Career Paths for MPH Students

Many public health jobs require a graduate degree in public health. An MPH degree emphasises the use of academic knowledge as a basis for evidence-based public health practice and policy development. The program combines academic learning with opportunities to gain practical experience under the mentorship of public health practitioners. It uses the Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC) Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada as the basis for public health practice.

Graduates with an MPH undertake a variety of professional roles which include:

• Assessing and monitoring health status and risk factors in populations
• Ensuring that communities have access to appropriate and effective health care
• Engaging communities on health issues, community development and mobilization
• Formulating public health policies designed to solve local, national and international health problems
• Researching factors that lead to or prevent disease
• Analyzing public health data and applying quantitative and qualitative methods to assess causes of ill health
• Developing multidisciplinary and collaborative programs and strategies
• Implementing and evaluating intervention programs to improve the health of a population
• Conducting community health needs assessments
• Identifying environmental health hazards and methods of remediation
• Investigating an outbreak of disease or symptoms in a population
• Providing management and leadership within the health care system

The MPH degree prepares public health professionals for careers in the public, not-for-profit and private health sectors of the economy. These professionals can work:

• Nationally and internationally in environmental health, behavioural health, health promotion, epidemiology, public policy, and health management roles.
• In community and institutional settings, with special populations, such as the elderly, the underserved, children or others.
• In health care agencies, hospitals, schools, government departments and private industry.

Depending on their area of specializing, MPH graduates may be employed as:

• Clinical trials analyst
• Health promotion specialist
• Environmental health specialist
• Research data coordinator
• Survey statistician
• Community development specialist
• Health policy analyst
• Health care manager
• Research assistant
• Biostatistician
• Epidemiologist
• Infection control officer (in combination with an RN degree)
• Medical health officer (in combination with an MD degree)