The School of Public and Community Health Sciences is a multi-disciplinary program that offers the Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree and a Certificate of Public Health (C.P.H.). The program is designed to prepare individuals for public health practice who can effectively address the challenges of rural and global health. Predominantly on-line, web-based instruction allows both traditional students and working professionals to pursue a degree or certificate. This program addresses current and forecasted needs for graduate education in public health. The program’s focus on rural and global population health problems assists in promoting improvement in the health of the people of Montana and throughout the world.
For the M.P.H. degree, all students must successfully complete 42 graduate credits, including 36 required core credits and 6 elective credits. The following core courses are required:
M.P.H. students may take 6 or more elective credits of courses offered from the School of Public and Community Health Sciences or from other departments in order to create a plan of study that tailors the learning experience to the needs of the student. PUBH elective courses include:
For the Certificate of Public Health, students must complete any 12 pre-approved credits from the above list of core courses. Approval of a specific 12 credit program is part of the Certificate of Public Health admission process.
G = for graduate credit. R after the credit indicates the course may be repeated for credit to the maximum indicated after the R. Credits beyond this maximum do not count toward a degree.
G 510 Introduction to Epidemiology 3 cr.Offered autumn. Principles and methods of epidemiologic investigation, descriptive and analytic epidemiology techniques, disease frequency, risk determination, study designs, causality, and validity.
G 512 Neuroepidemiology 3 cr.Offered spring odd-numbered years. An overview of the fundamental considerations of the history, scope, and methods of neuroepidemiology as a subfield of epidemiology. Specific neurologic diseases and injuries will be studied as to distribution and risk factors, as well as the relationship to international public health.
G 515 Public Health Genetics 3 cr.Offered autumn. Basic principles of genetics and genomics, application to public health practices and research. Includes issues in public health genetics such as informed consent, screening for genetic susceptibility, and ethical, legal and social implications.
G 520 Fundamentals of Biostatistics 3 cr.Offered Autumn. This course is designed for graduate students and practitioners in public health, biomedical sciences, and related fields. The course introduces basic vocabulary, concepts, and methods of biostatistics. The goal is to provide an introduction to how biostatistics works. Topics will include descriptive statistics, probability, random variables, probability distributions, statistical inference, chi-square analysis, linear regression, and correlation.
G 530 Administration and Management in the U.S. Health Care System 3 cr. Offered autumn. The U.S. healthcare system including the rural system. Organization, management, evaluation, and finance.
G 535 Health Policy 3 cr. Offered autumn. The evolution and intersection of international, federal, state, and local public health policy.
G 540 Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health 3 cr. Offered spring. Behavioral and social factors relevant to the identification and solution of public health problems, principles of health behavior change, applications, and assessment of interventions.
G 550 Program Evaluation and Research Methods 3 cr.Offered summer. Prereq., PUBH 510 or equiv. and consent of instr. Covers purpose statements, standards, study designs, sampling, measurement, methods for data collection and analysis, interpretation, and report preparation. Models of evaluation described, and similarities and differences between research and evaluation methods explored.
G 560 Environmental and Rural Health 3 cr. Offered spring. Relationship of people to their physical environment, how this relationship impacts health, and efforts to minimize negative health effects.
G 570 Ethical Issues in Public Health 3 cr. Offered summer. Focus on the values and moral issues that underlie U.S. public health policies. Course examines ethical decision making in areas such as policy development, research, environmental health, occupational health, resource allocation, and genetics.
G 580 Rural Health Issues in a Global Context 3 cr.Offered summer. Prereq., 15 core credits and consent of instr. Analysis of public-health themes. Focus on rural concerns and transnational influences. Includes human rights, health equity, mobile and vulnerable populations, and transnational competence.
G 591 Practicum 3 cr.Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., admission into the M.P.H. program and consent of instructor. Semester long, supervised graduate practicum in a health science setting, followed by an oral defense. Offered credit/no credit only.
G 593 Professional Portfolio 3 cr.Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., PUBH 591 and PUBH 599, admission to the M.P.H. program and consent of instructor. Integrates the student’s practice experience and knowledge gained through course work, practicum, and possibly professional papers and research with the goals and learning objectives of the M.P.H. program into a portfolio. Students will present and defend their portfolio to illustrate their growth as a professional public health practitioner at the end of their M.P.H. program. Offered credit/no credit only.
G 595 Special Topics Variable cr. (R-12)Offered intermittently. Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics. Previous topics have included Global Health and Epidemiology of Infectious Disease.
G 596 Independent Study Variable cr. (R-6)Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., admission to the M.P.H., program and consent of instructor. Supervised readings, research, or public health practice.
G 597 Research 3 cr. (R-6)Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., admission to the M.P.H. program and consent of instructor. With the guidance of their faculty advisor, students will develop a written proposal specific to the goals of their research project, and carry out the project.
G 599 Professional Paper 3 cr.Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., admission to the M.P.H. program and consent of instructor. Students will write and submit an original research paper to a peer-reviewed public health or medical journal. Students may also fulfill the professional paper requirement by presenting a conference paper or conference poster to a local, regional, or national \meeting. Offered credit/no credit only.
