Leadership in Practice Concentration
Graduates of the Leadership in Practice MPH students are equipped to mobilize change at the community level to advance equity and social justice, address underlying conditions that affect individual and population health, and innovate to improve the social determinants of health.
What You'll Learn
Leadership MPH students gain skills and expertise in systems and design thinking, evidence-based problem-solving and decision-making, and community engagement and conflict management strategies.
As a student in the Leadership in Practice concentration, you will gain the skills to:
Use critical-thinking, design-thinking and system-thinking to solve problems.
Advance knowledge using evidence-based research and practice-based evidence.
Mobilize others in order to strategically align organizations and systems and accomplish large-scale change.
This program will empower you with the knowledge and skills to achieve the following core competencies:
Prioritize public health values and ethics in a philosophy of leadership relevant to adaptive public health challenges.
Demonstrate effective communication skills to promote a compelling public health agenda.
Facilitate inclusive engagement and collaborative decision-making across professions and with diverse stakeholders to lead in public health practice.
Design transformational systems and innovative approaches to ensure effective public health practice.
Integrate research and practice-based evidence to continuously improve the quality of public health practice.
Develop structures of accountability to promote good governance and stewardship of resources to improve population health.
Required Courses & Sample Plan of Study
In addition to the interdisciplinary, 14-credit Gillings MPH Core, you will take six concentration-specific courses covering topics including quality improvement, community engagement and systems design.
PUBH 718: Designing Systems for Global Health Implementation
PUBH 730: Leading Quality Improvement in Public Health
PUBH 748: Leadership in Health Policy for Social Justice
PUBH 781: Community Engagement and Leadership in Health
PUBH 791: Core Principles in Public Health Leadership
PUBH 992: Leadership in Practice MPH Culminating Experience
Leadership in Practice Degree Requirements and Study Plan (PDF)
Hosted by the Gillings School’s Public Health Leadership Program, the Leadership in Practice concentration is designed to support professionals at all areas of public health practice, at every level of their leadership journey whether they are entry-level public health practitioners, public health executives, or someone in between. As a graduate of this concentration, you will be well-equipped to move into a variety of roles commensurate with your level of work experience.
The next generation of public health leaders needs to build strong relationships, not only with members of their own team but also with leaders from other sectors, political parties and disciplines. Skills in public health leadership are needed at every level in clinical, community-based and workplace settings, and hiring new talent with fresh perspectives is a priority for nongovernmental and governmental clinical and public health organizations.
Upon graduation, you will be prepared to:
- Step into leadership roles in which you may work with multidisciplinary leadership teams, governing boards and system partners.
- Work as a program or organizational manager responsible for supervising teams that focus on complex research or community and interorganizational collaborations.
- Serve as a team leader or in a project management role in local, state, national and international public health organizations and industries.
Career Opportunities
99% of Gillings graduates have a job or continue their education within one year of graduating.
Learn more about the opportunities that await you with an MPH from the Gillings School.
Students fund their education through a combination of sources, including loans, fellowships and awards, assistantships and grants. Several awards and scholarships are supported by generous contributions to the School and University who value the current and future contributions of our students.
Contact: Sarah Kitchens, Funding and Awards Coordinator, sarah_kitchens@unc.edu
Looking for more flexibility?
Explore the online version of our Leadership in Practice concentration by filling out the form below.
