Public Health

Course Outline
To meet the increasing demand for highly trained public health specialists, we are offering a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health designed to prepare you to investigate, evaluate and address public health challenges, whatever your professional background. Our Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health programme will equip you with the core knowledge and specialized skills necessary to make a real difference in public health.

This Postgraduate Diploma runs over 10 months, and lectures are delivered on Thursdays (3pm to 9pm) and Fridays (9am to 5pm).

Course Practicalities
Teaching takes place on Thursdays and Fridays. Teaching includes the use of SPSS (all students) and STATA labs (Epidemiology and Biostatistics students) and occasional field trips.

Pathways

Pathway preferences are chosen in consultation with the Programme Director. The Postgraduate Diploma has three pathways:

Pathway 1: Health Promotion
Pathway 2: Health Protection
Pathway 3: Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Students take 60 credits in total: In Semester 1, you will take core modules to the value of 30 credits. In Semester 2, you can choose one of the pathways and undertake modules to the value of 30 credits (25 credits from the chosen pathway and a 5-credit core module).

Semester 1

Core Modules - All pathways (30 credits)

EH6025 Principles and Practice of Public Health (10 credits)
EH6026 Applied Research for Public Health (10 credits)
EH6027 Public Health Informatics (5 credits)
EH6091 Graduate Information Literacy Skills (5 credits)
Semester 2

Core Module - All pathways

EH6028 Leadership in Public Health (5 credits)
Pathway 1: Health Promotion

Students take 25 credits as follows:

EH6029 Health Promotion: Concepts, Principles and Practice (10 credits)
EH6039 Public Health and Behavioural Change (5 credits)
EH6044 Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (5 credits)
Plus 5 credits from either of the following:

EH6046 Global and Environmental Health (5 credits)
SS6017 Critical Public Health (5 credits)
Pathway 2: Health Protection

Students take 25 credits as follows:

EH6019 The Principles and Practice of Multi-disciplinary Health Protection (10 credits)
EH6044 Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (5 credits
EH6046 Global and Environmental Health (5 credits)
MB6000 Microbiology for Health Protection (5 credits)
Pathway 3: Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Students take 25 credits as follows:

EH6031 Advanced Epidemiology (10 credits)
EH6044 Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (5 credits)
ST6011 Advanced Biostatistics (5 credits)
ST6012 Survival Analysis (5 credits)
See the University Calendar (Diploma in Public Health) for further course and module content information.

Modules

Further details on the modules listed above can be found in our Book of Modules. Any modules listed above are indicative of the current set of modules for this course but are subject to change from year to year.

University Calendar

You can find the full academic content for the current year of any given course in our University Calendar.

All applicants will be required to write a 500-word statement demonstrating their suitability to complete a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health.

Candidates must also meet one of the following requirements:

Hold a Second Class Honours Grade I in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) in a relevant subject area
OR
Hold a Second Class Honours Grade I in a Postgraduate Certificate (NFQ level 9) in a relevant subject area
OR
Completion of three years (180 credits) of a medical degree programme from a recognised University on the Island of Ireland. No student may register for the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health programme of study until the Third University Examination in Medicine has been passed to an Upper Second Class honours Standard.

Relevant subject areas are Biological Sciences, Medical and Health Sciences, Public Health and Social Sciences.

Note: In some circumstances, applicants without a primary degree or applicants without a relevant primary degree may be recommended for entry to the programme under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) following a review of their individual qualifications and experience by the course committee. Such applicants may be called for an interview, and their admission will be subject to the approval of the School of Public Health's Executive Committee.

For Applicants with Qualifications Completed Outside of Ireland
Applicants must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements. For more information see our Qualification Comparison page.

International/Non-EU Applicants
For full details of the non-EU application procedure visit our how to apply pages for international students.

In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.

Note that not all courses are open to international/non-EU applicants, please check the fact file above. For more information contact the International Office.

English Language Requirements
Applicants that are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university-approved English language requirements. Please visit our PG English Language Requirements page for more information.

The closing date for non-EU applications is 30 June 2023

How Do I Apply
1. Check Dates: Check the opening and closing dates for the application process in the fact file boxes at the top of the page.

For Irish and EU applicants we operate a rounds system and you can check the rounds closing dates here.
Note that not all our programmes are subject to the rounds system so check the opening and closing dates for your specific programme in the fact file boxes above.

2. Gather Documents: Scanned copies of supporting documents have to be uploaded to the UCC online application portal and include:

Original qualification documents listed on your application including transcripts of results from institutions other than UCC.
Any supplementary items requested for your course if required.

3. Apply Online: Apply online via the UCC online application portal. Note the majority of our courses have a non-refundable €50 application fee.

Any questions? Use our web enquiry form to contact us.

Additional Requirements
Please note you will be required to provide additional information as part of the online application process for this programme. This will include the following questions:

You may enter the details of professional or voluntary positions held. We strongly encourage you to complete this section with all relevant work experiences that will support your application.

In addition to your previously declared qualifications, please outline any additional academic courses, self-learning and professional training relevant to this programme.

Please describe your motivation and readiness for this programme.

Deposit
Please note that successful EU applicants will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit of €500 on acceptance of their place.

1 year full-time.

Skills and Careers Information
Our graduates are currently employed in a range of careers in Ireland, Europe and in other developed and developing countries in diverse public health roles including health services, public health research, surveillance, environmental health and public health agencies.