Program Overview
The Master of Applied Science (MAS) is a fully online, part-time degree designed for working professionals, delivered through the Online Programs for Applied Learning (OPAL). Programs focus on emergent industry sectors in public health and healthcare that have a need for highly skilled professionals. By building on the strengths of the School, they provide unmatched opportunities for advanced training and focus on both local and global health issues. Students are prepared to create innovative solutions through multidisciplinary approaches that apply the latest scientific knowledge. All MAS programs will culminate in a final Integrative Activity. The goal of this activity is for students to synthesize knowledge and skills obtained through coursework in a final project that demonstrates mastery of program competencies, as applied to real-world public health and healthcare questions.
Population health management has emerged as an important strategy for healthcare providers and payers. The MAS program in Population Health Management prepares students to examine and respond to both challenges and opportunities to improve health within and across populations. The program is structured to guide healthcare professionals seeking to transform systems into sustainable models of value-driven accountable care.
The interdisciplinary curriculum also examines the importance of the determinants of health, including medical care, public health, genetics, personal behaviors and lifestyle, and a broad range of social, environmental, and economic factors.
LinkedIn Group
We have established a LinkedIn group for each of the OPAL program areas in order to strengthen connections between current students, faculty, and alumni of OPAL programs, as well as to facilitate student-to-student peer networking.
Participation is voluntary, but we encourage you to join this professional networking community.
BSPH OPAL Population Health Management
Additional Public Health Learning Resources
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Public Health Training Center provides links to many of its online learning resources, as well as external resources, databases, and public health organizations. These can be used to supplement learning on a particular topic or provide background material. Many of these resources are available for free via their website.
The Welch Medical Library at Johns Hopkins has many resources related to research, writing, and documentation on its YouTube channel.
The School has a number of research and practice-related seminar series that occur throughout the year and contribute to the intellectual community of the School, for students, staff, and faculty. The Bloomberg School has a website that provides some additional resources for practitioners as well.
Practitioners can also access dozens of courses from Bloomberg School faculty on Coursera. Practice-focused offerings include courses on topics such as gun violence, food systems, health equity, biostatistics, and epidemiology, among others.
MAS in Population Health Management Contact Information
MAS Program Advisers
Mark Bittle, DrPH, MBA
Senior Scientist and Program Co-Director, MAS and Certificate programs in Population Health Management
Email: mbittle1@jhu.edu
David Baker, DrPH, MBA
Assistant Professor - Adjunct and Program Co-Director, MAS and Certificate programs in Population Health Management
Email: dbaker26@jhmi.edu
Megan Priolo, DrPH, MHS
Associate
Email: mmaguir5@jhu.edu
Debra Thompson, DNP, MAS, MSN
Associate
Email: dthomp79@jhu.edu
For Program-wide Issues
Elizabeth F. Topper, PhD, MEd, MPH
Senior Lecturer and Director, Online Programs for Applied Learning (OPAL)
Email: etopper@jhu.edu
Program Requirements
Course location and modality is found on the BSPH website.
The Master of Applied Science in Population Health Management is an interdisciplinary program. The Master of Applied Science (MAS) in Population Health Management provides students the opportunity to learn from experts and develop advanced skills in population health leadership and management, informatics, assessment, and social and behavioral techniques to engage communities and improve health.
Students will complete 50 credits to graduate. The program is designed to be completed in eight academic terms - two academic years (Sept-May). In addition to the coursework, students must complete an Integrative Activity, where newly acquired knowledge and skills are used to create an applicable activity (e.g., a service-learning project that showcases the collective impact on an aspect of public health) – with a final paper that describes the methodology used and the final assessment. While courses have no formal prerequisites, second year courses cannot be taken until first year courses are completed.
If the 2-credit Professional Development Workshop courses are not included in the required curriculum, students are still welcome to take them, in addition to the required degree courses outlined below. Current offerings include Effective Online Searching and Writing for Results. OPAL scholarship funds will apply towards these credits. Students should refer to the online course directory (www.jhsph.edu/courses) for additional details.
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
The Bloomberg School of Public Health requires students to maintain satisfactory academic progress for the duration of the degree program. For the MAS program, satisfactory academic progress is defined as follows:
Maintaining a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.75 and grades of C or better in all required courses. Grades of P are sufficient in courses that are graded as Pass/Fail. Students falling below this minimum should consult with the OPAL Program Office and their Academic Adviser in order to develop a course plan to allow them to raise their GPA above 2.75 as soon as possible in order to return to good academic standing.
Failure to maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined by any of the criteria above may be grounds for dismissal from the program, and financial aid status will be affected. Full details of the School's Satisfactory Academic Policy can be found here.
Program Plan of Study
Students should follow the plan outlined below if they wish to complete the MAS program in two years. This plan will also allow students to maintain minimum credits needed for financial aid eligibility each term and to follow any prerequisite sequencing. Courses can be taken at a slower pace if needed, so long as course prerequisites are met.
