MSN/MPH: Nursing and Public Health
The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Rollins collaborate in a dual-degree Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)/Master of Public Health (MPH) program to prepare professional nurses for leadership roles in health care. The MSN/MPH program combines clinical nursing skills with public health knowledge to help future nurses assume leadership roles as they deliver care to at-risk individuals and communities. Students complete requirements for both degrees.
- May be completed in two calendar years
- First year is spent at Rollins (MPH degree requires 42 credit hours)
- Second year is spent at School of Nursing
Students who obtain an MSN/MPH will have the credentials to direct or manage a public health organization, administer care to an at-risk community or school, and speak on behalf of those affected by public health crises.
Post Graduate Employment
Post graduate employment includes agencies such as Doctors Without Borders, Indian Health Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Students must apply to and be accepted into each school separately in order to be eligible for a dual degree.
- All applications to Rollins are completed through the Schools of Public Health Application Service (SOPHAS).
- For instructions on applying to the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, click here.
- For instructions on applying to Rollins, click here.
Dual-degree students are required to choose a specialty in the nursing school as well as a department at Rollins. The total number of credit hours for the program may vary by specialty/department. Dual-degree students must take a minimum of 32 credit hours while enrolled at Rollins.
Nursing specialties include adult and elder health, gerontology, family nurse practitioner, nurse-midwifery, family nurse-midwife, pediatric advanced nursing practice, psychosocial nurse practitioner, health care leadership, and women's health care. Academic departments at Rollins include: Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Health Policy and Management, and the Hubert Department of Global Health.
In most of the dual-degree combinations, students enroll in the School of Nursing for one calendar year and complete requirements for the MPH degree during the second calendar year while enrolled at Rollins.
Admission Requirements
Candidates for the MSN/MPH program must apply to and be accepted by each school separately. In the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, applicants must have completed a college-level statistics course, health assessment course, BSN degree from a National Leagues for Nursing-accredited school, have a minimum of one year of work experience as a registered nurse, and satisfactory performance on the GRE.
At Rollins, the dual-degree candidate is expected to designate a department at the time of application. Evaluation of applicants for admission to Rollins is based on prior academic performance in postsecondary education, abilities as assessed by standardized tests, and a commitment to working in public health. Competence in college-level algebra is evaluated either by courses taken or by the GRE. Applicants must comply with Rollins' admission requirements as well as any additional requirements of the department to which they are applying.
Each dual-degree student is assigned an academic adviser from the nursing speciality and from the designated department at Rollins. The assigned academic advisers in each school will work with the student to develop the program of study consistent with the degree requirements from the respective school and specialty/department.
Culminating Experience
Rollins requires all of its master's degree students to complete a thesis, a special study project, or a comprehensive examination—depending on the department in which they are enrolled. For the dual-degree candidate, this scholarly work represents a synthesis of both nursing and public health course work. A committee to advise the student normally will be composed of at least three faculty members, with representatives from each school. The choice of committee chair and the format for the thesis/project will be guided by the nature of the thesis/project and decided collaboratively by the faculty advisers, the student, and the committee, when appropriate.
Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing Admissions
Rollins School of Public Health Admissions sphadmissions@emory.edu