The Zilber School of Public Health and the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare collaboratively offer a program designed to provide students with theoretical, research- based policy and practice knowledge and accompanying skill sets, to address health inequities and inequalities and respond to the health and well-being needs of communities at the local, regional, national and international arenas.

Admission Requirements 

Application Deadlines

Application deadlines vary by program, please review the application deadline chart for specific programs. Other important dates and deadlines can be found by using the One Stop calendars.

Admission

Students are admitted to each graduate program separately and based on admission requirements which are consistent with those specified by the UWM Graduate School, the MPH program in the Zilber School of Public Health, and the MSW program of the Department of Social Work.

Credits and Courses

Students accepted into this MPH/MSW program complete the following courses:

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Required Common Core Courses (24 Credits)

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Common Core Courses
PH 702	Introduction to Biostatistics	3
PH 703	Environmental Health Sciences	3
PH 704	Principles and Methods of Epidemiology	3
PH 705	Principles of Public Health Policy and Administration	3
PH 706	Perspectives on Community & Behavioral Health	3
PH 708	Health Systems and Population Health	3
PH 790	Field Experience in Public Health (4 cr)	4
PH 800	Capstone in Public Health (2 cr)	2
Total Credits		24

Students specialize in one of five tracks of study:

• Biostatistics *
• Community and Behavioral Health Promotion
• Environmental Health Sciences
• Epidemiology *
• Public Health Policy and Administration *

* These tracks are currently not available in the Coordinated MPH/MSW

Biostatistics Track (22 credits)

In addition to the common MPH core classes, students complete:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Courses		13
PH 710	Seminar in Biostatistics and Bioinformatics (1 cr)
PH 711	Intermediate Biostatistics
PH 712	Probability and Statistical Inference
PH 713	Analyzing Observational and Experimental Data
PH 718	Data Management and Visualization in R
“S”electives – Choose three (9 credits minimum)		9
PH 707	Introduction to Statistical Computing
PH 709	Public Health Informatics
PH 714	Statistical Genetics and Genetic Epidemiology
PH 715	Applied Categorical Data
PH 716	Applied Survival Analysis
PH 717	Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis
PH 720	Special Topics in Biostatistics:
PH 721	Introduction to Translational Bioinformatics
PH 723	Design, Conduct and Analysis of Clinical Trials
Total Credits		22

Community and Behavioral Health Promotion Track (24 credits)

In addition to the common MPH core classes, students complete:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Courses		15
PH 701	Public Health Principles and Practice
PH 725	Theories and Models of Health Behavior
PH 726	Community Health Assessment
PH 727	Program Planning & Implementation in Public Health
PH 728	Program Evaluation in Public Health
Methods “S”electives- choose two		6
PH 729	Survey Research Methods in Public Health
PH 776	Qualitative Approaches in Public Health Policy and Administration
PH 831	Community Engagement and Participatory Research Approaches in Public Health
Electives		3
Total Credits		24

Environmental Health Sciences Track (23 Credits)

In addition to the common MPH core classes, students complete:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Courses		11
PH 701	Public Health Principles and Practice
PH 743	Environmental Risk Assessment
PH 750	Seminar in Environmental Health Sciences (1 credit x 2)
PH 762	Environmental Epidemiology
Built Environment “S” elective – Choose one		3
ARCH 790	Special Topics:
GEOG 520	Physical Geography of the City
GEOG 880	Urban Sustainability
or URBPLAN 880	Urban Sustainability
GEOG 945	The Internal Structure of the City
IND ENG 580	Ergonomics
URBPLAN 791	Introduction to Urban Geographic Information Systems for Planning
Other classes as approved by advisor
Chemical Environment “S” elective- Choose one		3
PH 741	Environmental Public Health Microbiology
PH 744	Environmental Toxicology
PH 745	Developmental Toxicology
Biological Environment “S” elective- Choose one		3
PH 741	Environmental Public Health Microbiology
PH 745	Developmental Toxicology
PH 775	Mechanisms of Infectious Disease
Elective – Choose one additional course		3
Total Credits		23

Epidemiology Track (24 credits)

In addition to the common MPH core classes, students complete:

Public Health Policy and Administration Track (24 credits)

