Public Health Modeling Concentration

The uniqueness of Yale’s Public Health Modeling Concentration is that it is available to all Master of Public Health students. Because we believe that modeling offers a useful lens through which to understand and improve the public health, we encourage our students to broaden their public health education in various departments with the perspectives and experiences the Public Health Modeling Concentration offers. Students who complete this concentration will be well prepared to take positions in a variety of organizations—public and private, local, national, and international—dedicated to understanding and shaping the complex forces that drive population health. MPH students in our traditional two–year program may complete this concentration while they satisfy the requirements of their respective departments or programs.

For Students who Expect to Graduate in 2025

Students enrolled in the YSPH Public Health Modeling Concentration must fulfill the requirements of their respective departments or programs. In addition, the Public Health Modeling Concentration requires the student to complete:

Public Health Modeling Concentration Course Requirements (4 course units)

Students must complete at least two of the following foundational courses:

COURSE	TITLE	UNITS	TERM OFFERED	NOTES
EMD 553	Transmission Dynamic Models for Understanding Infectious Diseases	1	Spring	Not offered in 2025
EMD 538	Quantitative Methods for Infectious Disease Epidemiology	1	Fall
EMD 539	Introduction to the Analysis and Interpretation of Public Health Surveillance Data	1	Spring
HPM 570	Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and Decision Making	1	Fall
HPM 573	Advanced Topics in Modeling Health Care Decisions	1	Spring	Not offered in 2025
BIS 567	Bayesian Statistics	1	Fall
S&DS 238/538	Probability and Statistics	1	Fall

Students must complete the following two course requirements:

COURSE	TITLE	UNITS	TERM OFFERED
EPH 521	Applied Practice Experience (a substantive modeling component is required)	0	Summer
EPH 580 and 581	Seminar for Modeling in Public Health (two semesters)	0	Fall/Spring

Students must complete two additional elective courses chosen from the list of pre-approved elective courses.

Pre-Approved Elective Courses

Disease & Ecology Modeling

EMD 538 Quantitative Methods in Infectious Disease Epidemiology*
EMD 553 Transmission Dynamic Models for Understanding Infectious Diseases*
EMD 531 Genomic Epidemiology
ENV 740 Dynamics: Ecological Systems
CDE 619 Advanced Epidemiologic Research Methods
CDE 597a Genetic Concepts in Public Health
E&EB 678 Mathematical Models & Quantitative Methods in Evolution & Ecology

Statistics

BIS 567 Bayesian Statistics*
S&DS 238/538a Probability and Statistics*
S&DS 563 Multivariate Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences
ENV 781 / S&DS 674 Applied Spatial Statistics
ENV 758 Multivariate Data Analysis in the Environmental Sciences
S&DS 251/551 Stochastic Processes (Wu)
S&DS 565 Applied Data Mining and Machine Learning
BIS 557 Computational Statistics
BIS 568 Applied Machine Learning in Healthcare
EHS 566a / CDE 566a, Causal Inference Methods in Public Health Research

Policy Modeling/Management

HPM 570 Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and Decision Making*
HPM 573 Advanced Topics in Modeling Health Care Decisions*
HPM 575, Evaluation of Global Health Policies and Programs
PLSC 503 Quantitative Methods II: Foundations of Statistical Inference
PLSC 504 Advanced Quantitative Methods
MGT 879 Healthcare Operations
ECON 675 Models of Operations Research and Management
CDE 650 Introduction to Evidence-Based Medicine and Health Care
EMD/HPM 580 Reforming Health Systems
EMD 582b/GLBL 716b/EP&E 314 Political Epidemiology

Social Networks

SOCY 625a Analysis of Social Structure
SOCY 647b Social Processes

Non-methods courses with modeling labs

EMD 539b Introduction to the Analysis and Interpretation of Public Health Surveillance Data*

* This course may be used to satisfy the elective requirement by students who do not use it to satisfy the mandatory course requirement.

**Other courses with a substantial modeling component may be substituted as an elective with the approval of the modeling concentration director(s).