The health policy specialty and the advanced public health nursing specialy merged into a new specialty, Health Policy and Public Health (HPPH) with the incoming cohort of Fall 2022.
The UCSF specialty in Health Policy & Public Health (HPPH) for registered nurses provides foundations in policy leadership and planning and evaluating public health programs in a variety of settings. HPPH students will take the majority of their classes together, but their coursework will diverge into two separate tracks, Health Policy (HP) or Public Health (PH). This is not a clinical specialty and involves no individual level patient care.
Graduates from the Health Policy track will be prepared to: identify and critically analyze laws, regulations and policies at the institutional, local, state and national levels; use in-depth knowledge of the history, structure, theory and process of health policymaking in the United States; and plan, implement, and evaluate policies. In addition, students will be able to identify the economic, ethical, and social implications of policy decisions for various affected groups and be prepared to creatively and effectively advocate for policy change.
The Public Health track provides a foundation for planning and evaluating community/public health programs; learning about community/public health concepts, health promotion, population health, population-level interventions, grant writing, health care systems, leadership, and health policy; addressing health disparities of vulnerable and diverse populations; and practicing and consulting in diverse and multicultural settings.
Students in this specialty understand the complex interactions between health and the social determinants of health to maintain or improve the health of diverse, vulnerable, and underserved populations and communities. We are committed, as a specialty and a community of students, staff, and faculty, to working to advance racial and social justice and health equity
Each track requires students to take 8 units/240 residency hours appropriate to their track. Students will be able to select their specialty track during the application process or change it after admission. While in the program, a student can choose to continue in the chosen track or change based on their evolving interest.
Alternatively, students can pursue a dual track trajectory which necessitates they complete all classes on the curriculum in addition to the residency requirements for both public health and health policy - a combined 16 units/480 hrs residency total. In this case, students are expected to complete 8 units/240 hours in a health policy residency and 8 units/240 hours in a public health residency.
This program can be completed in 15 months. If students choose to follow the dual track, it is expected to take approximately 2 years to complete.
How to Apply: visit https://nursing.ucsf.edu/ for requirements and apply at https://gradapplication.ucsf.edu/