WHY CHOSE PUBLIC HEALTH?
 Public health is population health.
 It uses multidisciplinary approach &
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social justice perspective to promote
health, prevent disease, and
improve community quality of life.
Many public health jobs require a
graduate degree in public health.
The Master of Public Health (MPH)
is the most widely recognized and
highly regarded credential for public
health professionals.
MPH degree gives graduates a
competitive edge by providing them
with the broad knowledge and
analytical/technical skills needed to
be an effective public health leader.
Public health professionals work on
a variety of diverse health promotion
and disease prevention activities.
JOB TITLE EXAMPLES
 Health department epidemiologist
 Community health program planner
 Health communications specialist
 Health educator
 Health policy analyst
 Environmental health specialist
 WIC program manager
 Academic researcher
 Hospital infection control specialist
 Public health lobbyist
 Food safety specialist
 Health care consultant
 International public health consultant
 HIV/AIDS program specialist
 Non-profit organization director
 Public health physician, dentist,
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nurse, social worker,
Community college instructor
MPH PROGRAM at UTEP
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Prepares students for public health
practice through a combination of
classroom instruction, field and
research experience.
MPH Program faculty are committed
to individual mentoring of students.
Most fulltime students can expect to
complete MPH program in 4 regular
semesters + 1 summer semester.
All MPH courses held in late
afternoons-early evenings to
accommodate working professionals
Field research opportunities in Latin
America are also available.
MPH CORE COURSES (15 hrs)
 Social & Behavioral Approaches to
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Public Health (PUBH 5353)
Epidemiology for Public Health
Professionals (PUBH 5302)
Biostatistics in Public Health (PUBH
5305)
Environmental Health (PUBH 5304)
Health Services Administration &
Policy (PUBH 5307)
Practicum (6 hrs): PUBH 5662
Hispanic & Border Health
Concentration Courses (9 hrs)
 Responding to Chronic & Infectious
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PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
Students are required to successfully
complete 42 credit hours of coursework:
 Core courses (15 hrs)
 Hispanic and border health
concentration courses (9 hrs)
 Practicum in public health agency or
organization (6 hrs)
 Remaining credit hours from
combination of course electives and
culminating experience (thesis or
graduate research project).
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Diseases in Hispanic & Border
Communities (PUBH 5321)
Eliminating Health Disparities
(PUBH 5322)
Public Health Evaluation & Research
(PUBH 5352)
Elective Courses (6 hrs)
 Selected with approval of Graduate
Advisor and faculty mentor
Culminating Experience (9 hrs)
 Thesis I (PUBH 5398) & Thesis II
(PUBH 5399) or Grad. Research
Project (PUBH5397)
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
 Baccalaureate degree awarded from
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accredited U.S. institution or
recognized foreign institution
Minimum 3.0/4.0 cumulative GPA for
all prior academic work
GRE or MCAT scores must meet
UTEP graduate requirements
International applicants: meet UTEP
minimum TOEFL score requirement.
Demonstrated prior public health
experience and/or commitment.
APPLICATION PROCESS
 Completed UTEP application form
 Official transcripts from all colleges
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and universities ever attended.
Official GRE General Test scores
Three letters of recommendation
from professional references. At
least one must be from former
professor/academic reference.
Current professional resume/CV.
500-word statement describing
prior health experience, reasons for
pursuing MPH, future career plans.
Submit all documents online to
UTEP Graduate School.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
 Applicants must contact Dr. Weigel
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before submitting application
Program has FALL admissions only.
All application documents must be
submitted to Grad School by July 1st;
applications by May 15th preferred.
Teaching & research assistantships
available for qualified students.
Applicants strongly advised to
contact potential faculty research
mentors prior to applying.
FACULTY RESEARCH MENTORS
(all work in Hispanic & border health)
Rodrigo X. Armijos, MD, ScD. Infectious
disease prevention & control; environmental
health; immune response and chronic
disease.
Maria Duarte-Gardea, PhD, RD, LD.
Nutrition & breast cancer, diabetes &
cardiovascular disease prevention.
Paula Ford, PhD. Human nutrition; local
food environments and obesity; public
health applications for geographic
information systems (GIS).
Loza, Oralia, PhD. Reproductive health;
epidemiology, HIV and sexually-transmitted
infections.
E. Lee Rosenthal, PhD., MPH. Community
health development; eliminating health
disparities; community health workers;
health policy
University of Texas at El Paso
College of Health Sciences
_______________________
Master of
Public
Health (MPH)
Degree
Program
Sharon Thompson, PhD, MPH, CHES.
U.S.-Mexico border health issues; health
education/promotion in underserved
communities.
Concentration in
Hispanic & Border
Health
Joe Tomaka, PhD. Social psychology &
health; behavioral approaches to alcohol;
risk reduction; stress; coping and
cardiovascular reactivity to stress.
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MM (Meg) Weigel, PhD. Infectious
disease, reproductive & nutritional
epidemiology; maternal-child health and
nutrition; ethnomedicine
For more information, see website:
http://chs.utep.edu/healthpromotion/
graduate-program-master-of-public-health.
Contact MPH Program Director
Dr. MM Weigel (915-747-8308)
email: mmweigel@utep.edu