MSc Public Health

Over one year (full-time) or two years (part-time), you’ll gain a strong grasp on the core disciplines of public health. Your faculty leaders, who are active researchers in their fields, have all the experience needed to help you succeed in the specialist studies for your chosen career path.

What you will learn

• Gain a comprehensive understanding of the wider determinants of health and the breadth of factors that undermine its foundation
• Develop critical thinking skills to confidently analyse evidence, question assumptions, and shape innovative approaches
• Learn how to systematically approach problems and navigate through possible solutions and theories with assurance
• Option to follow the General Stream or to focus on the area that matters most to you and your career plan; Health Economics, Health Promotion, Health Services Management, or Health Services Research.

The aims and learning outcomes are detailed in the programme specifications.

When you study MSc Public Health, you’ll join around 200 students from diverse academic and professional backgrounds. In our collaborative classes, you’ll share knowledge and experience that enriches your learning with tangible examples of the many disciplines involved in improving public health.

You’ll also have access to our 13 cross-institution School Centres where you can engage with a network of academics and researchers working together to address diverse global health challenges.

Who is it for?

Perhaps you’re already working in public health and need to strengthen your epidemiology skills to get to the next stage of your career. Maybe you’ve been working in an underfunded health service and want to move into policy where you can better drive the changes needed. Or maybe you’ve witnessed the rise in preventable illnesses and you’re keen to progress to a position where you can serve the population more effectively.

This course is open to a wide range of graduates. Ideally, applicants will have professional experience in a health-related setting, and use insights from this to tailor the course to meet career goals. You might also like to join us for intercalated study. Whichever specialism you choose, you’ll graduate with an MSc that’s internationally recognised as a qualification of excellence in the area of public health.

Specialised streams

After a series of compulsory core modules, students can choose to focus on a specialised stream of study or remain on the core public health programme. On successful completion of the programme, students will receive a Master's degree in Public Health. This will reflect their choice of stream:

• Health Economics
• Health Promotion
• Health Services Management
• Health Services Research

The decision about which stream to follow will depend on each student's needs and can be discussed with tutors and the programme directors, with the final choice being made during Term 1. In addition to compulsory stream-specific modules, students will be able to choose modules from a wide selection covering all aspects of public health.

In addition to the MSc Public Health, other programmes at LSHTM may be relevant to students with an interest in public health and applicants should review the pages of other courses as follows: (i) MSc Public Health for Global Practice - for those with an interest in low-income countries; (ii) MSc Health Policy, Planning & Financing - for applicants with a particular interest in Health Policy; (iii) MSc Nutrition for Global Health - for those with an interest in nutrition.

Students

Approximately 150-200 students study the MSc Public Health each year.

Duration

One year full-time; part-time or split-study over two years. Ways to study explained.