Dual Degree Option (PA/ MPH) Available to Entering Students

Emory is one of a few universities offering a dual MMSc-PA and MPH option for interested applicants. The dual degree program offers students the opportunity to earn an MPH degree in conjunction with training in the respected and top ranked Rollins School of Public Health at  Emory University. Students may apply their combined PA/PH skills in such areas as population health, clinical research, health administration leadership, global healthcare, and community health promotion.

Students must apply to and be accepted by both the PA and MPH programs during the same admission year. Students apply to a specific department in the School of Public Health through SOPHAS. Accepted dual-degree students initially enroll in the School of Public Health for one year and complete 32 semester hours of courses. These include the required MPH core courses, required departmental courses and, in most instances, a thesis. Students must also complete a practicum, a structured field experience of relevance to public health.

As 10 semester hours of PA courses count towards the MPH degree, the MPH degree is awarded when the requirements for the PA program are completed.

After completion of the fall and spring semesters of the MPH curriculum, dual degree students enter the PA program the following fall semester. The PA Program requires twenty-eight months (seven semesters) of training, including courses and clinical rotations The MMSc-PA Curriculum is linked here.

Dual degree candidates must be accepted into both the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) and the PA program during the same admissions cycle.

Applicants to the dual degree program, if accepted to both the RSPH and the School of Medicine’s (SOM) PA program, attend the RSPH year one and the PA program year two and three. If you are accepted to the PA program but not accepted into the RSPH, you enter the PA program the equivalent of year two. For example, if you are apply to the dual degree program for the coming year (2011), and are not accepted into the School of Public Health, you enter the PA program in 2012. If you are accepted by the School of Public Health but not the PA program, you may enter Public Health but are no longer eligible to enter the dual degree program. You may apply to the PA program as a regular student.

Please note, you must designate your choice of PA/MPH or PA program only on your supplemental application. Once this application is submitted you can not change your designation.

Deadlines for submission of applications are as follows:

CASPA and Emory Supplemental applications must be completed by August 1
SOPHAS application must be completed by October 1 .

Please note - the SOPHAS application will not be available until September 13, 2010.

Tuition and fees for the School of Public Health and the School of Medicine are set by the University each spring and may differ from each other. Successful candidates for the PA/MPH dual degree program pay for two semesters (fall and spring) at the RSPH and seven consecutive semesters at the Emory School of Medicine PA program.

During the final semester of the PA program, PA/MPH students may petition for exemption from select courses previously completed at the RSPH. If exemption is granted, students are still expected to maintain their status as full-time students (12 credits).

Please follow this link for the RSPH description of requirements for the MMSc-PA/MPH program.