Master's Degree in Public Health

Master in Public Health is an internationally consolidated name that identifies postgraduate training oriented to the training of professionals with academic undergraduate training, coming from a wide variety of disciplines that include from the health sciences in the strict sense to the social sciences. The duration of this Master is 60 ECTS and can be completed in 1, 2 or 3 years, maximum. However, before formalizing enrollment, students are sent from the Secretariat to the Master's Coordination Unit for personalized guidance on the study plan and class schedule.

To give effect to the right to reconcile studies with work and family life, set out in the Student Statute, it is recommended that students who are working take the Master part-time, with a duration of 2 years. The teaching is fundamentally face-to-face, and is oriented towards training for professional practice and / or research.

Master in Public Health is an internationally consolidated name that identifies postgraduate training oriented to the training of professionals with academic undergraduate training, coming from a wide variety of disciplines that include from the health sciences in the strict sense to the social sciences. The duration of the Master of Public Health is the equivalent of 60 ECTS that can be completed in 1 or 2 years. The teaching is fundamentally face-to-face, and oriented to training for professional practice and / or research.

The Master is an Official University Training that is at the service of advanced training of professionals for professional, research or teaching activities in order to contribute to promoting and improving health, as well as promoting equity and efficiency in health systems. It therefore allows access to the Doctorate program at the University and is carried out in close collaboration with the General Directorate of Public Health of the Ministry of Health of the Region of Murcia, including with teaching support. In addition to these professionals, the teaching staff of the master is made up of various Departments of the Universidad de Murcia , with other Spanish Universities, and with the National Health School of the Carlos III Health Institute.

Three itineraries are established that correspond to three well-defined professional and research orientation and training profiles:

• Professional Itinerary: aimed at practicing public health professionals or who wish to carry out a professional activity (practicing public health doctors, nursing professionals, pharmacy, veterinary, and other public health professionals).
• Research Itinerary: in public health, aimed at professionals who wish to carry out an eminently research activity in public health applying the epidemiological method or qualitative research to carry out the doctoral thesis.
• Itinerary for Resident Doctors of Preventive Medicine and Public Health: (regulated by RD. 127/84) who need to complete a Master of Public Health in their first year of Residency.

Master's file

Justification

The main objective is to seek to provide the participant with the fundamental knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to be able to carry out a professional activity in the public health administration or start a research activity leading to a doctoral thesis and / or a research project.

The general objectives are the following:

• Acquire an understanding of the health = disease continuum and the factors that influence it as determinants of health.
• Train to understand and interpret the legal framework in which the activity of the specialist in Preventive Medicine and Public Health will be developed.
• Delimit the Health System as a whole and the contribution of its various components for the elaboration and development of health policies.
• Acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in all those basic sciences that facilitate and prepare the training of the specialist in Preventive Medicine and Public Health.
• Know and apply the epidemiological method in the fields of surveillance, research and evaluation.
• Train to analyze health problems and risk factors for getting sick, both from the aspects of disease prevention, as well as those of protection and health promotion.
• Acquire knowledge of planning, directing, managing and evaluating health services and their resources.

Competencies

Basic skills

• Possess and understand knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity to be original in the development and / or application of ideas, often in a research context.
• That students know how to apply the knowledge acquired and their ability to solve problems in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of ​​study.
• That students are able to integrate knowledge and face the complexity of making judgments based on information that, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments.
• That students know how to communicate their conclusions and the knowledge and ultimate reasons that support them to specialized and non-specialized audiences in a clear and unambiguous way.
• That students have the learning skills that allow them to continue studying in a way that will be largely self-directed or autonomous.

General Competences

• Consider ethics and intellectual integrity as essential values of professional practice.
• Being able to project the knowledge, abilities and skills acquired to promote a society based on the values of freedom, justice, equality and pluralism.
• Ability to work as a team and to interact with other people from the same or different professional fields.
• Being able to acquire social and ethical commitments.
• Being able to maintain an attitude of respect towards people and groups regardless of their origin, sex or beliefs.
• Know how to assume leadership, coordination and representation tasks.

Transversal Competences

No data

Specific Competences

Knowledge and understanding (E1-E6)

• Know the history of public health and the relationship between the current situation and historical background.
• Know the theoretical foundations and terminology of work in public health, health promotion and prevention.
• Know the process of scientific research in public health and the main methods of research and analysis of the health of populations, their applications and limitations, both in qualitative and quantitative techniques.
• Know the main strategies to address the main causes of morbidity and mortality and risk factors in the population and the usefulness and limitations of their effectiveness to improve the health of populations.
• Know the health information systems for health management and policy, their foundations, scope and limitations.
• Know the origins, characteristics and specific problems of the main health services management systems.