In addition to the common MPH core classes, students complete:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Courses		18
PH 700	Structures of Inequality and Population Health
PH 776	Qualitative Approaches in Public Health Policy and Administration
PH 777	Quantitative Research Methods for PH Policy & Administration
PH 781	Public Health Administration
PH 785	Principles of Public Health Economics
Content Elective- choose at least one		3
PH 708	Health Systems and Population Health
PH 774	Violence and Health
PH 784	Social and Economic Policy as Health Policy
PH 769	Critical Perspectives on Nutritional Epidemiology and the Food System
PH 820	Maternal and Child Health Foundations, Policy and Practice
Methods and Practice Elective- Choose at least one		3
PH 726	Community Health Assessment
PH 727	Program Planning & Implementation in Public Health
PH 728	Program Evaluation in Public Health
PH 729	Survey Research Methods in Public Health
PH 759	Intro to Regression for Understanding the SDOH
PH 763	Epidemiology for Equity
ED POL 601	Foundations of Community-Based Organizations
ED POL 602	Proposal Writing and Fundraising Skills for Community-Based Organizations
ED POL 711	Community Change and Engagement Strategies:
NONPROF 791	Nonprofit Advocacy and Public Policy
PUB ADM 630	Budgeting and Finance in the Public Sector
URBPLAN 791	Introduction to Urban Geographic Information Systems for Planning
BUSMGMT 718	Concepts and Practice of Nonprofit Management
Other classes as approved by advisor
Total Credits		24

 Total MPH Degree Credits Required: 46-48 Credit Hours

Comprehensive Examination

Not Required

Master of Social Work (MSW)

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Foundation Curriculum		20
SOC WRK 604	Social Systems and Social Work Practice
SOC WRK 662	Methods of Social Welfare Research
SOC WRK 665	Cultural Diversity and Social Work
SOC WRK 705	Individual Behavior and Social Welfare
SOC WRK 708	Social Work Methods I: Individuals and Families
SOC WRK 709	Social Work Methods II: Groups, Organizations and Communities
SOC WRK 721	Field Instruction I
Advanced Practice Curriculum
Practice courses (711 or 713; 811 or 915; 820)		8
SOC WRK 711	Direct Social Work Practice I
SOC WRK 713	Community Organization, Planning and Human Service Administration I
SOC WRK 811	Direct Social Work Practice II:
SOC WRK 915	Human Services Administration II
SOC WRK 820	Seminar in Social Work Practice:
Field Courses		11
SOC WRK 722	Field Instruction II
SOC WRK 821	Field Instruction III
SOC WRK 822	Field Instruction IV
Human Behavior Content (Choose one)		3
SOC WRK 753	Adult Psychopathology
SOC WRK 771	Development of the Family Over the Life Span
SOC WRK 685	Social Gerontology
SOC WRK 774	Trauma Counseling I: Theory and Research
Research		5
SOC WRK 793	Evaluation of Practice
PH 728	Program Evaluation in Public Health
Social Policy		2-3
SOC WRK 851	Social Issue and Policy Analysis:
Electives selected from among successfully completed MPH courses		6
Total Credits		55-56

Total Degree Credits Required:
(1) With BSW: 34 cr.
(2) Without a BSW: 56cr.

Total Credits for Coordinated Degree Program:
(1) 65 - 82 cr. (with BSW)
(2) 87-104 cr. (non-BSW)

The credits for the coordinated program would typically be completed in both programs at the same time, rather than one program after the other. A student not completing the requirements for the coordinated degree program would need to complete all requirements for an individual program in order to receive a degree.

Additional Requirements

Faculty Advisor

All students will be assigned a faculty member to advise and supervise their studies as specified in Graduate School regulations. Students should develop, in consultation with the advisor, a written plan of study, including selection of the specialized concentration. Students may elect to change advisor contingent upon the new advisor’s appropriateness to the area of specialized concentration, the advisor’s acceptance of additional advisees, and formal notification to the MSW specialist in the MSW program.

Thesis

Not Required.

Comprehensive Examination

Not Applicable.

Time Limit

Students in the coordinated MPH/MSW degree program must complete all degree requirements within seven years of the first enrollment semester as a degree student.