Amanda L. Golbeck, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 1983 (Biostatistics); M.A., University of California at Berkeley, 1979 (Statistics); M.A., University of California at Berkeley, 1977 (Anthropology)
Kari Harris, Ph.D., The University of Kansas, 1998 (Behavioral Psychology); M.P.H., The University of Kansas School of Medicine, 1997; M.S., Central Washington University, 1992 (Organizational Development)
Craig Molgaard, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 1979 (Anthropology/Health and Medical Sciences); M.P.H. University of California at Berkeley, 1982 (Epidemiology); M.A., University of California at Berkeley, 1976 (Anthropology) (Chair)
Peter Koehn, Ph.D., University of Colorado, 1973 (Political Science)
K. Ann Sondag, Ph.D., Southern Illinois, Carbondale, 1988 (Health and Human Performance)
Willard O. Granath, Ph.D., Wake Forest University, 1982 (Biological Sciences)
Janet L. Finn, Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1995 (Social Work and Anthropology)
Robin Saha, Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2002 (Environmental Studies)
Tom Seekins, Ph.D. University of Kansas, 1983 (Department of Psychology and the Rural Institute)
Kay Unger, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1974 ( Department of Economics)
Duncan Campbell, Ph.D., Washington State University, 2003 (Psychology)
Jean T. Carter, Ph.D., The University of Arizona, 1997; Pharm.D., The University of Arizona, 1993 (Pharmacy Practice)
Bryan Cochran, Ph.D., University of Washington, 2003 (Psychology)
Kimber Haddix McKay, Ph.D., University of California at Davis, 1998 (Anthropology)
Curtis Noonan, Ph.D., Colorado State University, 2000 (Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy Practice)
Elizabeth Putnam, Ph.D., University of Texas-Houston, 1989 (Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Gilbert Quintero, Ph.D., University of Arizona, 1998 (Anthropology)
Annjeanette Belcourt-Dittloff, Ph.D., The University of Montana, 2006 (Pharmacy Practice and School of Public and Community Health Sciences)
Ranjan Shrestha, Ph.D., Ohio State University, 2007 (Department of Economics)
Tony Ward, Ph.D., The University of Montana, 2001 (Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and School of Public and Community Health Sciences)
Donna Bainbridge, Ph.D., Boston University, 1990 (Rural Institute)
Ann Cook, Ph.D., The University of Montana, 2001 (Research, Psychology)
Kathleen Humphries, Ph.D., The University of California at Davis, 1995 (Rural Institute)
Lawrence L. White, M.H.A., St. Louis University, 1970 (Western Montana Area Health Education Center and School of Public and Community Health Sciences)
Meg Ann Traci, Ph.D., The University of Montana, 2000 (Rural Institute)
Rosemary Hughes, Ph.D., University of Houston, 1989 (Rural Institute)
Craig H. Ravesloot, Ph.D., University of Montana, 1995 (Rural Institute)
Elizabeth Ciemins, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 2003; M.P.H., University of California at Los Angeles, 1994 (Research Director, Center for Clinical Translation Research, Billings Clinic)
Leslie Deck, M.P.A., The University of Montana, 2009; C.H.E.S., National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, 2004 (Program Coordinator, Tobacco Use Prevention, Flathead City-County Health Department, Health Promotion Specialist, Summit Medical Fitness Center)
John Felton, M.P.H., The University of Montana, 2010, M.B.A., University of Cincinnati, (Executive Vic President - Operations, RiverStone Health, Billings)
Lawrence Edward Frisch, M.D., Harvard Medical School, 1971; M.P.H. University of Washington, 1995 (Associate Professor, Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine and Pharmacy; Executive Medical Director for Patient Safety and Quality, Vancouver Island Health Authority, British Columbia, Canada)
Suzanne Reid Hawley, Ph.D., Loma Linda University, 2002; M.P.H., Loma Linda University, 1999 (Assistant Professor) and MPH Program Director, University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
Steven D. Helgerson, M.D., University of Washington School of Medicine, 1973; M.P.H., University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine (State Medical Officer, Montana Department of Health and Human Services)
Cindi Laukes, M.A., University of Iowa, 1990 (Clinical Research Director, Montana Neuroscience Institute, Clinical Research Manager, Montana Cancer Institute)
Joanne Oreskovich, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2001 (Director/Epidemiologist, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Montana D.P.H.H.S.)
Lolem Ngong, M.P.H., University of Kansas School of Medicine-Witchta, 2001 (WESTAT Contractor, Centers for Disease Control land Prevention, Division of Tuberculosis Elimination)
Greg Oliver, M.S., The University of Montana, 1989 (Director Health Promotion Division, Missoula City-County Health Department)
Angelia Paschal, Ph.D., Kent State University, 2003; M.Ed., University of Mississippi, 1992 (Assistant Professor, University of Kansas School of Medicine-Witchita, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health)
Lisa Pascopella, Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1993; M.P.H., University of California at Berkeley, 1999 (Research Administrator and Faculty, FJ Curry national Tuberculosis Center, University of California-San Francisco)
Tom G. Schwann, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 1983 (Chief and Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Zoonotic Pathogens, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health.)
Julie Serstad, R.N., Montana State University, 1979; M.S.N., Gonzaga University, 1999 (Director of Health Services, Missoula City-County Health Department)
Registrar's Office
Lommasson Center 201
Phone: (406) 243-2995
Fax: (406) 243-4807