Skills and abilities (E7-E20)

• Being able to quantify and value the health needs of a population.
• Being able to identify and describe in specific contexts the historical and current characteristics and peculiarities that underlie the health problems of populations.
• Be able to use the epidemiological method to analyze health problems and risk factors for falling ill in populations.
• Being able to propose population-based interventions appropriate to the health needs and problems detected in a population for both individual disease prevention and health protection and promotion, differentiating between individual and population prevention strategies.
• Be able to identify the necessary elements to guarantee the development and sustainability of the proposed public health interventions.
• Design and develop programs to manage and evaluate the quality of health services and to carry out health inspections and audits following guidelines and protocols.
• Know how to apply the knowledge acquired to identify, clarify and / or solve problems of social inequality in health.
• Be able to use group work dynamics.
• Handle with rigor and efficiency the various sources of information: bibliographic, electronic and others.
• Be able to develop working hypotheses based on prior knowledge, and design and develop experimental and observational research in public health.
• Identify the most appropriate type of statistical analysis for the most common public health situations, perform statistical analyzes, interpret and describe the results of the analyzes.
• Clearly and rigorously evaluate the results of descriptive and analytical studies on the health of the population and identify risk factors.
• Being able to express with conciseness and rigor the conclusions that emanate from the results of analysis of the health of populations, distinguishing between assumptions and proven facts, and to elaborate and present results in scientific seminars using effective scientific communication.
• Design, manage, evaluate and / or advise on intervention plans that promote the health of the population in the different fields of professional and / or research development.

Values and attitudes (E21-E29)

• Know, accept and behave professionally according to the values and social norms that favor the health of groups and minorities, and the democratic coexistence and ethical principles regarding the interpersonal relationship.
• Promote the defense of health in intersectoral policies.
• Appreciate, recognize and respect the autonomy and independence of judgment, respecting the differences, opinions and actions of people, as well as cultural diversity.
• Being able to assume social and ethical commitments in relation to the health of the population.
• Promote social participation and control of citizens over their own health.
• Understand the culture of public and private companies and public and private research.
• Work in a dynamic and effective team in all fields of action of the Public Health specialist.
• Recognize and value the right to equity and social justice in health and healthcare as a fundamental human right.
• Recognize and respect individual and collective decisions in community work.

Graduation profile

The graduation profile constitutes the referential element, it is expressed in competencies that describe what the graduate will be able to do at the end of this postgraduate program and that will enable him or her for their professional activity. This Master's main objective is to provide the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to be able to carry out a professional or research activity in public health in the Health System, private entities, professionals or researchers, and academic institutions. This degree provides professional skills for the performance of jobs with functions of management, execution and inspection in the field of public health, including all those related to primary prevention, promotion and protection of health. Public health training is internationally recognized and regulated training that trains professionals, healthcare or otherwise, to tackle and defend the health problems of the population.

A teaching institution of higher education that has infrastructure for teaching and research of international excellence. An innovative, dynamic, responsible university committed to its environment, which does not forget its historical roots.

Mission, vision and values of the Universidad de Murcia

The Mission of the university outlines its purpose or reason for being, and its Vision reflects what it wants to become in the future, the perspective of the University in the long term.

The Universidad de Murcia is a public institution of Higher Education with an international scope of action. Its purpose is to contribute to the development of society, acting as a dynamic agent in cooperation with the other social agents. Its main activities focus on the development of Research, Training, Knowledge Transfer, and Cultural Dissemination, applying innovation and continuous improvement processes to all of them, with the purpose of achieving a high level of quality of results, visible through a clear transparency policy.

Its main values, included in the Code of Ethics of the Universidad de Murcia , are Commitment, Dialogue, Respect and Responsibility:

• The Commitment demands to assume the objectives of the University and adopt to achieve these goals a good administration and management, enhancing university social responsibility, overcoming personal and corporate selfishness to engage with others in university tasks and in solving common problems.
• The Dialogue implies the willingness to coordinate reasonably and reasonably with others to cooperate effectively taking into account the positioning, interests or situation of each one, with the purpose of peacefully solving those seeking the right balance and consensus.
• Respect implies treating all people with impartiality, deference and consideration, avoiding discrimination for reasons beyond their merits and avoiding prejudices, according to the consideration of the equal dignity of every human being as a supreme value.
• Responsibility consists in honestly assuming one's own duties and obligations, and being willing to give an account of this to whomever corresponds, acting in accordance with the ethical principles personally assumed, being key elements goodwill, coherence and exemplary practice.

These values are in turn identified with the defense and promotion of Human Rights, universal accessibility, equality between men and women, the culture of peace and democratic values, participation, interdisciplinarity, pluralism, defense of the environment. and sustainability.

