Program Description

The MPH is a professional and academic degree designed especially for clinicians and non-clinicians. The program emphasizes the use of scientific and biblical evidence in health programming. The MPH is offered with the following three emphases: Health Ministry, Health Promotion, and Nutrition.

Possible Employment Opportunities

The fields in which graduates in public health are most often needed include community health, epidemiology, biostatistics and information, environmental health, and global health. Examples of potential employers include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Health and Social Services: Employment by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), industry (product promotion, computerized screening programs), Medical Centers (patient health education, preventive services), Religious Organizations (health department or local house of worship).
2. Relief and Development Activities: Government and NGOs (e.g., Adventist Development and Relief Agency–ADRA, World Vision).
3. Research: Schools, hospitals, industry, government.
4. Teaching: Universities, schools, industry, NGOs.
5. Law and Policy Enforcement: Government agencies.
6. Advocacy (e.g., smoking reduction policies): Government, churches, advocacy groups.
7. Health Care Provider (e.g., specialist in wellness, lifestyle modification, and nutritional health): Self-employment as a consultant in cooperation with other health professionals in a group setting.
8. Publishing: Publishing house (e.g., editor of a health magazine like Life and Health).
9. Administration: In universities, hospitals, churches (e.g., health department of the Adventist Church).
10. Social and Religious Services: Church health services as part of a spectrum of programs (e.g., pastor evangelist in the Adventist Church), chaplaincy at health settings, and health education in schools.

Professional Competencies

1. Addresses ecological determinants of health.
2. Involves multi-sectors in health programs.
3. Develops appropriate community-based health improvement programs.
4. Addresses health issues throughout the life cycle.
5. Works together with the community in assessing, planning, developing, and evaluating health interventions.
6. Applies theories and models in lifestyle improvement/health behavior change interventions.
7. Prepares the community for environmental emergencies, and employs effective disaster management strategies.
8. Conducts health research.
9. Communicates effectively one-on-one and with the community, using appropriate health communications methods.
10. Wholistically integrates scientific knowledge and the Bible.

Example Certifications in Public Health including Health Education

The program prepares the graduate in core competencies which reflect the integration of the mission of AIIAS with the competencies expected regionally and internationally as listed by the Council on Education for Public Health (www.ceph.org) with data on areas of responsibility collected by the Council on Linkages Between Academic and Public Health Practice (www.cphno.org). Assessment of MPH core competencies in designed to include areas of responsibility as tested for by leading international certifications such as

1. The Certified in Public Health (CPH®) examination by the National Board for Public Health Examiners that assesses for ten areas of responsibility (https://www.nbphe.org/cph-content-outline/).
2. The Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES®) examination (https://www.nchec.org/ches) that assesses for eight areas of responsibility, competencies, and sub-competencies for health education specialist practice as assessed for by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (www.NCHEC.org).

and designed to prepare for employment eligibility as a public health leader and/or health ministries leader in centers holding faith in the God of Abraham such as the global health network of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The MPH graduate is responsible and encouraged to determine their eligibility for certification and employment in their area of interest. Preparation for specialized boards may depend on the background of the MPH graduate along with additional exam preparation, such as wellness coaching, nutrition, and lifestyle medicine (https://iblm.co/).

As of 2022, AIIAS MPH program alumni with three years of full-time experience in public health are eligible to sit for the CPH® exam that is proctored by Prometric™ (https://www.prometric.com/). Determination of eligibility for the CHES ® exam is subject to transcript evaluation upon application to the NCHEC.

Competencies of the MPH Program

The MPH Program foundation competencies to which an MPH student is prepared and assessed for follow the listing by CEPH* (2021 criteria):

Evidence-based Approaches to Public Health

• Apply epidemiological methods to settings and situations in public health practice.
• Select quantitative and qualitative data collection methods appropriate for a given public health context.
• Analyze quantitative and qualitative data using biostatistics, informatics, computer-based programming, and software, as appropriate.
• Interpret results of data analysis for public health research, policy, or practice.

Public Health & Health Care Systems

• Compare the organization, structure, and function of health care, public health, and regulatory systems across national and international settings.
• Discuss the means by which structural bias, social inequities, and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community, and systemic levels.

Planning & Management to Promote Health

• Assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities health.
• Apply awareness of cultural and religious values and practices to the design, implementation, or critique of public health policies or programs.
• Design a population-based policy, program, project, or intervention.
• Explain basic principles and tools of budget and resource management.
• Select methods to evaluate public health programs.

Policy in Public Health

• Discuss the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence. 
• Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes.
• Advocate for political, social, or economic policies and programs that will improve health in diverse populations.
• Evaluate policies for their impact on public health and health equity leadership.
• Apply leadership and/or management principles to address a relevant issue.
• Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges.

Communication

• Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors.
• Communicate audience-appropriate (i.e., non-academic, non-peer audience) public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation.
• Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content.

Interprofessional and/or Intersectoral Practice

• Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health.

Systems Thinking

• Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than standard narrative.
• *Excerption (with modifications to include faith-based emphasis) from the Council on Education for Public Health, 2021, https://media.ceph.org/documents/2021.Criteria.pdf

Public Health Advisory Committee

The Department of Public Health is advised by an external and independent global Public Health Advisory Committee comprised of stakeholders (including university health education leaders and potential employers) representing major regions of the world. The current chair of the advisory committee, Anna Nelson, DrPH, CHES, is an MPH/DrPH Program Director at Loma Linda University, USA, and leads the committee representing the international stakeholders of AIIAS. This advisory committee meets annually to advise the MPH program in relation to the Mision, Vision, and Outcome expectations.