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Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care

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Careers and Employability

What the MPH will give you

  • The knowledge and skills to work effectively in public health settings
  • Insights into the effectiveness of public health interventions, programmes and policies
  • An in-depth understanding of the meaning of health and its distribution across individuals and populations
  • A robust skill set for assessing the health of the public, health inequalities and interventions 
  • Excellent career prospects in local, regional or national governments, in the healthcare sector, in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and a wide range of other roles
  • Unique exposure to different fields that relate to public health. Our inherently interdisciplinary approach will give you important practical skills in health improvement, protection, systems and leadership
  • A crucial aptitude for 'big picture' thinking and considering how different systems that affect public health interact
  • An appreciation of teamwork and collaboration for problem solving and delivering equality, diversity and inclusion in public health contexts

Careers

Created directly from competency frameworks of the world's most prestigious healthcare organisations, our MPH programme curriculum has real-world value to employers. These frameworks include the UK Faculty of Public Health Specialist Training Curriculum 2015, the UK Faculty of Public Health Part A Exam Curriculum, and the WHO-ASPHER Core Competency Framework for Public Health in the European Region. As such, this MPH programme offers a strong signal to employers that you have the sought-after skills necessary to work as an effective public health practitioner. 

As a graduate of this programme, you can expect to gain employment in local, regional or national governments, in the healthcare sector or in non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Roles include public health practitioners, policy analysts, intelligence officers and advisors. In particular, you may find yourself working on health improvement programmes, in health protection remits such as preventing outbreaks of infectious diseases, or on initiatives to ensure equal access to health services and medicines. As public health is relevant to many other sectors, ranging from engineering to urban planning, you can also apply your learning across a variety of other roles. 

Employability

As a graduate of our MPH programme, you will come away with a variety of in-demand skills that employers working on public health issues need. You will gain in-depth understanding of the meaning of health and its distribution across individuals and populations, providing an important basis to the public health field. Learning epidemiological, statistical and public health evaluation methods adds a robust skill set for assessing the health of the public, health inequalities and interventions. 

A key element of this programme is collaborative working with multidisciplinary and multicultural stakeholder groups, including communities and patients. The MPH will provide you with opportunities to hone your personal leadership style, produce an original piece of project work, and develop evidence-based recommendations about policy, practice and research. You will take away an abundance of transferable skills that are ideal for many workplace settings. 

Careers support

We take our responsibility to help you progress your career path very seriously. 

Whether or not you know what you want to do when you complete the MPH, the programme staff and UCL's Careers Service offer a tailored service to help advise you, guide you and inspire you. 

We offer a series of Careers Consultant led information sessions specifically aimed at Master's students, which will be useful to you whether your aim is to get a job on completion of your programme, progress your existing career, or if you are planning to stay in academia. A range of topics are covered and you are welcome to attend some of them. 

You will also have access to the follwing support via UCL's Careers Service: 

  • Planning your job hunt
  • Writing effective applications
  • Succeeding at interviews and assessment centres
  • Advice and Guidance (one-to-one appointments for CV writing)
  • Events and Workshops (careers fairs and sector-themed careers weeks)
  • Find a Job (UCL JobOnline and UCLAlert!)
  • Alumni Profiles
  • Using Social Media with Impact
  • How to Find and Fund a PhD
  • Applying for a PhD
  • PhD interviews