The dual degree program offers students the opportunity to earn an MPH degree in conjunction with training in the respected and top-ranked Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Students may apply their combined PA/PH skills in such areas as:
- Population health
- Clinical research
- Health administration leadership
- Global healthcare
- Community health promotion
Students must apply to and be accepted to both the PA and MPH programs during the same admission year. Students apply to a specific department in the School of Public Health through SOPHAS and to the Physician Assistant Program through CASPA.
If you are accepted to the PA program but not accepted into the RSPH, you enter the PA program the equivalent of year two. For example, if you apply to the dual degree program for the coming year, and are not accepted into the School of Public Health, you enter the PA program in August of the following year. If you are accepted by the School of Public Health but not the PA program, you may enter Public Health but are no longer eligible to enter the dual degree program. You may apply to the PA program as a regular student.
Accepted dual-degree students initially enroll in the School of Public Health for one year and complete 32 semester hours of courses. These include:
- MPH core courses
- Departmental courses
- Thesis (most instances)
Students must also complete a practicum, a structured field experience of relevance to public health. After completion of the fall and spring semesters of the MPH curriculum, dual degree students enter the PA program the following fall semester.
The PA Program requires twenty-nine months (seven semesters) of training, including courses and clinical rotations.
