Master of Public Health

The MPH programme is structured and delivered to meet the public health needs of Uganda and the other countries in the African Great Lakes Region; and to fulfil the quality standards of the Uganda National Council of Higher Education (UNCHE). The programme is aligned to the core competences for public health professionals as suggested by the United States of America (USA) Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health Practice; and to international public health training standards such as those suggested by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) in the USA.

The programme has an academic component largely based at the University; and a field component based in district training sites. During the academic part of the programme, students are introduced to foundational and specialized public health courses. During the field component of the programme, a range of public health competencies are practised through on-job training within the context of a district health team. All courses in the programme are compulsory.

The programme vision and mission are aligned to the overall focus of KABSOM; to be a centre of excellence in providing under-graduate and post-graduate health training, research and community service in the Great Lakes Region and beyond. The MPH programme vision is of public health leaders that are prepared and responsive to the population health and environment needs within and beyond the boundaries of the great lakes region of Africa. The programme mission is to nurture a competent public health workforce through multidisciplinary training, research, service and collaborations to advance public health in and around the great lakes region of Africa.

The first goal of the MPH programme is to produce practically oriented-public health specialists who possess the knowledge, skills and professionalism required to lead and manage public health and community health in the great lakes region of Africa and beyond. Kabale University being in Uganda, the health systems of Uganda, current and future challenges of the country’s public health system will highly be utilized for educational, research and promotion. The programme fosters an appreciation for the role of public health in community, subnational and national development for improving the health.

A second goal of the MPH Programme is to develop an innovative model of public health training that emphasises high engagement in communities to assess existing problems and providing relevant solutions. The model is therefore problem-oriented learning (problem-solving and problem-based) to acquire competencies in public health. Approximately sixty percent of the programme is field-based within the district health systems in Uganda, and potentially in other countries in the region.

The following are objectives of the MPH Programme:

To introduce basic and advanced concepts and principles of public health to the learners
To provide knowledge and skills fundamental to public health service and research
To increase the learner’s capacity to conduct health research essential to meeting the demands and challenges of the great lakes region of Africa and beyond.
To increase the capacity for designing, analysing and implementing of health programmes that are relevant to subnational, national, regional and global health demands.
To build the capacity for leadership in health and healthcare services
To prepare public health practitioners to work within an integrated, multidisciplinary, and multi-sectoral health system

Overview

Code	MPH
Duration	2 Years
Study time	Weekend
Intake	August

Entry requirements

The programme is open to Ugandans and Non-Ugandans who fulfil the admission requirements. The requirements described below are the minimum academic conditions for admission and only make one eligible for consideration. A candidate is eligible for admission if he/she satisfies any of the following:

A degree in the health sciences e.g. medicine (human and veterinary), nursing, pharmacy, dentistry and at least two years’ relevant field experience.
A degree in social sciences e.g. social work, sociology, economics, communication studies, demography and at least two years’ relevant field experience.
A degree in biological or population sciences e.g. statistics, environmental sciences, biology, laboratory sciences, and at least two years’ relevant field experience.

Fees structure

Tuition Fees per Semester (East African)	UGX 2,500,000
Tuition Fees per Semester (Non East Africans)	UGX 3,750,000
Fieldwork/School Practice/Industrial Training/Internship/COBERS Fees (per year)	UGX 470,000 (Years 1&2)

Functional Fees

Compulsory fees	UGX
Application fee	50,000
Registration fees (per Academic Year)	60,000
Identity Card (Payable once in the 1st Semester)	20,000
Student Manual (Payable once in the 1st Semester)	20,000
Library fee (per Academic Year)	50,000
Medicare fee (per semester)	30,000
Computer Laboratory fee (per Academic Year)	100,000
Laboratory Fee for MSc in Chemistry (Per semester)	200,000
Examination fee (per semester)	100,000
Innovation fund (per year)	100,000
Research fee (per Academic Year)	200,000
Development Fund (per Academic Year)	100,000
Student Games Union fee (Academic Year)	20,000
Student Guild fee (per Academic Year)	20,000
Contribution to the Uganda National Students’ Association (UNSA) (per Academic Year)	2,000
Certification (per copy)	5,000
Graduation fee (Payable on Completion of Studies)
a) Ceremony	80,000
b) Transcript	50,000
c) Certificate	50,000
d) Convocation	20,000
Total	200,000
Consequential fees
Late Registration (per semester; after the deadline for official registration)	50,000
Replacement of Transcript (per issue)	50,000
Replacement of other University Credentials (Admission Letter, Identity Card, Library Card, etc…)	20,000
Retake/Supplementary/Missed/Special Exam fee (per course)	50,000
To be remitted to NCHE via www.ura.go.ug
Contribution to National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) Collections (per Academic Year)	20,000

The University Council reserves the right to adjust the fees without prior notice.
These Programmes are run over Weekends, during Fulltime, or in Recess/Holiday Sessions.

Contribution to NCHE should be deposited using a payment reference number generated via www.ura.go.ug

Fees Structure 2025-2026

Course details

LH Lecture Hours
CH Contact Hours
TH Tutorial Hours
CU Credit Units

	Year I: Semester 1:
CODE	COURSE	LH	PH	FH	CH	CU
MPH7111	Biological Basis of Public Health	10	10	30	30	2
MPH7112	Applied Epidemiology I	20	50	0	45	3
MPH7113	Applied Biostatistics I and Informatics	20	20	0	45	3
MPH7114	Field Study 1		10	20	15	1
MPH7115	Health Policy and Primary Health Care	25	10	0	30	2
MPH7116	Health Planning & Management	35	20	0	45	3
MPH7117	Health Economics & Finance	25	10	0	30	2
Total						16
	Year I: Semester 2
CODE	COURSE	LH	PH	FH	CH	CU
MPH7121	Communicable & Non-communicable Disease Control	45	30	0	60	4
MPH7122	Principles of Health Education & Training	30	30	0	45	3
MPH7123	Research Methodology	15	30	0	30	2
MPH7124	Social & Behavioural Determinants of Health	25	10	0	30	2
MPH7125	Field Study 2	10	0	100	60	4
TOTAL						15
	Year I: Recess term
MPH7126	Field Study 3 (Dissertation -Start)	5	0	140	75	5
Total						5
	Year II: Semester 1
CODE	COURSE	LH	PH	FH	CH	CU
MPH7211	Family & Reproductive Health	30	30	0	45	3
MPH7212	Demography & Population Dynamics 25	25	10	0	30	2
MPH7213	Public Health Nutrition	35	20	0	45	3
MPH7214	Environmental Health	15	60	0	45	3
MPH7215	Occupational Health	15	30	0	30	2
MPH7216	Health Ethics and Law	20	20	0	30	2
	Dissertation Activities
Total						15
	Year II Semester 2
CODE	COURSE	LH	PH	FH	CH	CU
MPH7221	Applied Epidemiology II	10	40	0	30	2
MPH7222	Applied Biostatistics II	10	40	0	30	2
MPH7223	Dissertation *
Total						4
LH = Lecture Hours; PH = Practical Hours; FH = Field Hours; CH = Contact Hours; CU = Credit Units

*The Dissertation starts with proposal development which starts in the recess term of Year I and is completed in semester 1 of Year II. Data collection is done towards the end of Semester 1 of Year II and the final data analysis and write up is completed in the second Semester of Year II.

Master of Public Health