Master of Public Health in Infectious Disease Management, Intervention, and Community Practice
The MPH with a concentration in Infectious Disease Management, Intervention, and Community Practice (MIC) provides a tailored educational experience to foster competencies for practice, research, and education in public health. Students take courses that focus on global and domestic infectious diseases including HIV, and assists students in designing interventions, approaches, and policies to address the increase in infectious diseases as well as emerging infectious disease threats to public health. This coursework paired with hands-on practicum experience particular to the student’s interest prepares students for careers in public health education, program development and management, or further education.
Accelerated Schedule Option
The MPH-MIC program is compatible with an accelerated schedule where full-time students have the opportunity to finish in three (3) semesters (fall, spring, fall), which saves up to $20,000! For more information on the accelerated schedule, please email idm@pitt.edu. Please note this is exclusive to the degree program, and any additional certificate interests may require the full two years to graduation.
Financial Aid Opportunities
For information, please visit our financial aid page.
Exciting Practicum Opportunities
As an IDM student, you’ll have the opportunity to gain public health practice and research experience through a practicum crafted to match your interests with specific aspects of infectious disease management, intervention and community practice. Practicum locations are diverse and can occur in local, regional, national, or international settings depending upon interests, opportunities, and available funding. These experiences can link your professional and career goals or offer an opportunity to explore new areas of practice and/or research within public health and related fields. Through the practicum experience, many students choose to conduct public health practice and/or research within the University of Pittsburgh campuses, UPMC hospitals throughout Western Pennsylvania, clinical, research centers, non-profit organizations, county and state governmental agencies including health departments, public welfare, and corrections to gain opportunities and apply knowledge, concepts, and practices from coursework to real world public health settings.
Practicum examples
- AIDS United Fellowship, DC
- Ecohealth Alliance
- AIDS Coalition of Southwestern Pennsylvania
- Allegheny County Health Department, Public Health Education
- Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Salud Para Ninos
- Allegheny County Immunization Coalition
Careers
Recent graduates hold the following positions:
- Executive director, Open Door, Inc.
- PhD student, emerging infectious diseases, Uniformed Services University
- Emergency preparedness and public health educator, Monroe County Health Department, Michigan
- Research analyst, The Center for Biosecurity of UPMC
- Health Management Specialist, UPMC Health Plan
- Medical student, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University, Chicago
- Medical student, University of Rochester
- Medical student, Howard University
Recent Essay and Thesis Titles
- Assessing the Knowledge and Attitudes of Black/African American Men who have Sex with Men on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (thesis)
- A Critical Review of the Effectiveness of Safe Injection Facilities as a Harm Reduction Strategy (essay)
- Influyentes: A Strategy to Improve Flu Vaccination Coverage among Hispanics in Pittsburgh, PA (essay)
- The Impact of Transfusion-Transmissible Viruses on Blood Product Management in the United States (essay)
- Overuse of Antibiotics for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria at a University Teaching Hospital (thesis)
Browse further titles in D-Scholarship, the institutional repository for research output at the University of Pittsburgh.
Competencies
Graduates will be able to...
- Develop knowledge related to domestic and global infectious disease pathogenesis, prevention, clinical diagnosis
- Describe the stigma and the impact on the prevention and control of infectious diseases
- Demonstrate knowledge and approaches for clinical, behavioral, biomedical interventions, and advocacy to impact the prevention, control, and/or elimination of infectious diseases. and intersecting clinical conditions, populations, and environments
- Develop, implement, or evaluate infection prevention in clinical settings, including surveillance, containment, and policies for prevention, control and intervention
- Synthesize skills and knowledge of infectious disease research, practice or policies as applied to infectious clinical conditions, outbreaks/clusters in clinical, and/or community healthcare settings
- Describe and discuss evidence-based approaches to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases
All graduates also achieve the core and cross-cutting competencies for Pitt Public Health MPH students.
Requirements
- 42 credits, including coursework, practicum experience, and a written essay or thesis
- Foundational public health courses
- Advanced courses in health education, health policy, and prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases
- Public health practicum experience
- Thesis or essay related to infectious diseases
Full program information: