College of Health Sciences offers only public MPH in Rhode Island, helping enhance healthcare workforce in state and beyond
KINGSTON, R.I. — March 17, 2025 — Addressing the increased attention focused on public health in recent years, and an urgent need for more public health practitioners in communities across Rhode Island and beyond, the University of Rhode Island College of Health Sciences is introducing a new master’s degree in public health (MPH), designed to provide graduates with comprehensive knowledge and skills to address current and future public health challenges.
The only such program offered at a public institution in Rhode Island is set to begin in the fall of 2025. Designed to meet the needs of students, including those already working in the field, the new program will offer flexible options to allow students to attend full- or part-time, on campus or online. The program will prepare students to address critical public health issues in the state and beyond. The 42-credit program will cover areas such as health policy, epidemiology, biostatistics, social and behavioral influences on health, program evaluation, and grant writing, as well as an internship and a capstone course, according to Associate Professor and program Director Natalie Sabik.
“We are excited to offer an MPH to address public health challenges in the state, and the hybrid format will allow the program to meet the needs of public health graduate students,” Sabik said
Following the establishment of the Department of Public Health at URI last year, the new MPH will offer a broad view of health and the factors that promote it, as well as those that hinder it. Public health encompasses overarching health policy, such as vaccine guidelines, as well as interventions to improve health outcomes like installing a stop sign to prevent accidents or placing a water fountain along a bike path to help people stay hydrated. The field of public health also includes epidemiology, disease prevention, and considers structural and social determinants of health.
In addition to working with community and organizational partners to address health issues, students will be trained by nationally recognized faculty members whose work addresses public health issues. An individualized mentoring program will give MPH students the opportunity to work directly with public health experts in the field, exposing them to the diverse opportunities the master’s degree provides.
“The MPH curriculum provides an academic framework in which students take part in project-based learning that will enhance their ability to address health issues in the community,” said Mary Greaney, professor and chair of the Department of Public Health. “The program will provide students with the knowledge and skills to understand and address important population health challenges from the structural down to the individual level. Graduates will leave URI with the knowledge, experience, and passion to make their communities healthier places.”
For more information and to apply for the program, visit the MPH website here, or email Natalie Sabik at sabik@uri.edu.
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