The School of Public Health has been engaged in strategic planning for the past six months. One of the first accomplishments was discussing and revising our Vision and Mission. These were done with considerable input while retaining our values and commitment to Louisiana.
We envision “a healthier Louisiana population with a workforce addressing the structural and emergent issues affecting public health.”
Therefore, our School’s Mission is to: “advance health equity through evidenced-based education, research, and practice for populations in the context of a changing climate”.
This strategic planning process along with reflection from our first 20 years as a School of Public Health has led to the recognition of the need to revitalize our MPH program. The goals of this process were based upon feedback from current students, alumni, community partners and other public health stakeholders and include new concentrations and a streamlined core.
The new concentrations were organized to reflect the diverse work and expertise of our current faculty and help identify future growth opportunities for the school in research and practice. The streamlined core helps to strike the right balance between discipline-specific and interdisciplinary courses to give students a solid grounding in their program, yet enhance their learning of broader perspectives. By building the core and program curriculum with competencies first, we can achieve our goal of graduate outcomes that fulfill employer needs and improve the public health workforce, while still allowing for flexibility.
New MPH Core
| Competency # | Focus Area | Team Leads | Credit Hours | Semester |
| 1-4, 11, 18-19 | Analytical | Mercante, Straif-Bourgeois | 4 | Fall 1 |
| 7-11, 22 | Management | Wennerstrom, Chiu | 3 | Spring 1 |
| 5-6, 9, 12-15 | Policy | Diaz, Honore | 3 | Spring 1 |
| 16-20 | Leadership and Communication | Celestin, Smith | 3 | Fall 1 |
| Practice Experience/Culminating | Williams, Brisolara | 6 | Fall 2/Spring 2 | |
| TOTAL CREDIT HOURS | 19 |
The current list of required core courses for the MPH can be found here:
https://sph.lsuhsc.edu/education/degrees/master-of-public-health-mph/
A table comparing how the current versus the new courses will cover the required MPH Core Competencies can be found here:
Core Competency Matrix – Current and New (.pdf)
Timeline
FAQ’s
How does this impact current MPH students?
Current students have the option to take new coursework if they so choose, but can also rest assured the curriculum they have been promised will be available. So they get the best of both!
When will the new core classes be available?
The new MPH core classes will be implemented starting in Fall 2024 with the management and leadership/communication courses.
When will the new structure and programs officially launch?
The new program names and structure are being announced August 1, 2024. This date is related to the opening of recruiting for the next academic year. The courses will start being phased in Fall 2024.
How does this impact the MS and PhD programs?
The changes proposed will not result in any changes to the curricula of the MS or PhD programs. Though the official program names will change slightly, the degree requirements remain the same. MS and PhD students may take any of the new courses as electives.