M.S. in Health and the Public Interest (HAPI) Program

Overview

The M.S. in Health and the Public Interest (HAPI) Program, part of the Georgetown University Graduate School, is a unique interdisciplinary evidence-based training program that prepares students to help solve global healthcare problems. Students will examine health policy through a lens that takes into account societal, psychological, and cultural factors and how they intersect with corporate and institutional influences.

This unique Master’s program will train students in analytical and research skills to enable them to think and communicate across disciplinary boundaries. This training will incorporate theory and skills from social sciences, epidemiology, and biology; preparing students to comprehend how the often conflicting perspectives of different interest groups (i.e., government, business, and science) affect healthcare both nationally and globally. Our aim is to create a future generation of professionals in government, research, and medicine who have a multidisciplinary perspective on illness and disease, and who are equipped with tools to facilitate effective advocacy for improving public health.

HAPI is led by a group of supportive and accessible faculty at Georgetown. Weekly seminars will give students the chance to learn from and interact with experts in diverse fields. Located in Washington, DC students will have the chance to observe government in action and possibly participate in influencing policy and regulation.

The didactic structure for a Master’s Program comprises a 1-year (summer, fall, spring, summer) 30-credit residential program of core courses and electives and a required capstone/internship project.

All students will begin the program with the August course, requiring one month of full-time attendance. The program is intended to be completed within one year by full-time students and within two years for part-time students. The program includes 21 credits in core courses, 6 credits of electives, and a 3 credit capstone/internship project. Courses in the program will be taught in the late afternoon or evening (for the most part), making the program suitable for part-time enrollment.

Educational Objectives:

This program will provide students with the following theoretical and methodological skills:

• Understanding and critiquing complex and interdisciplinary multi-method research relevant to public health.
• Understanding the evolution of governance, economic issues and other drivers of global health.
• Ability to draw on diverse theory and methods of social sciences and epidemiology.
• Ability to communicate with and design health, training, and social programs for healthcare professionals and the public.
• Advocacy and activism skills.
• Understanding of the sociocultural mechanisms of symptom construction without losing sight of physiological mechanisms.
• Basic understanding of physiology as it relates to specific health issues.
• Appreciation of the contribution of ethnic, national, occupational, and other cultural influences on health care.
• Written and oral communication skills, with an emphasis on the ability to communicate about complex theory, and data across disciplines and with lay audiences.
• Hands-on familiarity with research skills and/or hands-on familiarity with community organizations, NGOs, or governmental agencies focusing on society and health

Application Materials required:

• Application Form
• Non-refundable Application Fee
• Statement of Purpose
• Resume/CV (including publications, if applicable)
• Official Transcripts (a WES evaluation is required for international applicants)
• Official Recommendations (2)
• Official Score Report for the TOEFL/IELTS, if applicable (please see below)

The 500-word academic statement of purpose should describe your academic and professional goals and their fit with the biomedical graduate program.

General Qualifications and Prerequisites

Minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) is required, although 3.4 or higher is preferred

• A GRE, MCAT, or LSAT test result is required.
• GRE Subject Test is not required but may be sent if desired.

Official hard copy transcripts should be mailed to the following address:

Office of Graduate Admissions
Attn: Credentials - HAPI Program
Box 571004
3520 Prospect Street NW, CB-207
Washington, DC 20057-1004

GRE - Graduate Record Exam

It is recommended, but not required, that applicants to the HAPI program take the GRE. Georgetown University's GRE score reporting code is 5244. Information on registering to take the GRE can be found at http://www.gre.org/ttindex.html

An MCAT or LSAT test result may be submitted instead of the GRE. Occasional exceptions to the graduate exam requirement are made.

Academics & Curriculum

All students will begin the program in August with the course, Health in Context: the Social World of Health and Illness, requiring one month of full-time attendance; other courses need not be taken sequentially. The program is intended to be completed within one year by full-time students and within two years for the part-time students. The program includes 21 credits in core courses, 6 credits of electives, and a 3 credit capstone/internship project. Courses in the program will be taught in the late afternoon or evening (for the most part), making the program suitable for part-time enrollment. The didactic structure for a Master’s Program comprises a 1-year (summer, fall, spring, summer) 30-credit residential program of core courses and electives requiring advisor approval and a required capstone/internship project.

English proficiency: TOEFL / IELTS

All applicants are required to demonstrate a level of proficiency in the English language sufficient to meet the admission requirement of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Proficiency can be demonstrated by the receipt of a bachelor's or advanced degree from an accredited institution of higher education in the United States or from a university where English is the primary language of instruction (please note that applicants receiving degrees at universities in U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico, are required to submit the TOEFL or IELTS unless the primary language of instruction at the institution is English). All other applicants must achieve at least a minimum score on either the TOEFL or IELTS test. Test scores must be received by the application deadline date. Applicants should allow six to eight weeks from the test date for the reporting of scores to the institution. Applications will not be considered without GRE or TOEFL/IELTS scores.

TOEFL: A minimum score of 550 (paper-based test) or 80 (iBT) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The Georgetown University Biomedical Graduate Education TOEFL score reporting code is B191. TOEFL information: http://www.ets.org/toefl/

IELTS: A minimum score of 7.0 from the International English Language Testing System. IELTS Information: http://www.ielts.org

Educational objectives:

This program will provide students with the following theoretical and methodological skills:

• Understanding and critiquing complex and interdisciplinary multi-method research relevant to public health
• Understanding the evolution of governance, economic issues and other drivers of global health
• Ability to draw on diverse theory and methods of social sciences and epidemiology
• Ability to communicate with and design health, training, and social programs for healthcare professionals and the public
• Advocacy and activism skills
• Understanding of the sociocultural mechanisms of symptom construction without losing sight of physiological mechanisms
• Basic understanding of physiology as it relates to specific health issues
• Appreciation of the contribution of ethnic, national, occupational, and other cultural influences on healthcare
• Written and oral communication skills, with an emphasis on the ability to communicate about complex theory and data across disciplines and with lay audiences
• Hands-on familiarity with research skills and/or hands-on familiarity with community organizations, NGOs, or governmental agencies focusing on society and health