Maternal and Child Health Graduate Certificate

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Public health students who complete the Maternal and Child Health Graduate Certificate (MCHGC) will understand how the health of women, children, and families is impacted by several factors, including public health efforts, applicable policies, availability of resources, the health practices of individual groups, and the social determinants of health. Furthermore, they will learn how to effectively identify and use data to determine needs and positively affect those needs, and evaluate the effectiveness of public health interventions. Collectively, the MCHGC will allow students to gain the skills necessary to be effective leaders in the maternal and child health workforce and field.

Because four of the five MPH foundational core courses are required by or prerequisite to this MCHGC program, most MCHGC students are also MPH students or graduates. MPH students may apply to enter the MCHGC program upon entry into their MPH program or anytime thereafter; however, students hoping to earn the MCHGC certificate should gain entry into the program before taking the MCHGC core courses and applied practice experience.

While most students who complete the MCHGC program are public health graduate students, specifically students completing the MPH degree, maternal and child health leaders will come to the program from a variety of disciplinary areas, including but not limited to pediatrics, nutrition, nursing, psychology, counseling, social work, family, self-advocacy, etc. Leaders from these areas and other allied public health professions who want to build upon their expertise to reach this population through acquisition of maternal and child health specific knowledge and skills are encouraged to apply; however, they may be required to:

apply and be admitted into the MPH program and complete the MPH foundational core courses that are prerequisite to this MCHGC program, or
apply and be admitted into the Graduate Certificate in Public Health (GCPH) program which requires only five courses, which can be the same courses as the four MPH foundational core courses that are required by or prerequisite to the MCHGC program, or
complete the MPH foundational core courses that are prerequisite to this MCHGC program, of which 7 credit hours do not apply to the MCHGC (specifically: PHPH 7011 and PHPH 7017 ), or
demonstrate to the SPH OAA that they have the equivalent prerequisite knowledge, either through a doctoral program or other coursework, or in rare cases, significant public health work experience.

Transfer credits and the time limit on enrollment in the Maternal and Child Health Graduate Certificate program:
With the exception of the two prerequisite courses, a student may apply a maximum of six (6) semester credit hours transferred from another institution or used in another graduate program toward fulfilling the MCHGC requirements. Transfer credits are approved by the corresponding Department Chair that houses the Georgia State University-equivalent course and processed by the OAA. Courses must be from a CEPH-accredited program.

Credits earned at Georgia State University in either transient, non-degree, or other-Georgia State University-degree status:
With the exception of the two prerequisite courses, a student may apply a maximum of nine (9) semester hours of applicable Georgia State University course credit earned prior to MCHGC program admission (while taking public health courses as either transient, non-degree, or other-Georgia State University-degree or program status) toward fulfilling MCHGC degree requirements. All Georgia State University credits presented for the MCHGC degree must have been earned within three calendar years of the date of certificate conferral. However, the applied practice course - PHPH/PHPB 7960 Applied Practice Experience - must always be taken after admission into the MCHGC program if a student hopes to apply it to the MCHGC program. Please note that all courses taken at Georgia State University that are applied to another Georgia State University graduate certificate or degree program may be applied to the MCHGC degree if the student was admitted into both the MCHGC and degree program prior to taking the course that counts towards both programs.

Time Limits:
The time limit for completing the MCHGC program is three (3) years from the term of entry.

Applying MCHGC credit hours to Public Health Graduate degree programs:
Students who wish to change from MCHGC enrollment to graduate degree seeking status must file an application for the graduate program desired and provide all supporting documents by the appropriate deadline for the semester for which admission is sought. Further information on application procedures for admission to degree programs in the School of Public Health may be obtained from the Office of Academic Assistance: publichealth.gsu.edu/academic/apply/.

MCHGC credit hours may apply to School of Public Health graduate degree programs. However, all credits, including MCHGC-earned credits, presented for the Master’s degree must have been earned within six calendar years of the date of Master’s degree conferral, and all credits presented for the Doctoral degrees must have been earned within nine calendar years of the date of Doctoral degree conferral. Grades from all attempts at all Georgia State University courses that are taken at the graduate level will become part of the student’s GPA.

