Frequently Asked Questions

What qualifications are you looking for in student applicants?

We are looking for students who are passionate about using the tools of communication and marketing to help solve some of our nation's, and our world's, most pressing health problems. Previous experience in either communication (e.g., journalism, public relations, advertising, broadcasting) and marketing, or public health, is absolutely a plus, but is not required.

What do your students actually learn?

The focus of our training program is primarily strategic (i.e., learning how to assess a public health situation, develop the right objectives, and determine how best to advance those objectives through effective communication and marketing, often in conjunction with other public health approaches).

Our students also gain invaluable experience in developing communication and marketing tactics (e.g., writing press releases, web design, broadcast production, product design), but these skills are generally learned through a combination of self-teaching, peer-teaching, and learning on the job while working with experienced experts (for example, during our students' required practicum experience).

What is a typical course like?

We feel strongly that graduate students learn best by doing, rather than by reading. All of our courses are organized such that students actually apply the ideas and skills that they are learning through lectures and readings (which, by the way, are extensive). Most of our courses involve students self-assembling into small teams (3 or 4 people) to explore and apply communication and marketing methods to the challenges posed by real-world problems on behalf of real public health organizations. Even in our introductory course – Introduction to Public Health Communication & Marketing – students roll up their sleeves and work in teams to address a public health problem of their choosing. Our students respond very positively to this approach.

Where do enrolled students get opportunities to complete their practicum experience?

The school has course and other prerequisites, such as the CITI training, which need to be completed before a student can enroll and complete a practicum. The practicum and the culminating experience. Attendance at a Practicum Training session is required prior to starting your practicum experience. Please note that there are only two training sessions scheduled per semester (1 in the summer).

The practicum is a three-way partnership among SPHHS Students, The George Washington University as represented by the departmental Practicum Director, and sponsoring agencies/organizations as represented by the Site Preceptor. More information can be found at http://www.gwumc.edu/sphhs/studentres/practicum/index.cfm. Our students have been privileged to get into some of the most renowned institutions in the field of public health in order to complete their practicum. The departments with its professors maintain constant communication with the program sites in order to take full advantage of the networks created through past practicum experiences. A list of where the students have done their practicums in the past can be accessed at Practicum Opportunities.

Where do our graduates work?

Many of our graduate students already have jobs when they join our community. These students go on to be better equipped in their field once they have completed their MPH with us. There are also those who are newly introduced into the work field, besides getting their practicum training when they are with us. Examples on where our students get opportunities to work once they graduate can be found at Where do our graduates work?.