10 reasons to choose the UMU

1. Why UMU?

Centennial University strategically positioned in the present and prepared for the future

The Universidad de Murcia (UMU) is an international institution with more than one hundred years old, whose origins date back to the thirteenth century. It has more than 30,000 students (2,000 of them international), 3,000 researchers and professors and more than 1,200 administration employees.

2. Multidisciplinary offer of studies

60 degrees, 72 masters and 36 doctorates

The UMU is a public and comprehensive university that offers 60 degree programs - 5 double degrees -, 72 master's degrees and 36 doctoral degrees in the fields of Arts and Humanities, Engineering, Health Sciences, Sciences, Social Sciences and Law.

3. Bet on quality education

Quality recognition in university centers and services

The Universidad de Murcia focuses on academic excellence and plays a very important role in research (350 research groups, 4 institutes and research centers), teaching and innovation in all areas of knowledge. In addition, it works closely with national and international companies.

4. Leading the way in digital technology, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence

Leading European Commission projects for research and innovation in cybersecurity

It offers a wide range of services, such as "Lola Chatbot", with artificial intelligence to help students choose their studies and answer questions in the admission process.

5. Connection with the labor market

More than 75% of students get an occupation after finishing the degree

UMU students have the opportunity to pursue intellectual development as well as to acquire professional skills.

6. University open to the world, with more than 2,000 students making international mobility plans

7 bilingual Spanish-English programs and students of more than 50 nationalities

Our institution offers 4 degree courses in English (Law, Business Management and Administration, Primary Education, and English Studies), and 3 postgraduate programs (Biology and Technology of Mammalian Reproduction, New Technologies in Computer Science, and Physics).

7. Satisfaction of international students

Located among the best rated universities in Europe by students

The International Welcome Point at the UMU (International Welcome Point - IWP) provides information on issues such as the admission procedure, obtaining accommodation and legalization.

8. Commitment to society

Attention to diversity and equal opportunities between women and men

UMU is the second university in Spain that integrates a greater number of students with disabilities. Through its Service of Attention to Diversity and Volunteering, it participates in the "Inclusive Campus Program: Campus without limits" funded by the Government of Spain, ONCE and the REPSOL Foundation.

9. Commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Project best valued in terms of sustainable development

ODSessions is the project that the Universidad de Murcia is developing for the promotion and awareness of the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations. Until April 2021, the UMU will dedicate one month to each of these objectives with dissemination, recreational, training and solidarity activities.

10. Murcia, a city for students

Quality of life in a unique environment in the Mediterranean

Located in the southeast of Spain, the city of Murcia benefits from an excellent location, low cost of living and a great variety in the cultural and tourist offer. In its squares and terraces you can discover a quiet and friendly city for students. With about half a million inhabitants, it is the seventh city in Spain.

Ethical code

In order to transform the University into the most fair and honest version possible, the Code of Ethics of the Universidad de Murcia was approved in 2016, prepared after a process in which all the groups that are part of it collaborated.

The four fundamental values on which it is based, Commitment, Dialogue, Respect and Responsibility, should guide all the actions and relationships of the university community. Therefore, it is our priority to disseminate the Code of Ethics at all levels of the Universidad de Murcia , also seeking their full understanding and implementation.

Its effective compliance will be supervised by the Code of Ethics Monitoring Commission (CSCE), established on September 4, 2018. This is made up of people from different areas of the university community and experts:

• Antonio José Carrasco Hernández. Campus Infrastructure Coordinator
• Carmen Sánchez Trigueros. Director of the Unit for Equality between Women and Men
• Emilio Martínez Navarro. Responsible for the elaboration of the Code of Ethics
• Francisco Esquembre Martínez. Vice Chancellor for Research and Transfer
• José Antonio Cascales Saseta. Manager
• José Ramón Salcedo Hernández. Director of the Bioright Law Master: Law, Ethics and Science
• Juan José Vera Martínez. University Advocate
• Longinos Marín Rives. Vice Chancellor for Social Responsibility and Transparency
• Bald Pigeon. Vice Chancellor of Students and Services to the University Community
• José Miguel Rojo Martínez. Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Student Council of the Universidad de Murcia

Since its creation, the CSCE has organized both virtual and physical distribution of the Code of Ethics. Currently, all the buildings of the Universidad de Murcia , not only the faculties, but also those destined for the staff, have one or two dispensers with copies of the Code of Ethics, which are being replaced.

In addition, all the new workers of the Universidad de Murcia now receive the Code of Ethics in the Human Resources Area.

Other actions related to the dissemination of the Code of Ethics have been the giving of lectures on it to new students of some Faculties that required it, by Professor Emilio Martínez Navarro, or the appointment of classrooms as the values of the Code of Ethics, such as the Respect Room of the Faculty of Sports Sciences.