Public Health Programs Offered at Meharry Medical College
Meharry Medical College appears in our ranking of the Top 10 Master of Science in Public Health MSPH Degree Programs
Meharry Medical College offers a Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) graduate program that is similar to the Master of Public Health (MPH) programs offered by other schools. It includes more science courses and research than other programs do, which teach students how to make effective decisions based on the medical and health information/data that is available to them. The program features 45 credits of classes, including 21 credits of electives and 24 units of required courses. At the end of the MSPH program, students have a choice between taking a comprehensive exam or doing a thesis.
A major component of the MSPH program is an externship. The college asks students to work 40 hours a week for 10 weeks to complete a total of 400 hours of fieldwork. They can work for insurance companies, local hospitals and medical facilities. Most students do their externships in the summer. Health Administration, Health Behavior and Biostatistics are some of the required courses. Students also need to take classes on research design and epidemiology. Meharry Medical College offers classes in public health policy and environmental health too.
The health policy certificate program is an alternative option for students who want to study public health and look at some of the policies that organizations use. This is a joint program offered by Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University. Students take classes to learn about the allocation of health care resources, how to promote health care programs and the best ways to design those programs. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at the college offers this program as an option for scholars who earned high grades in an undergraduate program.
Also available at Meharry Medical College is a doctoral program that includes a core group of classes students take in the first year. They will then choose an emphasis in one of five areas such as neuroscience, physiology or biochemistry and microbiology. While they take classes from an emphasis area, students will also begin working on a dissertation with the help of an advisor. The dissertation requires that students either present their work in a public forum or have their work published in an academic journal.
About Meharry Medical College
Meharry Medical College is a private college that offers both graduate and doctoral programs in medicine and health care. Established in 1876, it has an affiliation with the United Methodist Church. Samuel Meharry immigrated to the Tennessee and Kentucky area from Scotland and worked with his brothers to donate money to fund a new college for freed slaves. He wanted to help them after a group of freed slaves helped him during a medical emergency. It opened in 1976 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College and later became Meharry Medical College or MMC in honor of its first donators. The more than 800 students enrolled in MMC today can earn degrees such as a Doctor of Philosophy or a Master of Health Science.
Meharry Medical College Accreditation Details
With accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), MMC offers one of the top accredited public health degree programs in Tennessee. It also has accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Management Education (CAHCME) and the American Dental Association (ADA). Thanks to the regional accreditation it holds from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), MMC can design a financial aid package that meets the specific needs of any student who uses the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Meharry Medical College Application Requirements
The MSPH program offered by MMC has a final application deadline of May 12. Students must use the Application for Admission to the School of Graduate Studies and Research to apply. When they reach the end of the application, they can pay the $45 application fee. The college will not accept payments made in any other way. They will need to upload a photo to the application and include a statement of purpose that explains why they chose MMC and what they want to get out of the public health program. The college asks for their official college transcripts, a GRE score and two letters of recommendation. They can submit all documents to the MMC Office of Admissions and Recruitment.
Students applying to the doctoral program need to meet the final deadline of February 17. MMC will not accept or look at applications filed after this deadline and requires that all students enroll and start classes the following fall. Doctoral students must pay a $45 application or request a fee waiver, which only goes to students who worked for certain government agencies and nonprofit programs. They will submit two letters of recommendation, a GRE score, personal statement, transcripts, and a photo too. MMC can take a few weeks to review a student’s application. It has the same requirements for students applying to the certificate program too.
Tuition and Financial Aid
In the MSPH program, students pay $27,597 in tuition and $4,198 in fees during the first year. The second-year charges $26,793 for tuition and $4,198 in fees. Students will spend another four months in the program and pay $13,188 in tuition and fees. MMC also requires that graduate students pay for their living expenses and health insurance. Doctoral students pay $18,812 for tuition and $5,248 for fees in the first year and close to $23,600 for tuition and fees in each remaining year they spend in a program. Their final or senior years last for nine months and costs them $10,759 for tuition and another $5,248 for fees.
Filing the FAFSA is the easiest way for incoming students to qualify for financial aid. This is how they get direct loans that are available for graduate and doctoral students. The Southern Regional Education Board and the National Health Service Corps are just two of the organizations that offer scholarships for students. There is an honors scholarship available for students who earned good grades in an undergraduate program. Students can borrow up to $2,500 a year through a special program for health majors and use work-study if they meet income requirements. There are also programs designed for military students and others who want to study public health at Meharry Medical College.