The MCH Certificate provides students an opportunity to expand their knowledge and increase their comprehension of mothers, children, and their families to improve their health and well-being. Through course content and faculty mentorship, you will learn about:

• MCH foundational knowledge, research and practice
• How theories and evidence translate into policy

You will develop skills necessary to

• Communicate with all persons from diverse groups
• be leaders in the MCH workforce

Certificate Requirements

The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Certificate is 15 credit hours. Students are required to take three core courses (9 credits) and two electives (6 credits) which are selected from an approved list. Students currently enrolled in another degree program at USC may share up to 12 credit hours between both programs. The MCH Certificate Program Director and your faculty mentor will assist you in elective course selection and course sequencing.

• A four-year baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution
• Grade point average 3.00/4.00 or higher
• GRE scores – not required
• For international applicants, a satisfactory score of one of the following is needed (this requirement may be waived for applicants that have earned a prior degree from a US institution):
  • TOEFL – minimum score of 90
  • IELTS- minimum overall band of 7.0

Degree Requirements (15 Hours)

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
Foundational MCH Core Courses		9
EPID 765	Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology
or EPID 865	Methods in Reproductive & Perinatal Epidemiology
HPEB/WGST 621	Maternal and Child Health
HSPM 702	Maternal and Child Health Programs and Policies: Past, Present, and Future
Elective MCH Courses -Students may select any two courses from the table below. You may not take two courses from the same topic area		6
Life Course
HPEB 620	Nutrition Through the Life Cycle (alternate year)
HPEB 654	Maternal and Child Nutrition
HPEB 752	Nutrition and Public Health
EXSC 778	Exercise and Childhood Obesity
PSYC 520	Psychology of Child Development
PSYC 726	Psychological Problems and Resilience
HPEB 684	HIV/STI Prevention
HPEB 627	Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Health
EXSC 585	Women’s Health and Physical Activity
Theories, Program Planning and Administration
EPID 730	Public Health Surveillance Systems
EPID 770	Social Epidemiology 1
HPEB 710	Evaluation of Health Promotion Programs
HPEB 640	Behavioral Economics in Public Health
HPEB 771	Socio-Cultural Perspectives on Population Health
HPEB 818	Advanced Evaluation of Health Promotion Programs 2
HPEB 824	Social and Physical Environment Interventions in Health Promotion 2
HSPM 700	Approaches and Concepts for Health Administration
HSPM 709	Perspectives in Rural Health
HSPM 712	Health Economics
HSPM 775	Managerial Epidemiology and Statistics in Healthcare
HSPM 818	Economic Evaluation and Policy Analysis of Health Services
HSPM 846	Advanced Topics in Health Policy and Management II
PSYC 749	Principles of Human Diversity 2
PUBH 700	Perspectives in Public Health
SOCY 755	Social Structures and Inequality 2
SOCY 775	Medical Sociology
SOWK 722	Social Work Practice with Individuals, Families and Small Groups
Research Methods and Data Analysis
EPID 788	Practical Methods for Secondary Data Analysis
EPID 767/867	GIS and Public Health Applications
EXSC 787	Research Methods and Design for Exercise Science
HPEB 715	Qualitative Research Methods in Public Health
HPEB 815	Theory-Driven Analysis 2
HSPM 719	Health Services Research Methods II
SOCY 749	Selected Topics in Demography
Total Credit Hours		15

¹

Taught with a focus on the social determinants of health.

²

with instructor permission.