First Year | ||
---|---|---|
First Term | Credits | |
PH.550.860 | Academic & Research Ethics at BSPH | |
PH.602.631 | Essentials of Population Health Management | 3 |
PH.602.651 | Principles and Applications of Advanced Payment Models in Population Health Management | 3 |
Credits | 6 | |
Second Term | ||
PH.602.671 | Collective Impact: Developing and Leading Community Partnerships to Improve Population Health | 3 |
PH.602.681 | Applications in Accountable Care: Assessing Quality and Effectiveness of Population Health initiatives | 3 |
Credits | 6 | |
Third Term | ||
PH.602.731 | Population and Consumer Health Informatics | 3 |
PH.600.701 | Introduction to Epidemiology | 4 |
Credits | 7 | |
Fourth Term | ||
PH.600.709 | Statistical Concepts in Public Health 1 | 3 |
PH.602.691 | Managing Health Across the Continuum: Contemporary Models and Applications of Care Coordination and Management | 3 |
Credits | 6 | |
Second Year | ||
First Term | ||
PH.602.701 | Applied Concepts and Foundations of High Performance for Population Health | 3 |
PH.602.711 | Health Behavior: Improving Health Through Health Education/Promotion | 3 |
Credits | 6 | |
Second Term | ||
PH.602.721 | Organizing for Public Health: A Systems Approach | 2 |
PH.602.741 | Behavioral Economics and Risk: Value-Based Payment Methods and incentives | 4 |
Credits | 6 | |
Third Term | ||
PH.602.751 | The Built Environment: Influences and Challenges to Improving Population Health | 3 |
PH.602.761 | Value-Based Concepts of Socially-Responsible Leadership | 3 |
Credits | 6 | |
Fourth Term | ||
PH.604.771 | Social & Cultural Basis for Community and Primary Health Programs | 3 |
PH.602.880 | Population Health Management integrative Activity | 4 |
Credits | 7 | |
Total Credits | 50 |
Integrative Activity
Online Programs for Applied Learning (OPAL) Integrative Activity: Human Subjects Research and Other Activities
This culminating experience will provide Master of Applied Science students with the opportunity to synthesize lessons learned via the application of concepts and techniques. Please note that individual degree programs may have specific guidelines related to their particular Integrative Activity course including, but not limited to the format, presentation, and composition of the final course deliverable.
As students begin planning the research for their Integrative Activity within the MAS program, they should review the information below and proceed accordingly. Regardless of whether an IRB review is required, all OPAL students should apply ethical principles in their interactions with humans and/or their data. Students should follow the BSPH Ethical Code for Student Activities that Involve Human Interactions.
- As long as the project is limited to the context of the course or courses if components of the Integrative Activity are spread among more than one course, there is no need for IRB approval, even if the project involves human subjects research. These types of student projects are considered learning exercises when there is no plan to disseminate beyond the class, School, or affiliated agency.
- If students do wish to publish their projects while they are a student, students will need to test to see if they are conducting Human Subjects Research (HSR) which would necessitate IRB approval. Students can test their project for HSR by using the IRB worksheet or consulting the IRB guidance flowchart. Students will need to go to IRB for official/final determination before beginning their research in order to be approved for publication. All student-initiated research projects that students intend to publish must have a preliminary review by the IRB Office to determine whether they are human subjects research requiring IRB oversight, unless: (1) the student is working with a Principal Investigator (PI) from another institution, or (2) the PI is adding the student as an investigator to an existing, IRB-approved study. If students are using human subjects data, they must obtain a determination from the BSPH IRB. If students are collecting primary new data, they must complete the IRB Office Determination Request Form for Primary Data Collection or if the student is using existing data, complete the IRB Office Determination Request Form for Secondary Data Analysis in collaboration with their adviser and submit it to the BSPH IRB Office email address bsph.irboffice@jhu.edu. Students should be sure to include their adviser in their email submission.
- If students do not intend to publish their project while a student, IRB approval will not be required. However, if students would be interested in publishing it after graduating from JHU, they should note that the project must meet the ethical standards of their institution and that many institutions will not allow students to present/publish human subjects research without having prior IRB approval. For this reason, we strongly recommend that students consult their organization now if they think that they may wish to publish in the future.
Program Policies
For a full list of program policies, please visit the OPAL page where students can find our handbook.
PROGRAM COMPETENCIES
The Master of Applied Science in Population Health Management is an interdisciplinary program. The Master of Applied Science (MAS) in Population Health Management provides students the opportunity to learn from experts and develop advanced skills in population health leadership and management, informatics, assessment, and social and behavioral techniques to engage communities and improve health.
According to the requirements of the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), all BSPH degree students must be grounded in foundational public health knowledge. Please view the list of specific CEPH requirements by degree type.
By the end of the program, students should be able to:
- Apply the essentials of public health practice to identifying determinants of population health that impact health outcomes in a community and design low-cost interventions;
- Apply leadership in the formation and management of health systems organizations that consist of, and rely upon, diverse stakeholders in the organization and delivery of community-based systems of care;
- Communicate effectively to constituencies both within and outside of the health system;
- Articulate and apply frameworks for collecting, analyzing, and using data to inform decisions, facilitate care coordination and improve health outcomes of targeted populations within and outside the health system;
- Support state and local public health agency efforts in assessing health needs, quality of services, and strategies for health services research.
- Evaluate payment systems and risk mitigation strategies and develop new structures to function under evolving value-based payment models emphasizing low-cost, high-quality care;
- Describe new methods for assessing the health needs of a population, working with stakeholders to establish meaningful targets, and applying scientific frameworks for measuring and reporting progress;
- Apply social and behavioral constructs to develop and enhance community engagement and involvement to improve health;
- Engage in a population health practicum designed to allow the student to work on a project to integrate clinical care and public health practice around an identified community need.