Find out what you can expect with the M.S. in Human Performance and Rehabilitation Sciences with a public health graduate certificate.
Study plan for the M.S. in Human Performance and Rehabilitation Sciences and a public health graduate certificate
Required classes (15 credits)
This course explores the foundations of health and human sciences through examination of the basis for and basics of scientific and critical thinking, theory building, and assessment in applied disciplines, evolution of disability, rehabilitation populations, intervention development, function assessment, evidence-based practice, and practice-based evidence.
This course introduces graduate students to the foundations of research in health and human sciences, emphasizing quantitative and qualitative methods, critical evaluation, and the development of skills for reading, conducting, and understanding research as a basis for advanced study and knowledge generation.
An applied approach to the collection, organization, analyses and interpretation of data pertinent to public health and vital statistics is outlined. The application of statistical and biostatistical methods to public health is explained.
This course will focus on scientific writing for exercise science. The goal is to provide a broad writing foundation that students will be able to use towards future research in exercise science. An emphasis will be on writing for manuscript publications and grants, as well as preparing scientific proceedings and presentations.
An introduction to both the theory and practice of research ethics. The course also covers key ethical principles and concepts.
Human performance courses (15 credits)
This graduate seminar examines contemporary theoretical frameworks that explain and enhance high-level human performance across sport, exercise, and performance environments.
Newtonian mechanics applied to human movement. Analysis of sports techniques.
An overview of neural mechanisms underlying motor control. Includes applications of neurophysiological principles to human motor performance.
Advanced principles of cardiovascular physiology with an emphasis on the regulatory mechanisms controlling cardiovascular function at rest and during physical stress.
Students can choose one 3 credit hour elective which is aimed at deepening their knowledge in their specialized domain such as biostatistics, informatics, exercise physiology, or another relevant subject.
Graduate certificate in public health (15 hrs)*
The graduate certificate in public health is a 15-credit-hour program of study. Courses for the certificate program are offered in the fall, spring, and summer and are available in class or online.
In order to receive the certificate, students must complete 15 credit hours of approved public health coursework with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. Transfer credit or course waivers are not allowed as substitution for any courses in the certificate program.
*Students must meet admission requirements for the School of Public Health and School of Health & Human Sciences.
This course will introduce students to basic epidemiologic concepts including determinants of health and patterns of disease in populations, population health descriptive techniques, use of health indicators and secondary data sources. Students will gain an understanding of the role of epidemiology in developing prevention strategies and policy. Among the topics to be covered are measures of mortality and morbidity, design and analysis of observational studies, community health assessment, and program evaluation.
The course focuses on environmental health which is the branch of public health that protects against the effects of environmental hazards that can adversely affect health or the ecological balances essential to human health and environmental quality. The environment influences many aspects of human health and well-being. Many diseases are initiated, promoted, sustained, or stimulated by environmental factors. For these reasons, the interactions people have with their environment are an important component of public health.
This course is designed to introduce students to the philosophies and principles that provide the foundation for health promotion and disease prevention with an emphasis on population-based public health approaches. Students will explore topics that promote a broader and better understanding of determinants of health; the multiple factors contributing to health and illness behaviors; fundamentals, theories and principles that shed light on health and illness behaviors; and philosophies, principles and strategies that facilitate improvements in population health and the elimination of health disparities. Students will be introduced to the important complementary relationships between and comingled effects of the determinants of health with an emphasis on the social determinants of health. Students will be presented with new approaches to improve, by not only focusing on individual capacities and capabilities to address their diseases and/or ailments, but also, most importantly perhaps, focus on the conditions and contexts in which individuals have the liberty and limits to make choices that influence health and illness behaviors in many different ways.
This course explores the U.S. health care system, policy development, and ethical challenges. It examines the structure, components, organization and financing of the U.S. health care system. The policy process at national, state, and local levels will be analyzed using legislation and related activities.
One semester of undergraduate mathematics. This course introduces the basic principles and methods of data analysis in public health biostatistics. Emphasis is placed on public health examples as they relate to concepts such as sampling, study design, descriptive statistics, probability, statistical distributions, estimation, hypothesis testing, chi-square tests, t-tests, analysis of variance, linear regression and correlation. An introduction to SAS statistical software is now a part of this course.
NOTE: Students who have been awarded a graduate certificate in public health have two years to apply their credits toward the human performance and rehabilitation sciences master’s degree. Graduates of the certificate program who do not apply to the human performance and rehabilitation sciences program within two years after completing the requirements of the certificate will not be allowed to apply the 15 credits from the certificate program toward the degree.
Important clarification: A student who uses some or all of the certificate credits toward the master’s in public health (MPH) cannot use the same credits toward the M.S. in Human Performance and Rehabilitation Sciences degree.
Admission to or successful completion of the public health certificate does not guarantee subsequent admission into the M.S. in Human Performance and Rehabilitation Sciences or MPH graduate programs.