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About the Program
The Informatics Master of Public Health is a two-year graduate program that prepares public health professionals to manage, analyze and disseminate personal and population health-related information.
Goals of the program:
- To provide a comprehensive and integrated educational experience encompassing public health, health informatics and healthcare administration.
- To produce public health professionals who can gather, manage, analyze and disseminate personal and population health-related information.
- To advance the federal goal of maintaining electronic health records for every American by 2015.
More than three-quarters of the program consists of on-line courses. The remaining course work, delivered face-to-face and required to complete the program, is offered on the GHSU campus.
At least 48 total semester didactic credit hours, three hours of directed study experience and a two-credit internship are required. Additional electives are encouraged. Students interested in additional didactic courses can pursue certification as a registered health information administrator.
The iMPH program is structured to deliver approximately 90% of its content via online courses each academic period. The remaining 10% of the program’s content is delivered as on-campus course work which requires the student to attend classes at the MCG-Augusta campus. There are no exceptions.
The iMPH program at GHSU does not offer sufficient on-campus course work for students in F-1 or J-1 student status to meet the full course of study requirement. GHSU will not issue a Certificate of Eligibility for F-1 Academic Student (Form I-20) or J-1 Exchange Visitor, Student Category (Form DS-2019) for enrollment in the iMPH program.
Career Opportunities
Graduates will be able to manage information enterprises of:
- Healthcare organizations
- Public health agencies
- Research institutes
- Industries including pharmaceutical, healthcare technology and insurance
Admission Requirements
Completed Online Application for Graduate Programs. Please check the Office of Admissions website: http://www.georgiahealth.edu/Admissions/
Application deadline for application and required materials and documents:
Early submission of all application materials is strongly advised.
May 1 ‐ FALL entry
Note: All required application materials and documents must be received in order for an application to be considered complete and before an admission decision can be made. Applications and supporting materials received after the program deadline will only be considered on a space-available basis.
GPA: Minimum overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
Minimum Degree Requirement and Official Transcripts: Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. To be used to satisfy degree requirement, evaluation of foreign educational transcripts must show degree(s) earned that are the U.S. equivalency of degree(s) required by the program.
Official transcripts are required from all universities and colleges ever attended. Only in the case of transcripts from international colleges/universities will an official course‐by‐course transcript evaluation of an official transcript be accepted in lieu of an official transcript.
Official transcripts should be sent to GHSU’s Office of Academic Admission. To remain official, all transcripts must remain in the original, unopened, sealed and stamped/signed envelope from the Registrar’s office of the issuing institution. Alternatively, transcripts can be mailed to GHSU’s Office of Academic Admission directly from the Registrar’s office of the issuing institution.
Transcript/Credential Evaluation of Foreign Transcripts: An official, professional course-by-course evaluation based on official transcripts and documents is required for all foreign educational transcripts and documents from one of the following three credentials evaluation services: Josef Silny & Associates, Inc., World Education Services (WES), Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE). Silny and WES are recommended. Official evaluations based on unofficial transcripts, documents, or copies will not satisfy this requirement.
References: Recommendations (which include a reference form and letter of recommendation) from three individuals are required. Referees should be individuals qualified to critically assess the applicant’s prior academic (usually college professors), employment, artistic, research and/or clinical experience (clinical or research supervisor/mentor) and qualifications (as applicable) as well as the applicant’s potential as a graduate student in the field/program selected.
Graduate reference forms and letters of recommendation can be submitted online only. As part of the online application process, applicants provide the names and current email addresses for three individuals they have asked to serve as their referees. Once the online application is submitted, each referee will receive an email notification directing him/her to the online site where he/she can complete the reference form and submit their his/her of recommendation. To change a referee after the application has been submitted, the applicant is instructed to log into his/her CollegeNet account and update the name and current email address for the referee. Status updates of your referees’ submissions will be provided to you directly from CollegeNet.
GRE Requirement: Minimum combined Verbal and Quantitative score of 1000. Official GRE scores are required (only the General GRE test is required).*
All official GRE scores must be submitted to GHSU’s OAA directly from the Education Testing Service (ETS) and must be less than five years old. The institution code for submission of GRE scores to GHSU is 5406. Please do not select a department code. The GRE requirement may be waived for an applicant holding an earned doctorate from an accredited United States university.
The GRE requirement may be waived for an applicant holding an earned doctorate from an accredited United States university.
*The GRE revised General Test will feature a new scale for Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning scores, therefore, current minimum required or recommended score information is valid only for the GRE General Test taken prior to August 1, 2011. Visit www.ets.org/gre for additional and important information regarding the revised GRE test.
TOEFL Exam Scores: Minimum score of 550 paper‐based, 213 computer-based, or 79 internet-based.
Official Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores are required for applicants whose first language is not English. The institution code for submission of TOEFL scores to GHSU is 5406. Please do not select a department code.
Exemption from the TOEFL requirement is allowed for graduate students who submit proof of earning a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. college/university where English is the language of instruction.
Program Specific Requirements
Personal Interview: Interviews by invitation only. Applicants will be selected for an interview based on an initial review of submitted application materials. Selected applicants will be notified directly by the program. The interview may be conducted either in person or over the telephone. The faculty member assigned to conduct the interview will determine which form of interview will take place.
Computer literacy and access to a high speed internet-connected computer with Windows XP or higher.
For additional information, visit www.georgiahealth.edu/alliedhealth/dhi/mph/
Admission Recommendations
Completion of Computer Literacy Survey
* Substitutions and/or waivers of minimum requirements must first be supported and approved at the program level and then formally approved by the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies.
* While every effort is made to maintain this information as current, it may be subject to change. Please check with GHSU’s Office of Academic Admission for recent updates.
* Applications deferred to another semester are subject to all admission requirements and program requirements in effect for the semester to which they are deferred.
How to Apply
Apply on-line at www.georgiahealth.edu/Admissions, or contact:
Office of Academic Admissions
170 Kelly Building-Administration
Georgia Health Sciences University
Augusta, Georgia 30912-7310
Telephone: 706-721-2725
Toll-free: 800-519-3388
Fax: 706-721-7279
E-mail: Admissions@georgiahealth.edu
Technical Requirements
Students must be computer-literate and have access to a PC running Windows XP Professional and connected to a broadband Internet Service Provider. Hardware and software requirements for iMPH on-line courses:
IBM-compatible PC
- Pentium III processor (Pentium IV highly recommended)
- 512MB of RAM (1GB or higher recommended)
- CD-ROM, CD-RW or DVD-RW recommended
- 40GB hard drive (60GB or higher preferred)
- SVGA (1024 x 768 or higher) display
- Full duplex sound card with speakers/headphones and microphone
- Windows operating system, Windows XP or higher recommended
- Internet connection through an ISP account or a network; cable, DSL or satellite required. (Dial-up Internet connection is not acceptable for this program.)
Software
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
- Windows Media Player 9.0 or higher
- Microsoft Office 2007 Professional (or higher to include Access 2007)
- Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or higher
- Additional course specific applications Proprietary browser versions (those not downloaded directly from Microsoft) may not work reliably with on-line systems. If you use other “Office” type programs, some professors may require you to convert your files to an MS-Office-compatible format for on-line submission. Your connection to the Internet may initiate behind a firewall; however, the firewall settings may have to be adjusted to accommodate our Web-based tool.
On-line Course Readiness Assessment Tool
The University System of Georgia provides an on-line tool to help you determine if you are a good candidate for on-line courses.Visit www.alt.usg.edu/sort/.
Estimated Tuition and Fees
For estimated tuition and fees, please see the Tuition and Fees section of this catalog.
