Competencies

1. Ethics & principles: Identify and apply ethical principles of social justice and human rights in public health research and practice.
2. Social justice orientation: Demonstrate an understanding of the multiple mechanisms by which social, political, economic and historical factors contribute to health inequities.
3. Community focus: Integrate community centered focus in the assessment, development, and dissemination of public health research, policy and practice.
4. Transdisciplinary training: Formulate, analyze, and advocate for multi-sector solutions to improve population health across interdisciplinary settings.
5. Applied practice-based research: Translate rigorous research and evidence-based best practices to transform public health systems to meet the needs of local or global communities.
6. Practice-based leadership: Identify personal leadership strengths and opportunities for growth in practice-based settings, through awareness of self, ability to work with and through others, and ability to identify and work through organizational dynamics.

The Interdisciplinary MPH is an individualized concentration with individually defined learning goals. In addition to the required coursework, the advisor and student, together, are responsible for identifying elective courses to create appropriate curricular depth/expansion on foundational knowledge and skills according to the student’s individual learning goals, and for defining a set of at least five competencies articulating the unique set of knowledge and skills that justifies awarding the Interdisciplinary MPH degree and differentiates the degree from other concentrations.

In addition to the 5 concentration competencies specific to the Interdisciplinary MPH listed below, students are encouraged to select concentration competencies from other tracks, as they apply to the elective course work students select.

1. Demonstrate methodological expertise for public health research in choosing appropriate study designs, in calculating and interpreting measures of health risks, disease and their associations.
2. Apply interdisciplinary approaches to integrate social, political, economic, and ecological dimensions to contextualize public health problems and opportunities.
3. Identify ethical challenges and principles for guiding public health planning, implementation and evaluation.
4. Practice writing skills needed for authoring a peer-reviewed scientific publication.
5. Evaluate public health research, summarize current knowledge, interpret the implications for public health policies and programs, and make recommendations for improvement.

1. Analyze how the sources and health effects of major environmental and occupational hazards are identified and assessed.
2. Use the principles of exposure science to analyze environmental and occupational exposures.
3. Identify factors that affect vulnerability of sub-populations to health effects of environmental and occupational exposures.
4. Use risk assessment and other methods to assess environmental health hazards and identify mitigative measures.
5. Systematically analyze environmental health policies or regulations for their impact on population health or environmental justice.
6. Explain how environmental protection and environmental health are promoted through basic principles and approaches of environmental policy development and implementation.
7. Review and interpret prior research on an environmental health problem to identify knowledge gaps, articulate research questions, and describe appropriate methods to fill these gaps.

1. Demonstrate methodological expertise for epidemiological research in choosing appropriate study designs, in calculating and interpreting measures of disease and association, in identifying and addressing sources of bias in studies, in estimating and interpreting confounding and effect measure modification, and in applying causal frameworks to the assessment of causality in associations.
2. Implement methods of data management and cleaning for epidemiologic data sets, including using SAS and/or R.
3. Recognize and conduct appropriate regression analysis techniques to analyze data from medical and other public health studies.
4. Interpret study findings including critically identifying strengths and limitations of individual studies.
5. Describe the history of epidemiology.
6. List and explain the core principles underlying the ethics of human research (i.e. autonomy/respect for person; justice; beneficence; and non-maleficence).
7. Apply specialized biostatistical methods for categorical and time-to-event outcomes to the analysis of advanced medical and epidemiological study designs.

1. Demonstrate methodological expertise for epidemiological research in choosing appropriate study designs, in calculating and interpreting measures of disease and association, in identifying and addressing sources of bias in studies, in estimating and interpreting confounding and effect measure modification, and in applying causal frameworks to the assessment of causality in associations.
2. Apply data analysis and programming techniques to epidemiologic investigations.
3. Interpret study findings including critically identifying strengths and limitations of individual studies.
4. Describe the history of epidemiology.
5. List and explain the core principles underlying the ethics of human research (i.e. autonomy/respect for person; justice; beneficence; and non-maleficence).
6. Connect epidemiologic approaches to social, medical, and public health programs to enhance students’ related graduate professional work or goals.

