Health Policy & Management

(Note for Prospective Applicants: Beginning in the Fall 2012, the School is moving to a new Certificate program with offerings including: Comparative Effectiveness Outcomes Research; Global Health; and Health Policy Analysis. Visit the Prospective Student/Columbia MPH site for more information.)

 The Policy Track is designed to provide students with a background in how the political system and health economics affect health policy. Students learn to interpret the current status of health policy and to predict future trends. The curriculum prepares students for employment in health departments, government agencies, consulting, and international health organizations.

Competencies

Graduates of the Policy Track will be able to:

• Describe and analyze how legislative initiatives make their way to the public agenda (or fail to), and into laws and regulations;
• Apply basic principles of ethical analysis to issues of public health practice and policy;
• Describe the policy process for improving the health status of populations;
• Analyze the effects of political, social, and economic policies on public health systems at the local, state, national, and international levels;
• Identify the primary program implementation challenges of legislative initiatives; and
• Demonstrate a systematic approach to analyzing the feasibility and possible unintended consequences of implementing and managing policy innovations in healthcare.

In addition to gaining the track-specific competencies listed above, graduates will also achieve both Department-wide as well as School-wide MPH competencies.