Global Health and Environment MPH

Our program is an interdisciplinary campus-wide program that provides an opportunity to study and develop solutions to the most urgent and complex global environmental changes that are affecting the health of populations around the world.

This transdisciplinary program emphasizes the analytical and practical skills necessary to protect the local, regional and global environment, while achieving sustainable development. Students develop skills in epidemiology, global environmental health, biostatistics and risk analysis in a global context. Students learn to apply their knowledge to address some of the most pressing and complicated environmental health challenges facing the global community.

This two-year program requires 48 units of graduate-level coursework. The curriculum emphasizes a sophisticated understanding of the sources, pathways, exposures, health impacts and control measures for environmental exposures—including pesticides, air pollution, vector-borne diseases, climate-forcing pollutants, waterborne infectious diseases and industrial contaminants—at the household, workplace, community, regional and global levels. Students should reference the Berkeley Compendium of EHS Expertise to supplement their required courses with electives. Students must also complete a full-time summer internship, as well as a capstone or thesis project demonstrating their ability to synthesize the core areas in global environmental health with application to environmental health problems encountered in the real world.

Curriculum

  • Year One (Fall Semester)
    • PB HLTH 250A: Epidemiological Methods I
    • PB HLTH 270: Introduction to Environmental Health Sciences
    • PB HLTH 200L: Health and Social Behavior Breadth
    • PB HLTH 200J: Health Policy and Management Breadth
  • Year One (Spring Semester)
    • PB HLTH 142: Introduction to Probability and Statistics in Biology and Public Health
    • PB HLTH 292: EHS Masters Seminar (EHS Career Pathways)
    • Electives: 4–8 units
  • Year One (Summer Semester)
    • Practicum (full time) – enroll for credit in Year Two Fall
  • Year Two (Fall Semester)
    • PB HLTH 270A: Exposure Assessment and Control I
    • PB HLTH 291A: Public Health Leadership: Improving Health & Creating Value
    • PB HLTH 292: Fall EHS MPH Thesis Seminar
    • Electives: 4–8 units
  • Year Two (Spring Semester)
    • PB HLTH 241: Statistical Analysis of Categorical Data
    • PB HLTH 292: Spring EHS MPH Thesis Seminar
    • Electives: 9–15 units

Qualifications

  • Ideally, applicants will have completed one undergraduate course in chemistry and one undergraduate course in biology.
  • Common undergraduate majors for admitted applicants: any biological, natural or physical science; public health; environmental studies; international studies; economics; political science; anthropology; and sociology.
  • Common work experience for admitted applicants: Work experience is not required for admission, but successful applicants in past years have worked as student researchers, environmental organizers and advocates, lab technicians, program managers, research scientists, engineers and post-graduate fellows, as well as for global NGOs and the Peace Corps.
  • GRE scores are optional. We recommend submitting a GRE if you have no other evidence of quantitative, verbal, or analytical abilities in your application.

Admission and Application Requirements

A writing sample. There is no length requirement for the writing sample, but a sample approximately 10 pages in length is typical. Please attach a writing sample that highlights your writing and analytical skills. The writing sample may be a final paper from a class, a popular media article, a report, a blog entry, an undergraduate thesis, etc. The purpose of the writing sample is to demonstrate your preparation for graduate-level coursework and research at Berkeley by sharing an example of your prior work that exhibits your ability to articulate and support complex ideas, solve technical problems, construct and evaluate arguments, and/or sustain a focused and coherent discussion. The writing sample should be your own work; if there were multiple authors, please describe your specific contributions to the writing and project.

Employment

Excellent career opportunities are available for our graduates in government, the private sector, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, and academia. Our graduates are qualified for positions in global health programs; federal, state and local health departments; positions in academic global health research; in delivery and evaluation of global health initiatives and public health campaigns; positions carrying out monitoring and evaluation of public health programs; positions with USAID and other federal agencies; work with health research organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and positions carrying out implementation science. Many alumni enter into fellowships or continue their academic work in doctoral programs across the country.

Admissions Statistics

3.6

Average GPA of admitted applicants

82%

Average Verbal GRE percentile scores of admitted applicants

65%

Average Quantitative GRE percentile scores of admitted applicants

35%

Acceptance Rate