Public Health Capstone Course PHC 6936

This is a required course for all MPH students starting their program in Fall 2009. 

Description: The course is designed to enable students to integrate concepts and skills from the core public health disciplines in the context of applied public health.  Competencies to be reinforced in the course include leadership, systems thinking, communication, the basic public health sciences, analytical skills applied to public health problems, public health policy development and program planning, ethical issues in public health, professionalism, financial planning and management, and the skills to work in the setting of diverse cultures.  This course will serve to integrate what students have learned throughout their degree programs and prepare them for their professional careers in public health. 

Course Structure: The core comprehensive exam is part of this course; however the grade obtained on the exam will be averaged in with the other assignment grades students receive in the course.   Students will complete a team project and writing assignments plus the core exam.  Students must make a C or higher in the class to pass the course.

Eligibility: This course is offered for MPH and MSPH students; however it is required for MPH students who started their program in or after Fall 2009.. Prerequisites for this course include satisfactory completion of all core courses and 75% of required concentration courses.  This course should be the last or near to the last course students take in their academic programs.  Students who meet these requirements and who need to retake sections of the core comprehensive examination will retake the failed sections of the exam during the regular administration of the core exam; however, the grade from this retake will be averaged in along with the other grades from the capstone course.
Exam Dates:  Students will take the core exam on the same date as students taking the exam as a stand alone exam.  The exam is usually administered the last Friday of October, March and June.  No exam application is required for students in the capstone class.  Please go here for the current exam dates:  http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/academicaffairs/compexam.html

Points to Note:

• This course is also open to students who have successfully passed the core comprehensive examination.
• The core comprehensive exam will still be offered for students who entered their MPH program prior to Fall 2009 and for all MSPH students.  These students have the option to take the exam as a stand alone exam or as part of the capstone course. 
• The capstone course will be offered every semester on campus only.  Please confirm course meeting times with the COPH Schedule of Classes.
• PHC 6930 Public Health Seminar is the capstone course for students in the Public Health Practice program. It is a five day on campus class held once a year. Students in this class take the core exam on one of these five days. This course is also open to students in the online Public Health Administration concentration in the Health Policy and Management Department and the online Disaster Management concentration in the Global Health Department. There is an additional administrative fee for this course. Contact 813-974-6606 for more information.
• EOH students should consult their department about information pertaining to the concentration comprehensive exams.

For more information, please contact COPH Academic and Student Affairs Office.