MENU
mainbg
Home 〉 Curriculum

Curriculum

Overview

The Master of Public Health in Global Health (MPH) course at Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo) was designed to advance your knowledge and skills in the core public health disciplines while preparing you to generate/translate/disseminate public-health-related knowledge in real-world contexts.

overview
Download PDF from here

Program Components

1st year:
In-class course work at our Tokyo campus

2nd year:
Original public health research about the country of your choice (Tokyo campus/online)
Completion of a master's thesis (Tokyo campus/online)
[Optional] Internship at an international organization

Program Components Image

Teaching Methods

Both core and elective courses will be conducted using lecture-based and active, case-based learning approaches (known as case methods). Throughout the course, students will have ample opportunity to apply theories learned in lecture-based classes to realistic situations using case-based discussion. These case-based active discussions allow students to obtain more practical and cross cutting competencies such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and professional leadership. Students can also gain an overview of topics and up-to-date knowledge though lectures from invited first-class lecturers, and improve techniques such as statistical analysis though tailored exercises.

Academic Advisor

Each student will be assigned a Science Tokyo-MPH course faculty member to be your academic advisor. The role of academic adviser is to provide you with academic guidance, information, and supervise your research project that you will conduct in the second year. You and your adviser must communicate frequently to discuss your plan and progress. You can express whom you would like to be your academic advisor at the time of application.

Core Courses

  • Behavioral Sciences
  • Introduction to Biostatistics/BiostatisticsⅠ
  • Introduction to Epidemiology/EpidemiologyⅠ
  • Social Epidemiology/EpidemiologyⅡ
  • Global Health
  • Health System and Management
  • Environmental Planetary Health
  • Public Health Practice Ⅰ
  • Public Health Practice Ⅱ

Elective Courses

  • Biostatistics in Practice/BiostatisticsⅡ
  • Maternal and Child Health
  • Public Health Biology

MPH Course Curriculum

MPH Course Curriculum Map
  • Year 1
  • Year 2

MPH Course Syllabi

Please note that the syllabi on this page are tentative, and students are responsible for checking the latest one on the WebClass.

* Elective course

UPDATED on 2025/04/01Behavioral Sciences
This course has been designed to provide students with a conceptual grounding in theoretical approaches to health behavior change. The emphasis is on psychosocial theories and social determinants of health.
UPDATED on 2025/04/01Introduction to Biostatistics / BiostatisticsⅠ
Biostatistics is the application of statistical methods to data in biological, biomedical and health sciences. This course introduces the basic techniques important for analyzing data from epidemiologic, biomedical and other public health related research. Statistical reasoning will be emphasized through problem solving and practical applications.
*For students who enrolled before 2025, please register with the subject name "BiostatisticsⅠ".
UPDATED on 2025/04/01Biostatistics in Practice / BiostatisticsⅡ*
This course covers advanced statistical procedures used in current empirical research including but not limited to multilevel models, propensity score analysis, instrumental variables, multiple imputation, and survival analysis.
Prerequisite: Biostatistics Ⅰ or the equivalent
*For students who enrolled before 2025, please register with the subject name "BiostatisticsⅡ".
Updated on 2025/04/10Environmental Planetary Health
Environmental Planetary Health course covers the basics of environmental epidemiology, such as toxicology, and how larger global environmental changes such as climate change, biodiversity, and air/water/soil pollution affect human health.
UPDATED on 2025/04/01Introduction to Epidemiology / EpidemiologyⅠ
Epidemiology is the study of the causes and distribution of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this knowledge to control those health problems. This course introduces the principles and methods used in epidemiologic research with a focus on conceptual and practical issues in the design, conduct, and analysis of epidemiologic studies for description and causal inference.
*For students who enrolled before 2025, please register with the subject name "EpidemiologyⅠ".
UPDATED on 2025/04/01Social Epidemiology / EpidemiologyⅡ
This course applies epidemiological methodologies to explore the health effects of major social variables, including social class, race, gender, poverty, income distribution, social networks/support, community cohesion, work and neighborhood environment. We will explore the health consequences of social and economic policies, and the potential role of specific social interventions.
Prerequisite: Epidemiology Ⅰ or the equivalent
*For students who enrolled before 2025, please register with the subject name "EpidemiologyⅡ".
UPDATED on 2025/04/01Global Health
This course provides an overview of important health challenges facing the world today and discusses how these have changed over time, examines determinants of such changes, and future projections. We will review evidence, theory, and methods related to global health and approaches used to design, implement and evaluate policies to address global health problems.
UPDATED on 2025/04/01Health Systems and Management
This course provides an overview of health systems and approaches to improving their efficiency, equity, and performance; focusing on frameworks, tools, skills, and strategies to understand, influence, and evaluate health systems, including technical and political aspects of a policy cycle.
UPDATED on 2025/04/01Healthcare Business*
(Closed in AY 2025)
This course introduces the practical approach on healthcare business and provides the opportunity to learn how to start healthcare business, fucusing on design and information and communication technology.
UPDATED on 2025/04/01Maternal and Child Health*
This course focuses on health problems and diseases affecting both pregnant women and children, and presents programs appropriate for the populations of prenatal, early and late childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. The impact of various common health problems at different stages of the life cycle and their functional outcomes in terms of morbidity, mortality, psychological wellbeing, reproduction and growth will be highlighted.
UPDATED on 2025/04/10Public Health Biology*
This course offers molecular and biological perspectives on public health problems. We will explore the underlying principles of population and medical genetics, molecular and cellular biology, and immunology and their effect on public health issues.
UPDATED on 2025/04/01Public Health Practice I
This course offers molecular and biological perspectives on public health problems. We will explore the underlying principles of population and medical genetics, molecular and cellular biology, and immunology and their effect on public health issues.
UPDATED on 2025/04/01Public Health Practice Ⅱ
All students are required to complete a research practicum either in Japan or an international public health setting. This will include research design, data collection and analysis, and writing a master thesis. Arrangement must be made with individual faculty members.