Celebrating its 10th anniversary this fall, the Master's of Public Health program at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice focuses on training leaders who will analyze, organize and effect change in the public health and health care delivery sectors, according to Director Mark Splaine.
While Dartmouth does not have a graduate school of public health, the master's of public health degree takes advantage of TDI's expertise in the public health care system and is well-aligned with the goals of TDI as an institution, Splaine said.
"One of the areas TDI has focused on is understanding how to improve the health of a population, which is the essential element in thinking about public health," he said.
The program, started in 2002, features two enrollment options a full-time, year-long program and a part-time option that lasts between two and three years. Both options are residential, and most part-time students work at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
"Our courses are scheduled to help facilitate part-time students' schedules," Splaine said.
Like all schools of public health, Dartmouth's master's program includes an internship requirement with a minimum of 120 hours of work. The program maintains a network of preceptors throughout New Hampshire and Vermont, enabling students to easily secure internships.
The program also requires a capstone experience, a detailed project comprised of a paper and a formal presentation to students and faculty.
Although top-ranked public health programs at other institutions are larger and better-established, a number of them share the requirements and flexibility characteristic of TDI's program.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, founded in 1916, also requires its students to complete a capstone project, according to program chair Marie Diener-West. The institution offers full-time and part-time programs with a number of courses available online.
"We started with several online courses in the late 1980s, funded by the [Center for Disease Control and Prevention], and now we've built up to over 100 courses," Diener-West said. "We have over 400 part-time students, but most of our full-time students take at least one online course as well."
Dartmouth currently offers six online courses and hopes to expand the online component of its program, which is available to both current students and alumni, according to Splaine.
"We know there are people who are not able to come to Dartmouth but really want to learn about the things that our program is teaching," Splaine said. "We're trying to create ways for people like this to be part of something."
The TDI master's program is much smaller in size than programs at institutions like the University of North Carolina, whose public health degree was established in 1939. At UNC, eight different academic departments ranging from hospitality administration to nutrition offer their own master's of public health degrees, according to director David Steffen.
Like its counterparts at other schools, the UNC program enables students to study full-time or part-time from on or off campus, Steffen said.
Dartmouth's master's of public health program differs from more traditional programs in its focus on clinical practice and close ties with the medical school, according to professor Carrie Colla.
Will Schpero '10 GR '12 said that the small size of Dartmouth's program allows for collaboration between professors and students.
"There are a ton of opportunities to work with some of the leading minds in the country on pressing health policy and health care issues," Schpero said.
Whereas Johns Hopkins requires applicants to acquire at least two years of health care experience prior to enrolling, most TDI students are recent college graduates, current health care professionals and individuals undergoing professional training.
"You have people of all ages and very different experiences that come together and work in the same class," Splaine said. "It's a really exciting environment to be a teacher and a learner."
Jeff Danford GR '12 said that the program benefits heavily from professors' dedication and knowledge, while Schpero currently a health policy fellow in TDI's Center for Population Health said that the program gives students high-level experiences that can be applied after graduation.
"TDI, like many of Dartmouth's graduate schools, is very much focused on teaching students how to work in the context of an inter-professional team," Schpero said.
Danford, who works at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction, said that the master's in public health program helped him find his current job.
"Many TDI faculty members work at the VA," Danford said. "Also, many of the things I learned at the MPH program, especially epidemiology, biostatistics and quality improvement, gave me the skills to do what I do."
Schpero is a former member of The Dartmouth Senior Staff.
