The field of public health brings together people from all backgrounds, professions, and experiences to work toward a common goal – improving lives in every corner of the globe.
The Rollins Executive Master of Public Health (EMPH) Program does this, too. We give smart, passionate people from all walks of life a top-tier education and practical skills to enter (or advance in) the field of public health.
Flexible Program Format
The EMPH hybrid format allows working professionals to experience the best of both worlds: face-to-face instruction and collaboration with faculty and peers during the on-campus sessions AND the convenience of online learning during the interim 12 weeks of the semester.
EMPH students include public health professionals from across the United States and abroad. Our students have families, demanding careers, travel schedules, and other competing priorities. This flexible format allows our community of learners to embrace advanced education while not disrupting their lifestyle.
Adult Learning Theory
The EMPH program follows the Adult Learning Theory as a model in developing its program. This theory recognizes that adult learners, such as yourself, have unique learning needs that must be considered when crafting your educational experience.
Our esteemed faculty work alongside highly trained instructional designers to ensure curriculum delivery methods align with your strengths. We recognize that adult learners are self-directed, ready to learn, possess a wealth of experience that can be applied to their education, and are highly motivated.
In addition, EMPH firmly believes that your involvement and participation is necessary for learning. Your teacher is a faciliator through your educational journey, while you, as the student assume self-responsibility of your learning.
My time in the EMPH program helped me to understand how I could apply every aspect of my background, experience and skillset to my work as a public health professional. I learned to be a “problem solver” and at times, the solution to a problem. Ultimately, it helped me to clarify my goals and develop the skills needed to pursue a career as a Health Scientist and Program Evaluator at the CDC.
Minda Reed
MPH in Prevention Science
Learn from Instructors and Peers
While students in most programs, including EMPH, expect to learn from their instructors, one of the great strengths of the EMPH program at Rollins is the opportunity for students to also learn from the extensive experience of their peers. Although a minimum of three years of experience is required for EMPH admission, EMPH students have an average of eight years of work experience and bring a very rich background to the classroom experience.
One of the reasons I love working with EMPH students is that I learn so much myself in every course that I teach. Our students bring such a wealth of experience, that I know I will learn a lot too.
Laurie Gaydos, Deputy Director, EMPH
A Truly Interactive Experience
The Rollins EMPH program prides itself on being a truly interactive program. The required on-campus sessions are critical to building a community of learners within the EMPH program. These three-day sessions at the beginning and end of each semester allow students to learn in a face-to-face environment and to build a cohort of public health colleagues.
However, collaboration is not only for the on-campus sessions. Using the Canvas learning management system, instructors work closely with our exclusive instructional design team to ensure that the online portion of each course is also highly interactive. Instructional methods include a mix of readings, videos, annotated presentations, online lab sessions, and live (virtual) office hours to ensure that students maximize their online learning experience.
Access to Leaders in the Field
EMPH faculty members are a mix of traditional academics and experts practicing in the field. This means fantastic networking opportunities for EMPH students within their field of choice. Our faculty members include highly-respected professionals including academic researchers, clinicians (physicians, nurses), epidemiologists, health educators, informaticians, public health researchers, and health department administrators.
The applied practice experience (APE) and integrative learning experience also offer EMPH students the opportunity to work closely with practitioners and faculty and their large network of experts in the field.