{"id":156381,"date":"2026-11-04T09:00:46","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T14:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=156381"},"modified":"2026-10-29T10:43:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T14:43:22","slug":"ucf-launches-public-health-masters-program-to-tackle-nations-pressing-health-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-launches-public-health-masters-program-to-tackle-nations-pressing-health-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Launches Public Health Master\u2019s Program to Tackle Nation\u2019s Pressing Health Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In Orange County, a health educator teaches students in schools and after-school programs how to eat nutritious foods and be more active, helping lower their risk of obesity and chronic disease. In Pennsylvania, infection preventionists work to contain a measles outbreak by isolating affected patients, ensuring healthcare staff use appropriate protective equipment and tracking new cases. In Indonesia, hospital leaders and public health officials mobilize practitioners, establish clean-air sanctuaries and deliver supplies to communities threatened by wildfire smoke.<\/p>\n

These are just a few of the many health challenges being addressed and mitigated around the clock.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re training the people who make sure [public health work] never stops. That\u2019s a badge we wear with pride.\u201d \u2014 Michael Rovito, UCF MPH program director<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Public health professionals plan for them every day. Beginning Fall 2027, UCF\u2019s new Master of Public Health (MPH) program in the College of Health Professions and Sciences<\/a> will prepare students to prevent disease, respond to emerging threats and lead efforts to build healthier communities<\/a> in Central Florida and around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic health is the work nobody notices until it stops,\u201d says Michael Rovito, director of the program and associate professor of health sciences at UCF. \u201cWe\u2019re training the people who make sure it never stops: the people who keep our communities healthy, who make sure children understand their own bodies and who help cancer survivors live full lives after treatment. That\u2019s a badge we wear with pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the nation, public health departments work to prevent disease and injury, contain outbreaks, monitor community health, provide scientific expertise and respond to emergencies. Meeting those demands requires a skilled workforce. A 2021 analysis by the de Beaumont Foundation and the Public Health National Center for Innovations estimated that state and local public health departments needed at least 80,000 additional full-time positions \u2014 an increase of nearly 80% \u2014 to provide foundational public health services nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cUCF has a really comprehensive focus on … making the world healthier and helping individuals be healthier.\u201d \u2014 Catherine Bush, interim coordinator for the MPH program\u2019s Health Policy, Planning and Leadership track<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UCF\u2019s program will prepare the next generation of public health professionals to meet that need through research, policy, leadership and collaboration with communities. Central Florida provides a unique training ground where students can confront a range of challenges. Florida ranks among the top 20 states for the number of residents age 65 or older, second for projected new cancer diagnoses, fourth for reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases and third for HIV diagnoses.<\/p>\n

\u201cUCF has a really comprehensive focus on health, both in making the world healthier and helping individuals be healthier,\u201d says Catherine Bush, interim coordinator for the program\u2019s Health Policy, Planning and Leadership track and instructor of health management and informatics. \u201cPublic health is a really natural fit with something we\u2019re already doing really well and with great success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers in the College of Health Professions and Sciences are already addressing many of those challenges, with work spanning health policy, substance use and more. Rovito and UCF Associate Professor Keith Brazendale are leading a study to improve the quality of life of testicular cancer survivors<\/a>. UCF Assistant Professor Jacob Bleasdale is studying the health-related needs of older patients living with HIV. UCF Assistant Professor Latarsha Chisholm is working to improve end-of-life care for dementia patients<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good work to be done here in Central Florida, and UCF is uniquely positioned to lead in public health by collaborating with partners on campus and across the region and drawing on our strength as one of the most innovative universities in the nation<\/a>,\u201d Rovito says.<\/p>\n

Built for the work ahead, the program offers two tracks:<\/p>\n