Academic Programs Certificates
The Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences (BCHS) offers opportunities for certificates or specialized study in the following areas:
Certificates:
Program Evaluation in Public Health
Minority Health and Health Disparities
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health and Wellness
Program Evaluation in Public Health
Demand for comprehensive program evaluations is rising in a range of public and private organizations dealing with the health and social welfare needs of populations in the United States as well as worldwide. Graduates with a specialization in program evaluation in public health have expanded opportunities for employment in organizations such as health departments and ministries of health, health and hospital systems, educational programs, philanthropic foundations, and consulting firms. Students in the BCHS program evaluation concentration study under nationally recognized expert faculty and research staff. Students are trained in the application of both quantitative and qualitative methods for evaluation, exposed to the newest cutting-edge strategies, and have the opportunity to participate directly on interdisciplinary evaluation teams on actual community-based projects. The evaluation concentration typically involves taking courses in basic and advanced evaluation methods, qualitative approaches, health survey methods, and the evaluation practicum. Click here for admission's process and for detailed information.
Minority Health and Health Disparities
There are continuing disparities in the burden of illness and death experienced by African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, and American Indians/Alaska Natives, as compared to the U.S. population as a whole. The need to improve minority health has been an important concern for public health professionals at all levels. Healthy People 2010 recognizes that communities, states, and national organizations will need to take a multidisciplinary approach to achieving health equity, an approach that involves improving health, education, housing, labor, justice, transportation, and the environment. Every person in every community deserves equal access to comprehensive, culturally competent, community-based systems that are committed to serving the needs of the individual and promoting community health. The BCHS concentration in Minority Health and Health Disparities is designed to train emerging leaders in the public health field to aggressively address health, mental health, social needs, and social justice issues. Students in this concentration will gain an understanding of the relationship of social and environmental factors to health and well-being, understand MH-HD from a historical, political, and economic perspective, and develop effective competencies for the planning, development and implementation of public health policy, research, and program initiatives to address health disparities. Students will have the opportunity to study with nationally known faculty and staff associated with BCHS and with the Graduate School of Public Health’s Center for Minority Health, and engage in community-based project development and applied research in various local communities. Click here for admission's process.
Public Health Preparedness
In today’s world, societies are facing a variety of threats, whether from terrorists or from man-made or natural disasters. It is extremely important that the public health workforce continues to be trained in planning, systems development, and coordination to address these potential disasters. Recent disasters such as the tsunami in Asia, the earthquake in Pakistan, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the United States have demonstrated the growing need for building and sustaining the public health infrastructure. Career opportunities in disaster preparedness and emergency response have grown dramatically in the last few years. The Graduate School of Public Health and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Public Health Preparedness launched the Public Health Preparedness and Disaster Response Certificate Program in fall 2003. This innovative, interdisciplinary certificate program was created to provide students and professionals with a practical academic foundation in order to further strengthen the public health workforce and infrastructure. The program prepares public health agencies to serve as the primary responders in bioterrorism incidents as well as other types of natural and technological disasters. The Public Health Preparedness Certificate Program will prepare students to participate in agency or organization planning, training, and drilling for public health emergencies; collaborate with first responders and local, state, and federal agencies in response to public health emergencies; conduct emergency surveillance; provide leadership in public and private sector organizations on preparedness activities; develop and implement crisis communications activities; and evaluate the effectiveness of emergency response systems.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health and Wellness
This interdepartmental (BCHS, EPI, IDM) certificate program will prepare students to collaborate and conduct independent research designed to improve the understanding of unique health concerns among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations; participate in agency or organization planning, training, and delivery of health care for LGBT populations; work with local, state, and federal agencies in developing LGBT-competent healthcare providers; provide leadership in public and private sector organizations serving the health and wellness needs of LGBT populations; and evaluate the effectiveness of healthcare delivery systems to meet the needs of LGBT populations. In the United States, public health professionals seek to address health disparities. Students enrolled in this program will be prepared to address health disparities affecting subpopulations who may be experiencing a lower quality of health and wellness due, in part, to historic discrimination, with a focus on lesbian women, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender/transsexual individuals. As such, the certificate will offer courses that include information on identifying and documenting health disparities, the impact of historical stigmatizing politics that contribute to the development of health disparities, the impact of politics and policy to improve means of addressing health disparities, the design of appropriate research programs to address health disparities, theories behind intervention programs that work among disparate populations, and the means to develop competency skills in working with stigmatized populations.
Public Health and Aging
This concentration is designed for students interested in careers in public health, long-term care, and aging services with a focus on the multidisciplinary nature of gerontological public health. A minimum of 15 credits is required, including the required courses—BCHS 2532, Dimensions of Aging: Culture and Health, and BCHS 2533, Issues in Long-term Care Services—as well as a total of at least 10 additional credits of approved courses.