Master of Public Health

Interdisciplinary Concentration

Breadcrumb

Interdisciplinary Concentration

Develop an individualized educational plan to gain the competencies required for your path in public health

A great emphasis of the Brown MPH Program is to empower students to engage in the design and implementation of their educational experience. Students in the Interdisciplinary Concentration work with advisors to develop their individual path within public health. Students in the Interdisciplinary Concentration will develop an individualized educational plan to gain the competencies required for their path in public health. This will include identifying the focus of the Interdisciplinary studies for that student, be that a content area (for example Maternal and Children Health, Aging, Mental Health, HIV, etc.) or methodologic focus (advanced methods in public health research/evaluation, etc.).

COVID-19: Lessons Learned

Faculty experts from across and beyond the School of Public Health — from epidemiology and political science, to medicine and behavioral science — take stock of what went wrong, and what needs to happen to address our major public health challenges, and to make us better prepared for the next pandemic.

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Program Snapshot

Competencies

MPH candidates in this concentration will develop core competencies prior to graduation.

Students work closely with advisors on writing at least 5 specific competencies for the courses selected for their Interdisciplinary Concentration, beyond the core MPH competencies. Students identify how they will meet the competencies through activities such as formal coursework, independent studies, internships, and thesis work.

Courses

Students in the Interdisciplinary concentration must identify four courses that are appropriate for their individualized plan.

Concentration Courses — in-person program

All MPH students must complete four concentration courses. They will complete coursework that combines courses from public health and beyond to create an individualized course of study. 

Two Specialized Tracks  

Two specialized tracks have been established within the interdisciplinary concentration to allow students to focus on mindfulness or addictions.

Are you ready to dive deep into the transformative power of mindfulness? Our Mindfulness Track equips you with essential competencies to evaluate its impact on physical and mental health, analyze various interventions, and assess the underlying mechanisms at play.

What You’ll Learn:

  1. Evidence Evaluation: Discover the science behind mindfulness and its effects on well-being (PHP1880).
  2. Mindfulness Practices: Explore the strengths and limitations of major mindfulness practices (PHP1880).
  3. Research Assessment: Understand how researchers investigate mindfulness mechanisms (PHP1885).
  4. Framework Development: Use directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to create a testable framework for health outcomes (PHP1895).
  5. Research Protocol Creation: Develop a comprehensive mindfulness research protocol and data analysis plan (PHP1895).

Mindfulness Course Requirements

Complete the following Mindfulness courses:

  • PHP1880: Meditation, Mindfulness, and Health
  • PHP1895: Mindfulness Epidemiology

Choose Your Science Courses (Select two):

  • PHP1885: Measuring Mindfulness
  • PHP1890: The Craving Mind
  • COST1020: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Meditation
  • COST1710B: Science and Meditation

Join us on this journey to harness the power of mindfulness and make a meaningful impact in health!

The Addictions track provides an interdisciplinary foundation to understand substance use, misuse, and addiction and to address the social and health-related costs of addiction. This track is designed to prepare MPH students for careers in addiction prevention, program evaluation, and research.

What You’ll Learn:

  1. Explain how the misuse of substances impacts population health
  2. Compare how different biopsychosocial models explain why individuals develop addiction
  3. Analyze how social determinants affect vulnerability to addiction using the socioecological model
  4. Appraise approaches to prevent harms from substance use
  5. Synthesize evidence for the effectiveness of substance use disorder treatments
  6. Evaluate the impacts of substance use-related policies on population health
  7. Produce an addictions science research product that demonstrates mastery of scholarly writing

Addictions Course Requirements

Complete both of the following addictions courses:

  • PHP1550, Substance Use and Vulnerability to Addiction
  • PHP1551, Substance Use Prevention, Treatment & Policy

Select one of the following perspectives on addictions courses:

  • PHP1540, Alcohol Use and Misuse
  • PHP1610, Tobacco, Disease and the Industry: cigs, e-cigs and more
  • PHP1890, The Craving Mind

Select one of the following methods for addictions courses:

  • PHP1810, Community- Engaged Research in Public Health
  • PHP2015, Foundations of Spatial Analysis in Public Health
  • PHP2030, Clinical Trials Methods
  • PHP2040, Survey Research Methods
  • PHP2060, Qualitative Methods 
  • PHP2300, Behavioral Research Methods
  • PHP2340, Behavioral and Social Science Theory for Health Promotion
  • PHP2360, Developing + Testing Theory-Driven, Evidence-Based Psychosocial and Behavioral Health Interventions
  • PHP2061, Qualitative Analysis in Public Health Research*

*PHP2061 is only an option for students who are following the qualitative analytic sequence (PHP2506/2060) for their data analysis core requirement

Elective Courses — in person program

In addition to the core and concentration courses, every student must complete three general elective courses. Students may count any PHP course that is 1000 level or above as a general elective. Other graduate-level courses at Brown may be taken as an elective, with approval.

Visit the Core Courses Page

Interdisciplinary Integrated Learning Experience (ILE)

Students are required to complete either a thesis or a capstone course for the ILE.

Students in the Interdisciplinary concentration must complete their ILE (thesis or capstone) project on a topic appropriate for their area of study.

Approval of Concentration Plan

The initial plan should be submitted to the Concentration Lead and then to the MPH Program Director in the fall of the first year for approval. Students can continue to refine the plan in the second year, with substantive changes approved by the Concentration Lead and MPH Program Director.

Faculty

Interdisciplinary Concentration Lead