Master Of Public Health Program Available In Casper

University of North Dakota Accepting Applications for Fall 2015

The University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Master of Public Health Program is now accepting applications for students to begin study in the fall of 2015 at Casper College in Casper. The UND MPH Program is delivered from Grand Forks, N.D., to students based at Casper College.

The UND MPH classes will be offered synchronously online via live-broadcast, right from the classroom at UND where they are held. Though students in Casper will be encouraged to join their cohort in class on the Casper campus, students from all over Wyoming, including the University of Wyoming at Laramie, will be able to participate online — just like many students already do in other UND programs from locations around North Dakota and the country.

“We are highlighting the cohort, in-class aspect of this program for students in Casper, but we encourage any students in Wyoming to participate,” said MPH Program founding Director Raymond Goldsteen.

“This program will offer Wyoming students the full benefit of our curriculum in real time, interactively with our instructors in the classroom here at UND,” said Goldsteen, who also directs the program’s Center for Comparative Effectiveness Analytics. “The MPH Program that we will be offering in Casper in the fall is building on the success of the UND Occupational Therapy program in Casper.”

The extension of the UND MPH Program to a full-fledged distance offering in Wyoming will be administered from the MPH Program offices at UND. UND MPH instructors will visit the Wyoming campus at least once a semester.

“The synchronous delivery means students in a cohort class will get all the benefits of being in the classroom with a teacher, interacting with students in Grand Forks,” said Goldsteen, author of the widely known textbook in the field, “Introduction to Public Health.”

Goldsteen says he’s connected with many public health officials about the program in Wyoming before launching this distance education effort, which will include both of the specializations offered at UND — Population Health Analytics and Health Management and Policy.

About the UND Master of Public Health Program

The MPH Program at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences welcomes applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds, including the social and behavioral sciences; the basic sciences; mathematics, statistics, and computer science; and the humanities.

A Master of Public Health degree is an excellent partner for all clinical degrees, including medicine, nursing, laboratory science, physician assistant, physical therapy, and occupational therapy, because it expands professional opportunities in these fields. Also, those who wish to apply for a clinical program find that the MPH degree can enhance their application as well as their preparation for their clinical career. Because of the diversity of MPH students, the program is designed for full- and part-time study, as well as distance education through live broadcast of all classes.

The MPH Program at UND has two specializations – Population Health Analytics and Health Management and Policy. Both prepare students for the work of population health improvement in the diverse communities of the Northern Plains and similar regions. Understanding the multiple determinants of population health — medical care, public health interventions, the social environment, the physical environment, and individual behavior — and learning how to optimize population health in the region are complex, fascinating, and important undertakings.