MPH Functional Certificate: Health Policy and Law

Improving health requires smart policies and effective laws that rest on sound science. Major challenges include assuring affordable and equitable health care for all, containing costs and cutting waste, designing and financing innovative health care delivery, addressing mental health and substance use, delivering long-term care services, assuring availability of needed caregivers, and asking the public and private sectors to take on jobs they are competent to perform. This certificate equips students to develop, implement, and evaluate policies and laws in the US or globally.

Upon graduation, students will be able to:

• Analyze current health policy issues faced by countries, states, and local communities, considering political, social, economic, and organizational factors.
• Evaluate policies effectiveness, efficiency, and equity.
• Develop creative policy proposals that recognize legal and political constraints.
• Determine the factors influencing successful policy implementation.
• Effectively communicate policy and legal analysis through multiple channels to diverse audiences.

Course Requirements

• PM 760 Health Law, Policy, and Policymaking (4 cr)
• Analytic/integrative courses
  • A minimum of 8 credits from the following:
    • LW 850 Public Health Law (4 cr)
    • PM 735 Health Care Finance (4 cr)
    • PM 740 Comparative Health Systems (4 cr)
    • PM 833 Health Economics (4 cr)
    • PM 834 Health Regulation & Planning (4 cr)
    • PM 840 Analysis of Current Health Policy Issues (4 cr)
• Either another 4-credit analytic/integrative course or 4 credits from issue area course(s)
  • Choose EITHER 4 additional credits from the list of analytic/integrative courses
  • OR 4 credits from the following issue area courses:
    Issue areas
    • LW 830 Health Insurance and the Affordable Care Act (4 cr)
    • LW 854 Mental Health Law (4 cr)
    • EH 805 Environmental Health Science, Policy & Law (4 cr)
    • PM 802 Pharmaceutical Management & Policy Cases (2 cr)
    • PM 838 Health Politics (2 cr)
    • PM 850 Consumer Organizing & Advocacy for Health System Change (2 cr)
    • GH 888 Seminar on Global Health Policy Issues (2 cr)
    • MC 763 Maternal and Child Health Policymaking (2 cr)

Integrative Learning Experience

Students will participate in a mock legislative, regulatory, or legal hearing. The topic and stakeholder perspective will be selected by the certificate director and other faculty members from among health care controversies currently facing federal or state governments.