Important Announcements

Important Dates and Deadlines: 

• July 15, 2021 Deadline to submit Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) Waiver without a $75 fee
• View complete SHIP Waiver Info HERE
• July 16, 2021 Enrollment begins for new Summer 2021 and Fall 2021 graduate students 
• July 16, 2021 Add Course, Drop Course, or Withdraw for Summer 2 (with refund).

First Year Students (Spring 2021, Summer 2021, Fall 2021 admits)

In the first year of the OOMPH program, students must enroll in the required breadth courses for a total of 6 units per term. You will be able to enroll for Fall 2021 starting Friday, July 16, 2021 in CalCentral. Please check CalCentral for your specific appointment time: CalCentral > MyAcademics > Class Enrollment and select Fall 2021.

To register for courses:

Please login to your CalCentral portal to register for courses. Check out the step-by-step process of enrollment in classes via CalCentral. As a first-year student, please enroll in the following two courses during your Phase I appointment only:

Required 1st year courses: 

• PHW200G: Health and Social Behavior (3 units) Enrollment # 29598
• PHW250: Epidemiological Methods I (3 units) Enrollment # 32243

Unit Limit: 6 (Do not exceed this limit)

For information, please visit the course catalog and course syllabi.*

*Please use your berekely.edu email address to access syllabi.

Enrolling in Residential Public Health Courses

After first year required courses, On-Campus/Online (OOMPH) MPH students are approved to enroll in up to two Public Health residential courses or up to 6 units. Enrollment and course information can be found in the Public Health Course Catalog and Academic Year Courses.  Prior to enrolling, please consult with your faculty advisor for review and approval.

Enrolling in Residential Non-Public Health Courses

On-Campus/Online (OOMPH) MPH students can select from non-Public Health courses with approval. Residential non-Public Health courses count toward the two-course/6 unit maximum. Students will need to provide a written explanation of how the non-Public Health course aligns with their academic and professional goals. Prior to enrolling, please consult with your faculty advisor for review and approval. 

Additional considerations: Residential courses are primarily offered in-person with limited if any remote options, including in-person instruction and office hours offered during the day. In addition to your faculty advisor, please review the course syllabus and consult with the instructor prior to officially enrolling. 

For more information, please visit the Student Hub>>Student Manual.

Student Spotlight

OOMPH Student Laura Diaz has been selected as a 2021 Student of the Year by

the Esri Environmental Innovation Program for her work on Environmental Justice in the San Francisco Bay Area!

The Esri Innovation Program (EIP) encourages innovative educators and students to advance geospatial science in research and education. Students are encouraged and guided to create innovative applications and projects with ArcGIS technology. 

Every year, university members of EIP select one student to be their Student of the Year recipient. This year, there were a total of 28 awardees at 22 institutions (including a couple of group projects)! This Story Map Collection highlights this wonderful student work.  

Laura Diaz (she/her) is a student in the OOMPH program.  She is the founder and director of the Educator Collective for Environmental Justice and the Science Department Chair at Esperanza High School in East Palo Alto.  Laura's nominated StoryMap is inspired by her experience growing up in Pittsburg, California and the Environmental injustice that continues to be forced upon the community.

New Graduate Certificate in Health Management

We are thrilled to announce campus approval of a new Graduate Certificate in Health Management. Students who complete this three course certificate will have it officially recognized on their graduate transcript. The certificate courses are all required courses in the HPM concentration:

• PHW224 Organizational Behavior and Management in Health Care (Fall 1)
• PHW223 Strategic Management in Healthcare (Summer 2)
• PHW227A Healthcare Finance (Spring 2)

Students outside of the HPM concentration are highly encouraged to consider the Certificate, as the skills learned have broad applicability to other areas of public health. 

About the Certificate

Globally, enhancing health and wellbeing is a top priority for citizens, businesses, entrepreneurs, social impact advocates and governments. Given the complexities involved in system reform, advancing equity and being good stewards of scarce resources, there has been an increased demand for professionals who have skills in applied managerial decision-making in the healthcare sector. 

Effectively managing a diverse array of organizations that operate in this sector requires specialized knowledge and expertise in several key disciplines including an understanding of organizational and financial structures within organizations, as well as experience with strategic planning and implementation. The primary objective of this comprehensive suite of toolkit courses is to support students to achieve these critical competencies with a focus on skills, frameworks, and applied learning.  The Graduate Certificate in Health Management will provide an opportunity for students to not only learn the theoretical concepts, but also to practice these very important skills through a combination of team projects, presentations, and case studies. 

For More Information

Please direct questions about the Certificate or its courses to Kristine Doss, HPM Program Manager, [email protected].

SPH Events

Get Involved! If you are interested in attending SPH virtual events, please visit the community events calendar.

OOMPH Epidemiology & Biostatistics Concentration Info Session

• Tuesday July 13, 2021 (5-6pm PDT)
• Add this event to your bCal here.
• Zoom Link

Other News

Nine OOMPH faculty participate in Berkeley Public Health’s inaugural Antiracist Pedagogy Faculty Leadership Academy

(May - June, 2021)

Faculty from both first and second year online courses participated in the first 4 week Anti-Racism Faculty Academy led by Dr. Crystal Fleming, a critical race sociologist and Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The goal of the Academy was to develop an initial cohort of antiracist faculty champions that will lead in antiracist curricular transformation at Berkeley Public Health and commit to an ongoing practice of antiracist pedagogy.  In addition to learning about racism in education and anti-racist pedagogy practices, faculty worked on their course syllabi towards better articulating the relevance of racism for the public health topics covered in their courses and to spotlight important BIPOC scholars who have led in their fields. 

Faculty attending the academy gave rave reviews to Dr. Fleming who is also the author of three books and an internationally recognized expert on racism and antiracism. Her critically acclaimed primer, How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy and the Racial Divide (Beacon Press) combines memoir, critical race theory, social commentary and satire to debunk common misconceptions about racism.

Wellness

Wellness Tips from University Health Services

People often notice the things in life that are going wrong but take less time to savor the components of life that are going right.  Considering aspects of your life for which you are thankful can help you to develop a positive perspective. Practicing gratitude in your day to day life can be a useful skill.  

Some tips for practicing gratitude: 

• Write down one thing each day that you were grateful for.   
• Identify the learning opportunity that challenges present.
• Express gratitude to someone else in small and larger ways. When someone helps you, let them know. Try writing a letter to a person who has touched your life in a positive way, explaining the way they have affected you. 

Resources:

• Greater Good Science Center
• Positive Thinking