Public Health

The MPH programme in UCD is a long-standing, internationally recognised Graduate Entry Professional Programme, developed to offer multidisciplinary training and development in Public Health.



• Knowledge of the factors influencing health status.

• An understanding of the organisation and financing of Health Services and their impact on population health.

• The epidemiological skills of study design and analysis.

• Ability to work as an active team member in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating health policy.



The degree of Master of Public Health may be granted to registered medical and dental practitioners and to those with professional backgrounds in health or health care provision, who hold an appropriate primary degree or equivalent qualification. Candidates may be required to undertake an interview prior to acceptance for the course.



What Will I Learn?

• Graduates will be able to identify and apply appropriate epidemiological methods for study design.

• Graduates will be able to identify and apply appropriate statistical analysis to analyse a public health problem.

• Graduates will be able to identify the occurrence and distribution of health and illness in populations, understand the wider determinants of health and disease, analyse and interpret health data to assess community needs and resources and understand the requirement for multidisciplinary working.

• Graduates will demonstrate critical appraisal skills.

• Graduates will demonstrate understanding of health promotion and disease prevention and the importance of advocacy as a public health professional.

• Graduates will demonstrate understanding of the breadth of the role of public health in the health services.

Module/Trimester/Credits



Stage 1 Core Modules

PHPS40010 Principles of Epidemiology Autumn 5

PHPS40190 Biostatistics I Autumn 5

PHPS40200 Communicable Disease Epidemiology Autumn 5

PHPS40370 Non Communicable Disease Epidemiology Autumn 5

PHPS40750 Quantitative & Qualitative, Data Management, Analysis & Reporting Autumn 5

PHPS40980 Introduction to Knowledge Synthesis, Systematic Reviews & Meta-analysis Autumn 5

PHPS40040 Public Health Practice and Policy Spring 5

PHPS40300 Health Promotion Spring 5

PHPS40850 Sociology&Social Epidemiology Spring 5

PHPS41120 Health Economic Analysis Spring 5

PHPS41300 Global Public Health Spring 5

PHPS41140 MPH Dissertation Summer 30



Stage 1 Options - A)1 of:

Stage 1 Option Modules

PHPS40050 Nutritional Epidemiology Spring 5

PHPS40230 One Health Spring 5

PHPS40460 Biostatistics II Spring 5

PHPS40880 Intro to Genetic Epidemiology Spring 5

PHPS40970 Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials Spring 5

PHPS40990 Systematic Reviews, Meta-analysis and Clinical Guidelines Spring 5

PHPS50010 Graduate Teaching Assistant Spring 5

This programme is intended for Graduates of Health Science degree programmes (Medicine, Dentistry, Public Health, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Nutrition, Nursing, or other), Science degree programmes (Biology, Biochemistry, Food Science, Physiology, Pharmacology, or other) or Social Science degree programmes (Psychology, Sociology, Economics, or other) preferably with a 2.1 Award or higher. Awards of 2:2 or less may be considered with additional suitable credentials. Applicants will be required to provide evidence of the highest level of mathematics achieved in prior education.



• Applicants whose first language is not English must also demonstrate English language proficiency of IELTS Scores: Not less than 6.5 overall, with not less than 6.5 in writing and not less than 6 in each other component.



These are the minimum entry requirements – additional criteria may be requested for some programmes.



You may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), as UCD recognises formal, informal, and/or experiential learning. RPL may be awarded to gain Admission and/or credit exemptions on a programme. Please visit the UCD Registry RPL web page for further information at: https://www.ucd.ie/registry/prospectivestudents/admissions/rpl/ Any exceptions are also listed on this webpage.

Online Application.



Who Should Apply?

Full Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes

International (Non EU) applicants: Yes



Part Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes

International (Non EEA) applicants: No

1 year full-time, 2 years part-time.

X065: Master of Public Health in Psychotherapy Studies Full-Time

Commencing September 2026

Graduate Taught



X183: Master of Public Health in Psychotherapy Studies Part-Time

Commencing September 2026

Graduate Taught