As the first school of public health in Israel, the Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine at Hebrew University-Hadassah has 50 years of experience in training public health professionals from Israel and from nearly 100 countries across the globe. Our MPH degree has been awarded to more than 850 graduates from low, medium and high income countries since 1960, and more than a thousand Israelis.

The International Master of Public Health (IMPH) Program offers a scientifically stimulating and culturally rewarding experience of studying in a foreign country and interacting with peers from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds in the unique setting of Jerusalem about which the late Nobel Prize Laureate the late Elie Weisel wrote "Jerusalem: The city which no one can enter it and go away unchanged".

The one-year APHEA-accredited English-language IMPH Program provides its trainees with tools for examining public health challenges and formulating relevant responses at the institutional, community and national level. We help our students develop knowledge and skills in a broad range of public health disciplines, thus preparing them to take up key positions as leaders and teachers in their home countries, in areas such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis prevention and control, prevention and treatment of heart disease, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, combating malnutrition and tobacco use, and fighting the stigma associated with mental illness. An equally important goal of the IMPH Program is to instill in our students a love and respect for the Land of Israel and its people.

The teachers and staff of the IMPH will do their utmost to make you feel at home while you undertake this demanding, yet very rewarding, curriculum of study.

Acceptance into the Program is competitive and selected applicants from lower-income countries are offered generous scholarships that cover the costs of studying in the Program.

In the next few pages you will get a glimpse of what the IMPH experience in Jerusalem entails, academically and socially-culturally. If, when you finish reading this brochure, you feel that our IMPH Program is what you are seeking, we encourage you to complete the online application package and allow us to consider you for this unique public health training experience.

 

The Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine is proud of its overseas students who since 1970 have made the International Master of Public Health (IMPH) Program a most rewarding and successful venture. More than 850 students from 96 countries across the globe have participated in this unique experience.

Our students' wide range of cultural backgrounds and work experiences coupled with our demanding curriculum create an environment which is at once scientifically challenging and culturally stimulating. Personal contacts with our alumni and news of their impressive contributions to their countries’ health is a continuing source of pride and pleasure.

The IMPH student body comprises physicians, nurses, other health professionals, economists, social scientists and those interested in public health from other disciplines. Many of our graduates return home at the completion of their training to occupy leadership positions in the health care systems of their communities and countries.

Most students come from 'developing' regions of the world, but the program also welcomes students from the north, and our alumni include graduates from Western Europe, the USA and Canada.

A limited number of scholarships are provided annually by MASHAV, the Pears Foundation, British Friends of Hebrew University, American Friends of Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical Organization and other donors for selected candidates from lower-income developing regions, countries in transition and small-island-countries.

Israel is known to be a welcoming society and along with providing you with public health knowledge and skills, we will be happy to show you many of the treasures of Israel and its capital city, Jerusalem.

Surrounded by terraced slopes and pine-forested hills west of central Jerusalem, our campus lies next to the quiet, picturesque village of Ein Kerem. Students can wander along flower-lined paths, interspersed with vines and olive trees and watch artists at work. Quaint shops, restaurants and galleries dot the landscape. On campus, one of the first sights to greet newcomers is the magnificent set of stained glass windows created by Marc Chagall.

Join us and become part of our world-wide family devoted to the advancement of public health practices, research, and teaching.

 Unique Advantages of the Braun School’s IMPH Program in Israel

The program promotes excellence in international public health research and practice in a broad range of topics

The School has nearly 50 years of experience in the international health field, its teaching in Israel and in many other countries

The School and its MPH programs are fully accredited by the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA)

In recognition of our ongoing public health training efforts in Israel and abroad, the World Health Organization designated the School (2007-2014) as a Collaborating Centre for Capacity Building in Public Health.

The IMPH Program provides tools for examining public health challenges in any country and formulating relevant intervention strategies at the community and national level.

The emphasis throughout is on active learning by the student, individually and in groups.

Israel is both a developed (academically, technologically, etc.) and a still developing young country. We have experienced and struggled with health issues in both these roles.

Together with the high academic requirements, the program is tailored to the student’s needs and interests

Our teachers are deeply involved, caring and maintain open communication with their students

Small group tutorial classes are provided for students requiring additional assistance in some core courses

The IMPH Program offers a wide range of social and cultural activities that serve to bond and integrate our students and introduce them to the historical and modern host-country of Israel

The overall objective of our Program is to provide knowledge of the theory and practice of public health and community medicine for those either currently engaged in this field or planning to do so in the future.

