Online
Public Health Programs
The
program is based upon the concepts and principles of Primary Health Care.
The World Health Organization (1978) defines primary health care as "essential
health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable
methods and technology, made universally available to individuals and
families in the community through their full participation and at a cost
that the community and the country can afford to maintain at every stage
of their development in the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination.
There are two pathways for students interested in public health. In addition to the Master of Public Health, OHSU is now offering a Graduate Certificate in Public Health (GCPH) for those interested in public health but unable to commit to the full MPH program.
Primary health care is both a philosophy of health care and an approach to providing health services. By emphasizing improvement in primary health care accessibility and quality for underserved populations, this degree program prepares graduates to tackle health disparities in a unique way.
The School of Nursing’s Master of Public Health program is offered in conjunction with the Oregon Master of Public Health Program. The OMPH collaboration includes OHSU, Portland State University and Oregon State University. It combines broad training in public health with specific education in one of the specialty tracks offered at the participating universities.
With
this degree students are prepared to assume clinical leadership roles
in a variety of settings, including but not limited to community health
centers and health maintenance organizations, community agencies and health
departments, and official and voluntary health agencies and organizations.
Graduates are able to ensure the quality of implemented clinical and community
care activities, act as a resource for the development of innovative and
expanded responses in clinical and community care, coordinate care with
regional and county offices, interface with all services involved with
the care of patients, and provide counseling and education for families
and patients receiving care.
Target
Student Population
The track anticipates that it will attract clinicians who by World Health Organization definition can constitute the members of a primary care team. Primary care team members can include:
- Direct care providers such as nurses, nurse practitioners and midwives, physicians and physician assistants, dentists and dental hygienists, clinical psychologists, chiropractors, naturopaths, acupuncturists;
- Therapists who are focused on providing rehab services in the physical, occupational, speech, and nutrition domains; and
- Professionals responsible for the coordination of care such as social workers and administrative case and practice managers.
The track will continue its role in expanding public health nursing's leadership via advanced practice nursing education in the development of primary care as an integral, permanent, and pervasive part of the formal health care system in all countries and as the means by which the two goals of health services system - optimization of health and equity in distributing resources - are balanced .
This program is designed for qualified applicants with clearly identified career goals that are consistent with the anticipated training and who are willing to assume an expanded clinical leadership/ coordination role in the provision of community-based primary care for vulnerable populations.