Master in Public Health

The Master of Public Health at UMIT TIROL, a private university in Hall in Tirol, is a 120 ECTS degree taught over four semesters. The teaching language is German and English, so the programme is partly taught in English and you should check with the institution which parts are in which language. Graduates receive the Master of Public Health (MPH).

What you study

The curriculum is quantitative and methodological. It aims at an interdisciplinary, scientifically grounded qualification that is also oriented to need and application. The programme follows the training recommendations of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER), which supports international comparability of the degree.

You learn applied skills in current qualitative and quantitative methods of health research. Soft skill areas from the ASPPH Core Competency Model for the MPH Degree are also covered: communication, leadership, project planning and ethics.

The programme lists these electives:

• Clinical Epidemiology
• Advanced Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis
• Scientific Reporting and Writing
• Causal Inference in Observational Studies and Clinical Trials
• Decision Modeling Approaches (for chronic diseases and epidemics)
• Big Data: Data from Registries, Secondary Data, Health Service Research Data, and Pragmatic Trials

How the programme is organised

The MPH is modular and blocked, built to fit around a job. Modules combine lectures, seminars and exercises. Teaching happens in three-day block events on site, in selected online courses, and in a placement.

Guided self-study is a major part of the programme: you work through set tasks away from campus, with guidance and support from teaching staff.

The practice link comes from a placement of several weeks at a public or private health institution, and from the master's thesis. Students get direct insight into, and take part in, regional, national and international projects.

UMIT TIROL stresses close personal contact between teachers and students. That is why at most 35 students are admitted per year.

Who it suits

The programme is strongly interdisciplinary and open to all actors and health professionals in the health sector. Interprofessional exchange is part of the design, and it supports the bridging role graduates are meant to take on.

It prepares future leaders in public health through continuing education, research and practice. You gain skills for planning, decision and communication processes in health care, public health and health-related policy fields, for developing, running and evaluating prevention and health promotion programmes, and for research and teaching in public health.

If you already work in health care and want methods training without leaving your job, the block structure is the point to look at first.

Admission, language and next steps

You need the general higher education entrance qualification and a completed higher education degree of at least bachelor level (180 ECTS) from a recognised domestic or foreign post-secondary institution, with a link to health care or medicine. If that link and basics in life sciences or medical, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are missing, you must take a supplementary examination in "Medizinische Grundlagen für Nicht-Mediziner/innen".

Admission rests on meeting the criteria, the date of your application and, where relevant, a personal interview. The programme starts in the winter semester.

Apply in writing with a short tabular CV, proof of your previous degree, your Matura certificate or other proof of the higher education entrance qualification, and the completed and signed registration form. Applicants are then told about admission and may be invited to an individual interview. There is no central application portal: you apply directly to UMIT TIROL, and the institution's own page gives the details. As a private university it sets its own fees.

The Master's degree program in Public Health aims to provide an interdisciplinary, scientifically sound but at the same time demand- and application-oriented qualification in public health. The curriculum is designed quantitatively and methodically and enables international comparability by following the training recommendations of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Regions (ASPHER).

There is no central application portal in Austria: you apply to the institution, here UMIT TIROL. Private institutions set their own application periods, admission procedures and fees, so read them on the programme page. Entrance examination, as the register states it: No. Entry requirements and language tests are set by the institution, so start from the official programme page. Our guides cover tuition fees, the student residence permit and housing.