health. See our Career Management Center pages to see where our alumni live and work after completing their MPH studies.

Evidence-based Approaches to Public Health

1. Apply epidemiological methods to the breadth of settings and situations in public health practice
   
2. Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context
3. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming and software, as appropriate
4. Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy or practice

Public Health & Health Care Systems

1. Compare the organization, structure and function of health care, public health and regulatory systems across national and international settings
2. Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and societal levels

Planning & Management to Promote Health

1. Assess population needs, assets and capacities that affect communities’ health
   
2. Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design or implementation of public health policies or programs
3. Design a population-based policy, program, project or intervention
4. Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management
5. Select methods to evaluate public health programs

Policy in Public Health

1. Discuss multiple dimensions of the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence
2. Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes
3. Advocate for political, social or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations
4. Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity

Leadership

1. Apply principles of leadership, governance and management, which include creating a vision, empowering others, fostering collaboration and guiding decision making
   
2. Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges

Communication

1. Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors
   
2. Communicate audience-appropriate public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation
   
3. Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content

Interprofessional Practice

1. Perform effectively on interprofessional teams

Systems Thinking

1. Apply systems thinking tools to a public health issue

Upon receiving an M.P.H. degree with a concentration in Health Policy, the student will be able to:

• Identify the presence and drivers of key market failures affecting health and health care and propose concrete policy changes or market mechanisms to counteract resulting inefficiencies
• Critique empirical research intended to evaluate the causal impact of health policies and health system reforms
• Develop reform proposals for enhancing the delivery of health services that are politically sustainable and that recognize the relative strengths and weaknesses of market-based vs. regulatory or legal interventions
• Identify questions in public health policy and practice that may be amenable to model-based approaches
• Apply stochastic and deterministic modeling approaches, including computational methods for simulation and data analysis