We will work toward helping you develop knowledge and skills in the following areas:

-Epidemiology, research methods, and biostatistics

-Health administration, health economics and health systems

-Public health practice, planning, administration and evaluation

-Planning and conducting research projects

-Diagnosis of the state of health of communities

-Design and implementation of community-based health programs

-Control of communicable diseases

-Environmental, industrial and occupational health

-Sociological and behavioral determinants of health

-Nutrition in public health, food security, and combating malnutrition

Upon successful completion of the program you will be expected to:

-Initiate and participate in the promotion and development of public health practices in your own country on a national or regional level or in a local community setting;

-Use epidemiological and other tools toward health system planning and evaluation, and health services delivery in geographical regions and within institutions;

-Develop capacity-building programs responsible for training public health personnel in your country

Study CurriculumThe curriculum is comprised of core courses, elective courses, the COPC Workshop, and the writing of a mentored Thesis or Master’s Paper.

The required courses which constitute the core of the IMPH studies include:

-Community Oriented Primary Health Care Workshop

-Control of Communicable Diseases

-Environmental and Occupational Health

-Health Economics

-Health Promotion and Health Behavior

I-nterpretation of Epidemiological Data

-Introduction to Public Health

-Organization of Medical Care

-Principles and Uses of Epidemiology

-Public Health Nutrition

-Public Health Practice, Organization and Evaluation

-Public Health Seminar

-Qualitative Methods in Public Health

Sociology of Health and Illness

Statistical Methods for Public Health

Survey and Research Methods

Students also choose from a wide range of elective courses such as:

-Aging: Epidemiology and Services

-Community Mental Health

-Economic Evaluation of Public Health and Medical Interventions

-Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Public Health

-Health Promotion

-History of Public Health and Epidemiology

-Public Health Demography

-Maternal and Child Health

-Multidisciplinary Aspects of HIV/AIDS

-Public Health Ethics

-Selected Topics in Epidemiology

-Statistical Methods for Analysis of Rates

A major component of the IMPH program is the Community-Oriented Primary Care (COPC) Workshop. COPC is an innovative approach to health care delivery at the population level that integrates clinical medicine and public health. The COPC model was developed in our School and is employed in communities worldwide. The main objective of this workshop is to develop community medicine in a primary health care setting or other framework, with special emphasis on the use of epidemiology in daily practice. Students apply the COPC principles and methods to data from their own communities.

Students complete an individual, mentored Thesis or Master Paper.

Thesis: Students in the thesis track collect and analyze data on a relevant public health topic or conduct detailed secondary analyses of an existing database. This track is open to students who achieve above-average grades in the first semester courses.

Master Paper: Students who choose this track write a paper on a public health problem which is relevant to their country. The paper may comprise a detailed research project proposal, a program review, or an in-depth analysis of an emerging or existing public health problem.

Theses and papers are submitted in writing and defended in an oral examination at the end of the year.

-Zika pandemic online trends and risk communication;

-Mediterranean diet in Israeli adolescents;

-Effect modification by immigration status of the association between reproductive cancers and ethnicity

-The association of leucocyte telomere length dynamics with pulmonary function;

-Impact of "super obesity" on the presence of cardiovascular risk factors in childhood and adolescence

-Inequalities in health behaviors in Jerusalem;

-Indigenous health care utilization: differences according to village type in the utilization of health care services amongst -Bedouin infants in southern Israel;

-The contribution of genetic variants involved in microRNA regulation to maternal and offspring adiposity

-Social capital and self-rated health: cross-cultural applicability in Jerusalem;

-Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Influenza vaccination among health care providers in the Bamenda Regional Hospital, Cameroon;

-Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) in Fiji;

-Developing a reproductive health surveillance system in Japan in the context of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) exposure;

-The impact of household air pollution on the health of women and children in rural Kenya;

-Community based virtual reality exposure treatment (VR-EBT) intervention for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following an earthquake, Nepal;

-Folic acid prevention of neural tube defects: a public health dilemma in Scandinavian countries

-Program review of the Healthy Island Settings approach in Papua New Guinea;

-The use of proton pump inhibitors and risk for dementia in the elderly;

-Preventing the Zika virus transmission and improving women's health in Saint Lucia;

-Long term complications of Ebola in child survivors in Sierra Leone: a longitudinal cohort study

-Combating malnutrition in children under five in Muynak district in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan using the positive deviance approach;

-Mother-to-child HIV transmission in Zambia: an analysis of a public health issue;

 The Academic Year – October-September

The academic year is divided into two semesters and a summer session. The first semester begins in October and ends in January-February, and the second semester ends in June. Exact start and end dates vary from year to year.

The summer session (July - September) is primarily devoted to work on the thesis/master paper (including field work if necessary).

Course examinations are held in February and July, and the oral thesis/master paper defense in September, prior to graduation.