1. Analyze how the sources and health effects of major environmental and occupational hazards are identified and assessed.
2. Use the principles of exposure science to characterize and understand environmental exposures in low- and middle-income countries
3. Propose environmental health policies or regulations and analyze their potential impact on global population health.
4. Use an environmental justice lens to analyze disparities in exposures to environmental contaminants.
5. Review and interpret prior research on an environmental health problem to identify knowledge gaps, articulate research questions, and describe appropriate methods to fill these gaps.

1. Distill and apply theory and empirical evidence to develop an implementable intervention or program plan to improve health, including literature review and logic model/theory of change.
2. Evaluate the effects of community intervention programs or policies.
3. Respectfully develop and evaluate theory-informed interventions for governmental and/or non-governmental organizations to promote health.
4. Identify ethical challenges and principles for guiding public health planning, implementation and evaluation.
5. Apply critical social analysis to issues of race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, economic status, colonialism and other important axes of difference and power as they impact health and public health practice.
6. Apply key social scientific approaches to understanding racism and developing anti-racist and intersectional approaches to public health.
7. Apply a trauma-informed lens to public health research and practice.

1. Apply skills in collaboration, coaching and influencing to achieve organizational, policy or strategic initiative goals.
2. Evaluate and select options for effective diffusion of innovation within a healthcare organization.
3. Utilize an inclusive approach to management decision making.
4. Analyze financial statements, cost and managerial information to assess and promote the financial health of a unit, organization, or system.
5. Apply analytic tools and techniques to make sound short and long-term investment decisions within a health care environment.
6. Examine dynamics in the design, adoption, or implementation of health policies.
7. Analyze policies for their impact on health and health equity.
8. Understand how to use advocacy tools to change health policy.
9. Utilize economic theory to assess the efficiency and equity of current and proposed health policies.
10. Analyze the role of incentives in shaping behaviors of health sector stakeholders.

1. Apply the following frameworks of principles of infectious disease to describe each infectious disease: microbiology, epidemiology, clinical spectrum, immunology, pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention.
2. Describe the major viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitological agents of infectious diseases of humans and the nonhuman animal sources of some of these infectious agents.
3. Discuss how infectious diseases impact public health problems.
4. Describe how the social, behavioral, environmental, and administrative/policy components of public health affect infectious disease occurrence and distribution.
5. Discuss how infectious disease surveillance systems are used to detect, control, and prevent outbreaks, and how they are used to study modes of infectious disease transmission, predict trends, and monitor response to interventions.
6. Assess different epidemiological, statistical, or computational biological methodologies and assessment techniques to analyze infectious disease modes of transmission and risk factors.
7. Discuss the role of local, state, federal, and international public health agencies in the prevention and control of infectious diseases.

1. Discuss a problem facing MCAH populations with an evidence-based rationale for why it is a topic of importance.
2. Identify and evaluate the relative contribution of individual and environmental factors associated with maternal and child health.
3. Identify a maternal and child health issue and evaluate a policy solution.
4. Interpret results of epidemiologic studies of maternal and child health problems and synthesize published epidemiological literature in order to summarize current knowledge and develop and test strong research questions that will advance knowledge in the field of maternal and child health.
5. Apply basic principles of quantitative research and epidemiology for understanding and addressing MCH problems.

1. Describe the magnitude, distribution and trends of nutrition problems in populations.
2. Explain dietary influences including social determinants on health outcomes, and identify population-based strategies to improve nutritional health.
3. Assess the nutritional status of individuals using anthropometric, diet and biochemical methods.
4. Evaluate nutrition research and interpret the implications for public health policies and programs, identifying key issues that address social inequities.
5. Apply interdisciplinary approaches to integrate social, political, economic, and ecological dimensions to contextualize nutrition, food systems and health problems and opportunities.

