MHA / MPH Dual Degree Program

MHA / MPH Dual Degree Program
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Background

The academic disciplines of healthcare and population health, which have traditionally been taught and housed in separate sectors, are rapidly converging. The new healthcare models supported by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation focus explicitly on the essential role of non-clinical inputs to individual and community health. Likewise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Community Transformation Grant program aims to improve population health through the merging of approaches traditionally separated into public health and healthcare silos. In keeping with this nationwide articulation of the need for population health orientation in healthcare, employers in the U.S. healthcare sector are building their institutional competence in public health. These market forces and caregiving paradigms point to the need for an MPH/MHA joint degree option.

The University of Kentucky Master of Health Administration (MHA) degree is a two-year, 50-hour program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). The Master of Public Health is a two-year, 42-hour program accredited by the Council on Education in Public Health (CEPH). The dual MPH / MHA program allows nine (9) credit hours to be recognized as fulfilling degree requirements in both programs, allowing the student to complete the MPH and MHA degrees with a total of 83 credit hours—compared to the 92 credit hours required to complete both degrees separately.

Program Structure

A. Admissions

Application to both programs is through the Schools of Public Health Application System (SOPHAS). Admission standards for the joint degree are the same as for application to each of the programs; applicants should note on all application forms that admission is being sought for the MPH / MHA joint degree program.

The joint degree program is not suitable for part-time students.

Students who are currently enrolled in either the MPH or the MHA program can be considered for admission to the MPH / MHA joint degree program at the time when they apply or at the end of the first full-time year in either program. Application for admission must be accepted by the program in which the student is not yet enrolled. The MPH / MHA program is not applicable to students who have already earned one of the degrees.

B. Advantages

Students can complete this dual program of study in three academic years, as opposed to the combined four years of study required for the separate MPH and MHA degrees.

C. Programs of Study

To earn the MPH and MHA, a student must satisfy the graduation requirements of both degrees. If there is a scheduling problem, representations of the two programs will resolve conflicts on an ad hoc basis. A defined track applies to all students who enter the program at the beginning of their coursework; individual tracks will be determined for students who enter after completing the first year of either program.

Contact

For more please contact the MHA Program Director Sarah Wackerbarth, PhD, sbwack0@uky.edu.

Master of Health Administration

Learn more about the Master of Health Administration program.

Master of Public Health

Learn more about the Master of Public Health program.

More information

Contact the MPH / MHA program director.