Public Health Policy

Admissions have been administratively suspended. (See amendment made on January 16, 2024.)

Lead Faculty of the Collaborative Specialization

Public Health

Participating Degree Programs

Global Affairs — MGA
Health Administration — MHSc
Health Policy, Management and Evaluation — MSc, PhD
Kinesiology — MSc, PhD
Nutritional Sciences — MSc, PhD
Public Health Sciences — MPH, MSc, PhD
Public Policy — MPP
Social Work — MSW, PhD

Supporting Units

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Overview

The Collaborative Specialization in Public Health Policy provides students with exemplary training in public health policy, which fosters synergies and cross-disciplinary learning. It gives students the capacity to engage in current events and contribute to the development, refinement, and evaluation of policies to address society's pressing and emerging public health priorities.

The collaborative specialization is cross-disciplinary, bringing together a broad range of disciplines, substantive foci, and theoretical and methodological underpinnings, to synergistically build an engaged community of practice of students and faculty focused on public health policy. It contributes to the creation of the next generation of public health policy research leaders and creative agents for change, able to address current health issues and challenges.

Through the direction of the stellar team of academics and policy-makers associated with the collaborative specialization, students are provided with real-world skills to address the complex and demanding task of public health policy-making (including insight into a wide array of legislative and regulatory interventions, administrative practices, financing and funding decisions, and various forms of soft law, such as guidelines and informal processes) which operate at the international, federal, provincial, and municipal levels in ways that are both cross-jurisdictional and cross-sectoral.

Upon successful completion of the degree requirements of the participating home graduate unit and the collaborative specialization, students will receive the notation “Completed Collaborative Specialization in Public Health Policy" on their transcript.

Contact and Address

Web: www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/program/collaborative-specialization-in-public-health-policy/
Email: publichealthpolicy@utoronto.ca
Telephone: (416) 978-6512
Fax: (416) 946-0340

Collaborative Specialization in Public Health Policy
University of Toronto
Suite 534, 155 College Street
Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M7
Canada

Admission Requirements

• Applicants who wish to enrol in the collaborative specialization must apply to and be admitted to both the collaborative specialization and a graduate degree program in one of the collaborating graduate units.

• Complete the application form available on the website.

• Curriculum vitae (CV); maximum length: five pages.

• Two-page, free-form essay outlining:

  • interest in public health policy

  • aspirations

  • learning goals

  • career plans

  • specific research plans (if in a research program of study)

  • experience relevant to public health policy.

• Letters from two references. The letters of reference should describe the student's academic ability and career aspirations and comment on the student's potential benefit from the collaborative specialization.

Specialization Requirements

• Individual student plans of study must meet the requirements of both the home graduate unit and the collaborative specialization. To fulfil the requirements of the collaborative specialization, students must complete the following:

  • Undertake the major paper, thesis, or practicum placement with a public health policy focus under the supervision of one of the collaborative specialization's core faculty members.

  • Complete 1.0 full-course equivalent (FCE) in public health policy from the following list: CHL5300H Public Health Policy, CHL5308H Tools and Approaches for Public Health Policy Analysis and Evaluation, HAD5011H Canada's Health Care System, or PPG2000H Politics and the Policy Process.

  • Complete the Master's Seminar Series course, SRM3333H.

• All students enrolled in the collaborative specialization must complete the requirements of the collaborative specialization, in addition to those requirements for the degree program in their home graduate unit.

Admission Requirements

• Applicants who wish to enrol in the collaborative specialization must apply to and be admitted to both the collaborative specialization and a graduate degree program in one of the collaborating graduate units.

• Complete the application form available on the website.

• Curriculum vitae (CV); maximum length: five pages.

• Two-page, free-form essay outlining:

  • interest in public health policy

  • aspirations

  • learning goals

  • career plans

  • specific research plans

  • experience relevant to public health policy.

• Letters from two references. One letter should come from the prospective supervisor and should describe availability of resources necessary to carry out research, including the type of mentoring the supervisor will be able to provide, comments on academic progress, and the student's potential benefit from the collaborative specialization.

Specialization Requirements

• Individual student plans of study must meet the requirements of both the home graduate unit and the collaborative specialization.

• To fulfil the requirements of the collaborative specialization, students must complete the following:

  • Undertake thesis research with a public health policy focus under the supervision of one of the collaborative specialization's core faculty members.

  • Complete 1.0 full-course equivalent (FCE) in public health policy from the following list: CHL5300H Public Health Policy, CHL5308H Tools and Approaches for Public Health Policy Analysis and Evaluation, HAD5011H Canada's Health Care System, or PPG2000H Politics and the Policy Process. Students who have completed two of the four courses listed above may be considered for a course reduction of up to 1.0 FCE in the PhD program.

  • Completion of the graduate seminar series course CHL5309H.

• All students enrolled in the collaborative specialization must complete the requirements of the collaborative specialization, in addition to those requirements for the degree program in their home graduate unit.