The On-Campus/Online MPH is designed for working professionals and offers four curricular pathways, including the Interdisciplinary Program and three Concentration options: Health Policy and Management, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Public Health Nutrition. All students complete the same required coursework to attain the foundational competencies plus select a program option in partnership with a faculty advisor.

Students who select one of the three Concentrations will have the same competency exposure as our residential students. Please expand these sections to review the Concentration Competencies:

• MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• MPH in Health Policy and Management
• MPH in Public Health Nutrition

Our Interdisciplinary students create a customized course map that allows our students to select from course options mapped to concentration competencies and the option of a data visualization competency unique to our program to meet at least five concentration competencies.

• Data visualization competency: Identify methods to develop data visualizations to communicate findings to key stakeholders.

Further, our course mapping process is designed to maintain flexibility for students in planning when they take specific courses in their second year in order to tailor a course map that is aligned with the professional goals of a student community who aims to apply their learning in real time.

1. Understand the foundations of statistical inference, including probability distributions, translating a health question into a statistical parameter, choose estimation and inferential strategy.
2. Understand the fundamentals of causal inference, including the process of identification of causal parameters, and the estimation of resulting estimands.
3. Have the ability to apply existing estimators in two of four of the following categories: computational statistics (CS), multivariate analysis (MA), generalized linear models (GLM), survival analysis (SA), longitudinal data analysis (LDA), statistical genomics (SG), machine learning (ML).
4. Have fluency in statistical programming languages for both analysis using classic methods, implementation of novel methods, and analyze estimators through simulation.
5. Have an understanding of the most important theoretical concepts in modern statistical estimation and inference. These include empirical process theory, asymptotic linearity, and efficiency theory.
6. Effectively communicate research findings, orally and in writing.

1. Analyze how the sources and health effects of major environmental and occupational hazards are identified and assessed.
2. Use the principles of exposure science to analyze environmental and occupational exposures
3. Identify factors that affect vulnerability of sub-populations to health effects of environmental and occupational exposures.
4. Use risk assessment and other methods to assess environmental health hazards and identify mitigative measures.
5. Conduct research on an environmental health or occupational health problem and synthesize information to make recommendations.

1. Demonstrate methodological expertise for epidemiological research in choosing appropriate study designs, in calculating and interpreting measures of disease and association, in identifying and addressing sources of bias in studies, in estimating and interpreting confounding and effect measure modification, and in applying causal frameworks to the assessment of causality in associations.
2. Collaborate with both investigators and statistical colleagues in the analysis of data from biomedical and public health studies applying knowledge of summary evidence using systematic review or meta-analysis.
3. Implement methods of data management and cleaning for epidemiologic data sets, including using SAS and/or R.
4. Recognize and conduct appropriate regression analysis techniques to analyze data from medical and other public health studies.
5. Interpret study findings including critically identifying strengths and limitations of individual studies.
6. List and explain the core principles underlying the ethics of human research (i.e., autonomy/respect for person; justice; beneficence; and non-maleficence).

1. Analyze how the sources and health effects of major environmental and occupational hazards are identified and assessed.
2. Use the principles of exposure science to characterize and understand environmental exposures in low- and middle-income countries.
3. Propose environmental health policies or regulations for their impact on global population health.
4. Use an environmental justice lens to analyze disparities in exposures to environmental contaminants
5. Conduct research on an environmental health or occupational health problem and synthesize information to make recommendations.

For more information about the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program (MS/MD), visit the program webpage.

1. Demonstrate ability to engage in advanced scholarship related to public health/health equity with an antiracist lens.
2. Demonstrate appropriate level of scholarly writing, including discussion of methods.
3. Apply understanding of principles of research ethics through IRB application process and adherence to research principles in data collection, management and analysis, and in dissemination.
4. Describe the impact of racism on health using a structural, interpersonal and individualized lens.
5. Apply principles of public health, including health policy, epidemiology, systems thinking and systems improvement in analyzing and addressing health inequities.