Professional site-visits, social outings, cultural events, and lectures on current affairs and the history of the region take place throughout the year. Students join in the celebration of local religious festivals. Informal home visits facilitate contact with faculty members and other Israelis.

Comfortable on-campus housing is provided for scholarship students and shared with other students in the program. Non-scholarship students can rent in these apartments (based on availability). Apartments can also be rented in close proximity to campus.

Having read the above description of our program and what we regard as important, you should be in a better position to decide whether you are interested in applying for admission. If you feel that our Program meets your professional/academic needs, please read on.

Let us start with what we will try to provide you with:

The fundamental principles of public health and community medicine through our curriculum in epidemiology, research methods, statistics, health administration and other core and elective courses. Courses are taught by faculty members with vast international experience, bringing a high level of expertise to the training program.

Practical experience in the application of these principles in the COPC workshop

Practical experience in planning and carrying out a research project

A rewarding and stimulating experience of studying in a foreign country and of meeting and working with people from different professional and cultural backgrounds and joining a global network of hundreds of public health professionals who have graduated the program

What we expect from you, or more accurately, what you should expect from yourself:

A realistic assessment of your knowledge of English so that you are not handicapped by an inability to read material, write papers or participate fully and freely in class. We do not offer an English language course. Without a very strong command of English you will not fully benefit from the course and you might be unable to successfully complete the requirements of the course.

A clear understanding of why you want the degree and how you plan to use it, and a firm intention to continue to work in the field of public health in your own country.

 Requirements for Admission

To be eligible for the IMPH Program you must hold an academic degree (BA/BSc, MA/MSc, MD) in medicine, dentistry, nursing, another allied health field, or in one of the basic biological or social sciences relevant to health from a recognized university. Diploma/Advanced Diploma degrees are not recognized as academic degrees by Hebrew University.

Applicants who hold only a bachelor’s degree must have obtained an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 75% in their undergraduate studies.

Practical experience in public health is taken into account as well as academic achievement.

Students must have a command of basic computing skills.

A limited number of scholarships are available for selected students from lower-income and small-island-countries. These scholarships cover virtually all costs related to participation in the Program including tuition, housing, basic living expenses, medical insurance, social/cultural activities, administration fees, and textbooks. Outstanding applicants may also be eligible for additional travel awards.

Scholarship support is not available for students from high-income countries. The cost of participation in the IMPH program for non-scholarship students is 100,000 New Israeli Shekels (NIS). All payments must be made in Israeli currency or foreign currency based on the official exchange rate on the day of payment. This sum covers tuition, medical insurance, social/cultural activities, administrative fees and textbooks. Rent and living expenses are not included.

Applicants from high-income countries are charged a non-refundable application fee of US$75 that can be paid by check made payable to "Hadassah Medical Organization".

Address for mailing the application fee:

International MPH Program

Hebrew University-Hadassah

Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine

P.O. Box 12272, Jerusalem, Israel 9112102

Applications must be submitted online and include the following documents listed below. All documents must be labeled in the file name. Do not upload zip files.

1. Completed application form.

2. Copy of an academic degree certificate and valid transcripts (for all degrees), including transcripts for all transfer credits. If transcripts are not in English, submit official translations and original.

3. Applicants from countries where English is not the language of instruction must present results of an English language proficiency exam from a recognized language-instruction institute. Applicants who have previously studied at an institution where English is the language of instruction do not need to submit proof of English proficiency.

4. Medical report attesting to the applicant’s good health signed by a physician. Please note, medical insurance does not cover dental care and expenses arising from pre-existing conditions and other health conditions/procedures.

5. Curriculum Vitae (CV).

6. “Personal statement” or autobiography describing the reasons for wanting to pursue a master's degree in public health.

7. Letters of recommendation from 3 senior academicians or professionals who can attest to the applicant’s qualifications and ability to successfully complete the Program. Letters must be written on letterhead, signed, and uploaded by the person writing the letter. Letters uploaded by the applicant will be removed.

8. A recent color photograph on white or light background.

9. Photocopy of a valid passport (must be valid for at least 6 months from end of program).

Israeli citizens only please upload a copy of Israeli ID and Israeli passport and foreign passport if relevant.

10. Recommended but not required: A letter from an employer or future employer attesting to the intent to re-employ the applicant upon completion of the MPH degree.

Link to online registration: http://grs.ekmd.huji.ac.il

E-mail: imph@ekmd.huji.ac.il

Website: http://IMPH.HUJI.AC.IL

We welcome applicants from the world over, both those eligible for scholarships and those who are self-funded.

Scholarship funding is generously provided by:Pears Foundation, British Friends of the Hebrew University, MASHAV, AF HU American Friends of the Hebrew University, SA Friends of the Hebrew University.