Maternal and Child Health Learning Competencies

Using the Maternal and Child Health Leadership Competencies as a framework, the MCHGC program has 12 student learning objectives (SLOs):

MCHGC 1. Promote the health and wellbeing of all women, infants, children, adolescents, young adults, and families – especially those geographically isolated, marginalized racial and ethnic groups oppressed by systemic racism, and economically or medically vulnerable populations – with particular attention to the MCH population domains and focus on individuals, families, communities, populations, and systems of care from a life course perspective.
MCHGC 2. Self-assess the impact of one’s personal and cultural biases, experiences, values, beliefs, communication styles, stereotyping, private/professional life balance (to optimize one’s well-being), and leadership style and attributes to develop a deeper understanding of how these may influence future action and learning.
MCHGC 3. Demonstrate ethical behavior and decision making in professional roles-including general leadership ethics, such as honesty, responsibility, humility, and cultural sensitivity, as well as ethics specific to the MCH population -displaying conduct congruent with generally accepted principles and values.
MCHGC 4. Identify an issue or problem, frame it as a specific question, consider it from multiple perspectives-informed by evidence-based practices, interventions, and policies into routine health care and public health settings-evaluate relevant information, and develop a reasoned resolution.
MCHGC 5. Communicate audience-appropriate (i.e., non-academic, non-peer audience) public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation. (Also MPH 19)
MCHGC 6. Apply negotiation and mediation skills to address organizational or community challenges. (Also MPH 17)
MCHGC 7. In an effort to decrease health disparities and lead to health equity, all students will develop their ability to recognize, respect, and address differences; communicate and interact effectively with people regardless of differences; and ensure that the needs of all people and communities are met in a respectful and responsive way, independent of the type of work they engage (e.g., interpersonal interactions, design of interventions, program development, research studies).
MCHGC 8. Ensure the health and wellbeing of children, including those with special health care needs, and their families through respectful family-professional partnerships, collaboration, and shared decision making honoring the strengths, culture, traditions, and expertise that everyone brings to the relationship when engaged in program planning, program implementation, and policy activities in leadership roles in a developmentally respectful manner.
MCHGC 9. Demonstrate working knowledge and skills of teaching, coaching, and mentoring as strategies used to develop others.
MCHGC 10. Integrate perspectives from other sectors and/or professions to promote and advance population health. (Also MPH 21)
MCHGC 11. Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than standard narrative. (Also MPH 22)
MCHGC 12. Discuss the policy-making process, including the roles of ethics and evidence. (Also MPH 12)

Certificate Requirements (20 Credit Hours)

MCHGC Prerequisite Courses (7 Credit Hours)

The following two public health foundational course are foundational core to the MPH and are prerequisite to the MCHGC. Students with or working toward a CEPH-accredited public health graduate degree may waive these two courses if they have already completed comparable courses in their public health graduate program. Similarly, student with or working toward a Graduate Certificate in Public Health at GSU may waive these two courses if they have recently (within 3 years of MCHGC certificate completion) completed these courses in their graduate certificate program. Students admitted to the MCHGC program who have not completed these courses should complete them within their first two semesters of the MCHGC program; however, these credit hours do not count toward the MCHGC.

PHPH 7011 - Epidemiology for Public Health 3 Credit Hours
PHPH 7017 - Fundamentals of Biostatistics I 4 Credit Hours

MCHGC Public Health Foundational Courses (6 Credit Hours)

The following two public health foundational course are core to the MPH and are also required for the MCHGC. Students with or working toward a CEPH-accredited public health graduate degree may waive these two courses if they have already completed comparable courses in their public health graduate program. Similarly, students with or working toward a Graduate Certificate in Public Health at GSU may waive these two courses if they have recently (within 3 years of MCHGC certificate completion) completed these courses in their graduate certificate program.

PHPB 7140 Health Promotion, Planning, Administration and Evaluation (3)
PHPB 7160 Fundamentals of Health Systems, Leadership, and Policy (3)

MCHGC Core Curriculum (12 Credit Hours)

PHPB 7425 Foundations of Maternal and Child Health (3)
PHPH 8330 Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology: Using Information and Data Systems (3)
PHPB 8331 Implementation and Scale-Up of Evidence-based Practices for Maternal and Child Health Populations (3)
PHPB 8332 Maternal and Child Health Advocacy: From Rights to Justice (3)

MCHGC Applied Practice Experience (2 Credit Hours)

Complete an applied practice experience [APE] within a maternal and child health [MCH] focused organization or community-based setting. The APE learning contract required for APE course registration must identify exactly how MCHGC students will demonstrate the MCHGC competencies in their MCH focused community-based setting, and the learning contract must be approved by the designated MCH-APE faculty representative for that semester. APE courses completed without a MCHGC-focused learning contract or experience will not count toward the MCHGC certificate. Students earning the MPH and MCHGC concurrently are only required to complete one APE, but those students must also identify on their APE learning contract how they will demonstrate both their MCHGC competencies and their MPH foundational and concentration competencies during their MCH focused APE, and the learning contract must be approved by the designated MCH-APE faculty representative for that semester.

Choose one APE course appropriate to MPH concentration:

PHPH 7960 Applied Practice Experience (2)
PHPB 7960 Applied Practice Experience (2)