This course will provide individuals from a range of different professional backgrounds with academic and experiential development in the theory and practice of public health. It allows you to focus on a selection of sub-specialties of public health:

• Health promotion
• Health protection
• Epidemiology

In Part I, you will take core modules to the value of 30 credits.

In Part II, you can choose one of the pathways and undertake modules to the value of 30 credits (Pathways 1, 2 and 3).

In Part III, you will undertake research and write a dissertation to the value of 30 credits (Pathways 1, 2 and 3).

You will take a total of 90 credits as below:

Part I
Core Modules - All Pathways (30 credits)

EH6025 Principles and Practice of Public Health (10 credits)
EH6026 Applied Research for Public Health (10 credits)
EH6027 Public Health Informatics (5 credits)
EH6028 Leadership in Public Health (5 credits)

Part II (Pathway preferences will be chosen in consultation with the course director.)

Pathway 1: Health Promotion (30 credits):
Student take 30 credits as follows:

EH6029 Health Promotion: concepts, principles and practice (10 credits)
EH6045 Practice Portfolio - Health Promotion (5 credits)
EH6039 Public Health and Behavioural Change (5 credits)
EH6091 Graduate Information Literacy Skills (5 credits)

plus 5 credits from the following:

EH6046 Global and Environmental Health (5 credits)
SS6017 Critical Social Science Perspectives on Public Health (5 credits)

Pathway 2: Health Protection (30 credits)
Students take 30 credits as follows:

EH6019* The Principles and Practices of Multi-Disciplinary Health Protection (10 credits)
MB6000* Microbiology for Health Protection (5 credits)
EH6035* Practice Portfolio (5 credits)
EH6046* Global and Environmental Health (5 credits)
EH6091 Graduate Information Literacy Skills (5 credits)

*Holders of the BSc in Public Health or the BSc in Public Health and Health Promotion will be exempt from EH6025; Principles and Practice of Public Health if he/she undertakes the MPH within five years from the date of successful completion of either of the above mentioned degrees. Learning outcomes for EH6025 have been covered in the following BSc modules; Currently EH1005, EH2005, EH4007, EH4003, EH4005, EH4008, SS4000 and GV4000

Pathway 3: Epidemiology (30 credits)
Students take 30 credits as follows:

EH6031 Advanced Epidemiology (10 credits)
ST6011 Advanced Biostatistics (5 credits)
ST6012 Survival Analysis (5 credits)
EH6044 Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (5 credits)
EH6091 Graduate Information Literacy Skills (5 credits)

Students must achieve an aggregate of 40% overall in Part II in order to proceed to Part III.

Part III
Pathways 1 and 2:
EH6040 Minor dissertation in Public Health and Epidemiology (30 credits)

Pathway 3:
EH6043 Minor dissertation in Epidemiology (30 credits)

Further details on the content and modules are available on the Postgraduate College Calendar

Fitness to Practise

This programme will be subject to the University's Fitness to Practise Policy - full details may be found here

Prospective students must satisfy the following:

• students accepted on the course would normally be expected to hold an Honours primary degree in a relevant subject (minimum Second Class Honours) or an Honours primary degree in any discipline (minimum Second Class Honours) and either possess a postgraduate qualification in a relevant field or show evidence of at least two years work experience in a relevant field;
• applicants may be requested to submit a sample of their own written work after their initial application;
• applicants may be requested to attend an interview.

Applicants should indicate on their application form their reasons for wishing to enter this programme and will be required to discuss these at interview.

Note:In exceptional circumstances, applicants without a primary degree may be recommended for entry to the programme following a review of their individual qualifications and experience by the course committee. Admission of such applicants will be subject to the approval of the College of Medicine and Health Executive Committee.

If you are applying with Qualifications obtained outside Ireland and you wish to verify if you meet the minimum academic and English language requirements for this programme please click here to view the grades comparison table by country and for details of recognised English language tests. 

The teaching takes place from 4pm to 9pm on Thursdays and 9.30am to 5pm on Fridays. Teaching will include SPSS (all students) and STATA labs (Advanced Epidemiology students) and occasional field trips. For two of the pathways (Health Promotion and Health Protection) you are expected to do a ten day placement.

You will have a range of written assignments, exams, placement portfolio, presentations and finally, the completion of 10,000-word dissertation.

Staff from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health along with guest lectures from outside the Department.

Prof Ivan Perry

Dr Tony Fitzgerald

Dr Birgit Greiner

Dr Janas Harrington

Prof Patricia Kearney

Dr Catherine Conlon

Dr Zubair Kabir, Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology

Mary Cronin, Lecturer in Health Promotion and Qualitative Research Method

Maura Smiddy, Lecturer in Health Protection