Master of Public Health (MPH)
Prevention. Promotion. Communication.

MPH Concentrations

Health Services Administration

Concentration area director:
Dr. Carl Li
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine
275 Farber Hall
716 829-5382
carlli@buffalo.edu

The MPH in health services administration is intended for students who plan to work as public health administrators in community-based organizations addressing health promotion and the prevention of diseases and injuries.  Graduates are prepared to take on roles in public health program planning, implementation, participation, collaborations or partnerships, policy development, public or professional communications, or evaluation.  This concentration prepares students for public health careers in all branches of government and a wide variety of other settings including voluntary health associations (e.g., American Heart Association), professional organizations (e.g., public health associations), public health advocacy organizations, and the prevention and health promotion programs of medical care providers such as hospitals, health maintenance organizations and industrial medical care offices.  The overarching concentration-specific competencies addressed are as follows:

  • Application of program planning and health policy principles and methods to the practice of public health.
  • Synthesis of the concepts in program planning or health policy as they relate to health services administration, as well as integration with concepts in epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, and health behavior.
  • Ability to demonstrate effective written and oral skills for communicating results in the context of professional public health activities.

Courses and Competencies

Other program items (school policies, waivers, credit transfers, multi-award degree programs, etc.)

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Courses and Competencies

Individual courses have a set of detailed competencies provided in course syllabi.  What follows are overarching statements that summarize these competencies.

Core required MPH courses

The required core courses taken by all MPH students are as follows. They address competencies established by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) for the five core areas of the MPH degree:  biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, and social and behavioral sciences. NOTE: SPM 501 and STA 527 must be taken in the first semester of a student's program. (In extenuating circumstances, students can request a waiver to the first semester requirement from their concentration area director but the courses must be taken by the second year of the program.)

Click course calendar for a schedule of required and selective courses.

STA 506 Introduction to Statistical Computing is required by all MPH concentrations except health services administration.  For the health services administration concentration it is a selective course.

The required core MPH courses taken by all MPH students will enable students to:

  • Apply descriptive techniques to public health data; calculate and interpret epidemiologic measures of association, risk and disease frequency; define and apply the basic elements of epidemiologic study designs; describe bias, confounding and effect modification and the basic approaches for their evaluation in epidemiologic data; demonstrate appropriate inferences from epidemiologic data; evaluate epidemiologic reports; define the principles of a good screening program and calculate and interpret relevant measures; and describe disease outbreak investigations. (SPM 501)
  • Describe the components and major operational features of the U.S. health care delivery system from a population perspective, within a historical context of the technical, economic, political and social forces that continue to propel change. (SPM 507)
  • Understand the nature of public health as a profession, take into account the diversity of risk factors affecting population health as well as the options available to improve population health, and explain the public health strategy and its benefits and limitations for improving population health. (SPM 533)
  • Through the acquisition of basic knowledge in the biological sciences, evaluate and interpret the influence that the biological sciences have on population based health and public health programs and services. (SPM 535)
  • Explain the process of risk assessment and its utilization in decision-making to prevent and control environmental hazards, and describe and evaluate causes, effects, and amelioration of environmental health problems from an ecological or systems perspective. (SPM 549)
  • Through an understanding of the behavioral, social, and cultural factors related to individual and population health and health disparities over the life course, better develop, administer, and evaluate programs and policies in public health and health services directed at promoting and sustaining healthy environments and healthy lives for individuals and populations. (HB 527)
  • Plan, perform, and report basic statistical calculations and analyses and critically read public health and medical care journal articles. (STA 527)

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Concentration Courses            

The three required health services administration concentration courses are (requirements go into effect for incoming students Fall 2009 semester):

Students select three selective courses.  The selective courses are:

In addition to the competencies addressed by the core required MPH courses, the MPH in health services administration concentration through the required and selective courses is designed to enable students to:

  • Design program plans and evaluations, including evaluation designs, data gathering techniques, implementation strategies and report writing. (SPM 523)
  • Apply program planning and evaluation principles within a field setting. (SPM 529)
  • Apply the practical skills and knowledge base needed to be effective leaders and public health administrators. (SPM 530)
  • Effectively work with individuals who specialize in human resource management, quality management, and public health financing. (SPM 536)
  • Explain the critical role law plays in shaping public health outcomes and basic legal principles underlying public health regulation in a market-driven system and be able to interact effectively with lawyers and the legal system. (SPM 537)
  • Apply theory, principles and methods learned to design and implement community health assessment instruments for demographically diverse populations. (SPM 538)
  • Utilize basic economic concepts in decision making in public health policy and the healthcare business sector, and to effectively communicate the future economic outcomes of current public health policy. (SPM 539)
  • Analyze the U.S. health policy making process in terms of the variables that affect population health and to formulate strategies to influence the public health policy environment. (SPM 542)
  • Apply practice-based knowledge and skills necessary to manage governmental public health programs and activities at the local, state, and federal levels. (SPM 543)
  • From the perspective of an organizational leader, undertake situation analyses, engage in strategic thinking and decision-making, and formulate appropriate responses that move the organization forward amid changes in the delivery, organization, and financing of health care. (SPM 632)
  • Undertake effective data management, manipulation, and analyses and prepare graphic reports at a basic level using the statistical software package SAS. (STA 506)

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Field Training

Important links:

The competencies acquired during field training will vary among field training experiences.  However, there are competencies which are addressed in most if not all field training sites irrespective of students’ MPH concentrations.  These are as follows:  

  • Articulate an achievable mission, set of core values, and vision.
  • Engage in dialogue and learning from others to advance public health goals.
  • Demonstrate transparency, integrity, and honesty in all actions.
  • Promote high standards of personal and organizational integrity, compassion, honesty, and respect for all people.
  • Appreciate the importance of working collaboratively with diverse communities and constituencies (e.g., individual clients, practitioners, agencies, organizations, and researchers).
  • Apply legal and ethical principles to the use of information technology and resources in public health settings.
  • Use information technology to access, evaluate, and  interpret public health data.
  • Describe the legal and ethical bases for public health and health services.
  • Develop enhanced awareness of basic concepts and as appropriate use skills involved in culturally appropriate community engagement and empowerment with diverse communities.