1. Develop basic competence in statistical theory.
2. Ability to apply knowledge of statistical theory to justify choice of statistical inference procedures for data problems commonly found in public health and biomedical applications.
3. Evaluate an area of biostatistical methodology and, if warranted, propose and develop new statistical inference methods in that area.
4. Have fluency in statistical programming languages for both creating and evaluating via simulations new or existing statistical methodology.
5. Have the ability to apply the fundamentals of causal inference for specific health data problems, including the defining the causal parameter of interest, determining identification of the causal parameter, and the estimation of resulting estimands in realistic statistical models.
6. Be able to place scientific questions in rigorous statistical framework:
   1. Understand and have the ability to apply methods and list assumptions for identifying statistical estimands that address scientific question(s) of interest.
   2. Be able to either develop estimators for above, or to recognize when such estimands have been developed and have the ability to apply them.
   3. Have working knowledge of computational methods and programming languages that can be used to implement or evaluate novel methods.
7. Effectively communicate advanced statistical methods, assessing their strengths and limitations and where to place the methods in the Statistical/Causal Roadmap.

1. Apply advanced methodology to research projects in environmental health sciences and develop new approaches to address environmental health problems.
2. Develop and demonstrate written and oral communications skills by preparing papers, summaries, briefings and presentations regarding environmental health science.
3. Clarify critical gaps in scientific knowledge that impede the resolution of environmental health problems and plan original research that will lead to solutions of such problems.
4. Conceive, develop and conduct original research leading to useful applications in environmental health sciences, toxicology, environmental health policy or industrial hygiene.
5. Understand advanced analytic methods in environmental health science.

1. Independently identify study questions that will advance scientific knowledge about a topic of public health significance.
2. Use appropriate statistical methods, including multivariate models, to analyze data from epidemiologic studies using cross-sectional, case-control, or cohort designs.
3. Critically review scientific manuscripts and research proposals.
4. Independently design and implement epidemiologic studies, incorporating principles of causal inference and addressing sources of bias and methods to improve the validity of epidemiologic studies.
5. Develop a research proposal that states a study question, presents a scientific and public health rationale for its significance, and specifies a detailed methodology for carrying out an epidemiologic study to answer the question.
6. Design study management, data collection, and data management protocols.
7. Communicate the results of such studies orally and in writing in such a way that non-epidemiologically trained practitioners or the general public can understand their applicability.
8. Present oral and written reports on such studies that satisfy the criteria for sound science.

Health Economics Specialty Field:

1. Apply health economics theoretical and conceptual models relevant to health policy and health services research.

Organizations & Management Specialty Field:

1. Apply organizations and management theoretical and conceptual models relevant to health policy and health services research.

Population & Data Science Specialty Field:

1. Apply population and data science theoretical and conceptual models relevant to health policy and health services research.

All Specialty Fields:

2. Pose relevant and important research questions for health policy and health services research.
3. Demonstrate proficiency in the application of appropriate analytical techniques to evaluate health policy and health services research questions.
4. Effectively communicate findings and implications of health policy and health services research through multiple modalities to scientific peers and other stakeholders.

1. Describe viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitological agents of infectious diseases of humans; explain biological, molecular, cellular, and immunological mechanisms of infection and disease; and demonstrate advanced knowledge of molecular biology, microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, and cell biology.
2. Understand various epidemiologic analytical study designs to address infectious disease occurrence and distributions in human populations.
3. Increase our understanding of infectious diseases and immunology through basic and translational research that contributes to developing new diagnostics, treatments, and methods to prevent or control diseases.
4. Apply statistical methods appropriately to analyze laboratory and/or epidemiological data.
5. Develop a research proposal that states a study question, presents a scientific and public health rationale for its significance, and specifies a detailed methodology for carrying out the research project.
6. Organize, analyze, and present scientific data in a lucid manner through oral communications.
7. Design, conduct, and publish original research in the area of infectious diseases and immunity.