Our Health Promotion and Community Health graduate programs prepare you to drive social change, advance health equity, and remove barriers to community health.
Health Promotion
The OHSU-PSU School of Public Health (SPH) unites two outstanding research universities that have spent decades working to help reduce health disparities and designing innovative solutions to public health challenges.
Our graduate degrees in Health Promotion and Community Health equip you to identify the root causes of health problems and to devise interventions that create healthier communities from local to global levels. You will have opportunities to work with leading experts in the areas of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), social determinants of health, sexual and reproductive health, food systems and nutrition, physical activity, aging, and other pressing issues.
Program Benefits
As a unique partnership between two world-class universities, the OHSU-PSU SPH unites health and scientific expertise with advanced scholarship in governance, public policy, urban studies, social work, and education. We offer a stand-alone Master of Public Health in Health Promotion, as well as dual degrees that pair the Health Promotion MPH with a Master of Social Work (MSW) or Master of Urban Planning (MURP). Our terminal degree in this discipline is a Ph.D. in Community Health.
These programs excel because of their:
- Commitment to equitable, socially just access to health and health-supporting resources for all.
- Holistic approach that is built on collaboration among experts from multiple academic disciplines.
- Emphasis on solving real-world health challenges.
- Partnerships and engagement with a breadth of populations and social groups.
- Deep relationships with state, county, and local agencies; schools; nonprofit organizations; and other community stakeholders.
- Tight-knit culture that fosters supportive relationships among faculty and students.
- Direct access to OHSU’s medical and scientific experts and PSU’s leading scholars in community engagement, public policy, urban affairs, and the social sciences.
Dual MPH Health Promotion & MSW
In this dual MPH/MSW degree program, you will gain a broad perspective on the factors that cause adverse health outcomes, and an equally broad range of tools for promoting public health. In addition, you will collaborate with experts from PSU’s nationally ranked School of Social Work, which, like the OHSU-PSU SPH, has promoted leading-edge innovations to improve the health of people in traditionally underrepresented communities.
Through both programs, you will gain perspectives on eliminating systems of oppression, racial and ethnic discrimination, economic inequities, and advancing programs for social and political justice. Both the MPH in Health Promotion and the Master of Social Work include extensive field work and community engagement in their curricula. By leveraging overlapping coursework, you can earn both degrees in three years, a full year less than it would take to earn the degrees separately.
Accreditation & Rankings
The OHSU-PSU School of Public Health is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).
Program Requirements & Guide
To see all of the graduate program guides for an overview of degree requirements and current programs of study, visit the MPH and MS Requirements page.
MPH / MSW Program Requirements Guide
Master of Public Health in Health Promotion & Social Work program requirements and guide.
Recruitment & Admissions
Schedule an appointment with our Recruitment & Admissions Manager.
Core Competencies & Contact Information
Dual MPH Health Promotion & MSW - Core Competencies
Have Questions?
Students graduating from this track will be able to:
- Apply theory in the development, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion interventions, programs, and policies.
- Develop interventions and programs to effect change at multiple levels, including individual, community, organization, and policy.
- Design and implement strategies to promote health.
- Solicit and integrate input from community and organization stakeholders.
- Design and deliver health communication messages.
- Evaluate and interpret results from program evaluations and other research.
- Define research problems, frame research questions, design research procedures, and outline methods of analysis.
- Apply ethical principles that govern the practice of public health.
- Enact cultural competency in diverse social and cultural communities.
- Develop a substantive area of emphasis.
Contact our Program Directors or our Recruitment & Admissions Manager with your questions about our MPH program.
MSW Application questions
SSWMSW@pdx.edu
MPH Application questions – Josh Hodsden, MBA, CPH
applysph@pdx.edu
503-494-1158
Schedule an Appointment
APPLY TO THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Take the next steps and apply to our MPH in Health Promotion / Master in Social Work dual degree program.
Learn about the application process and requirements for applying to the MPH in Health Promotion & MSW.
Apply NowApplication Requirements
Admission information for Graduate OHSU-PSU School of Public Health students.
Graduate AdmissionsTuition & Fees
School of Public Health guidelines for tuition and fees for graduate programs.
SPH Tuition & FeesFinancial Aid
Learn more about SPH financial aid opportunities for graduate students.
SPH Financial Aid