About MPH

The mission of the Northwestern University Master of Public Health Degree Program is to provide an educational environment for health professionals that fosters acquisition of knowledge about the factors that contribute to the health and diseases of populations and to educate these individuals to be boundary spanners between professions engaged in clinical care and public health. The mission capitalizes on and emphasizes the unique resources available through Feinberg School of Medicine, its faculty, and the Chicago area. The program educates students to recognize and interpret research that contributes to better health outcomes and identify preventive strategies that may reduce and prevent health problems. This comprehensive public health program addresses at the individual level the concept of lifestyle behaviors aimed at reducing risk, at the organizational level the optimal delivery of care, and at the population level the concept of reduced frequency of disease.

The goals of the program are to provide our students:

1) a broad perspective on the definition and promotion of health that incorporates the concepts of prevention, health promotion, health care organization and delivery, and population-based research and intervention.

2) an interdisciplinary public health knowledge base derived from relevant areas including biomedical and social scientific theories and empiric evidence.

3) the quantitative, educational, organizational, and practical skills needed to ensure that all graduates will be well prepared for their future public health practice, teaching, and/or research endeavors.