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Additional competencies relevant to the health services administration concentration are acquired through field training, but these will vary depending on a student’s particular experiences.  Students will be involved in some aspect of public health program planning, implementation, participation, collaborations or partnerships, policy development, public or professional communications, or evaluation.  Such experiences lend themselves to various pertinent competencies as follows:

  • Application of the principles of program planning, development, budgeting, management and evaluation in organizational and community initiatives.
  • Ability to function within a public health or health care organization, demonstrating an understanding of organizational and financial issues and how they impact the delivery of health services and public health functions and services.
  • Understanding of and ability to implement methods of ensuring community health, safety and preparedness.
  • Participation in a policy process for improving the health status of populations.
  • Application of the principles of strategic planning and marketing to public health.
  • Application of quality and performance improvement concepts to address organizational performance issues.
  • Communicate health policy and management issues using appropriate channels and technologies.
  • Demonstrate leadership skills for building partnerships.
  • Ability to recognize and address legal and ethical issues in the context of delivery of public health and health services.

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Integrative project

Important links:

The purpose of the integrative project is for students to demonstrate they can develop an integrated approach that encompasses the academic discipline of a public health curriculum to address current issues that affect the public’s health.  It gives students the opportunity to incorpo­rate what they learned from their courses and practice experiences or from prior work experience into a paper that focuses on a specific public health issue.  This also gives students experience in writing and critical thinking, and because they give a presentation on their project, in public speaking. 

Although the integrative project is only 2 credits, this is not an indication of the amount of effort required. In the integrative project students have the opportunity to master a topic of their own choosing, one they can proudly display to future employers and colleagues as an area where they have special expertise. The level of that expertise will be proportional to the effort expended.

The topics covered by the integrative project papers vary widely and likewise the competencies acquired can be expected to vary among projects.  However, there are competencies which are addressed in most if not all projects and these are:

  • Demonstrate effective written and oral skills for communicating with different audiences in the context of professional public health activities.
  • Demonstrate integration by identifying linkages between the specifics of the project topic and public health disciplines and applying methods and techniques acquired in the program to the specific topic.

By the completion of the integrative project, students in the Health Services Administration concentration will have demonstrated:

1.   The ability to integrate and apply principles, methods, and knowledge from preceding courses to address a specific health services administration issue of public health significance. The format for addressing the problem could be:

  • An analysis of the problem, including its nature and magnitude, possible causes and contributing factors, and prevention and intervention strategies.
  • A grant proposal for exploring some dimension of the problem, such as causes, new prevention and intervention strategies, or evaluation of current strategies.
  • Implementation of a program for addressing the problem. This could be conduct an evaluation study or implementation of a prevention or intervention strategy in a specific target population.
  • A program evaluation proposal in which an evaluation mechanism is developed that addresses the problem.
  • A descriptive epidemiologic assessment of the problem in terms of person, place, and time and assessment of factors contributing to the health services issue under study.
  • An individualized project developed by the student in consultation with his or her faculty advisor.

The particular core, interdisciplinary/cross-cutting, and concentration-specific competencies each student uses will vary by project, and the relevant competencies should be determined in consultation with the student’s project advisor and be evident in the final written report. However, it is expected that the project will demonstrate that the student is able to do one or more of the following competencies as appropriate to the project:

  • Apply principles of program planning, development, budgeting, implementation, management or evaluation to the project
  • Appraise the impact of the structure and function of a public health or health care organization and organizational and financial issues on the delivery of health services and public health functions and intervention and prevention services.
  • Develop, evaluate and enhance using evidence-based principles the impact of policies on improving the health status of populations
  • Utilize principles of strategic planning and marketing to public health, as relevant to the project.
  • Employ quality and performance improvement concepts to address organizational performance issues in the conduct of the project
  • Scrutinize, uphold and address legal and ethical paradigms in the administration of public health and health intervention and prevention services, as relevant to the project.

2.   Demonstrate integration of preceding coursework by identifying linkages between the specific approaches used to address the health problem and the principles, methods, and knowledge base acquired in the program. This is demonstrated, both in execution of the project and in the final written and oral presentations by:

  • Application of core epidemiologic, biostatistical, environmental health, health behavior, and/or health services administration methods, data, or knowledge as appropriate to the topic.
  • Application of principles, methods, and knowledge from the health services administration concentration required and elective courses and field training as appropriate to the topic.

3.   Demonstrate effective written and oral skills for communicating with different audiences in the context of professional public health activities. This will be demonstrated by:

  • Writing a logical, sound, evidence informed, organized and well-written paper, with acceptable English grammar, style and format
  • A well-prepared oral presentation

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