Certificate Requirements

The graduate Certificate in Indigenous Health consists of five required courses and a total of thirteen units. 

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Coursework

Core Courses (13 units)

PHPM 517: Indigenous Public Health (3 units)

PHP 521: Administrative Dimensions of Indigenous Health (3 units)

PHPM 568: American Indian Health Care Policy (3 units)

HPS 556: Indigenous Methods and Evaluation Approaches (3 units)

HPS 597B: Maternal & Child Health Programs in the Rural Southwest (1 unit)

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Time Commitment

The Indigenous Health graduate certificate was developed to meet the needs of busy professionals, and all courses can be completed online in one to two years.

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Course Descriptions

PHPM 517 Indigenous Public Health (3 units) | Fall Semester

Provides an overview of a broad range of public health topics through an Indigenous lens. During this course students will engage with current Indigenous public health topics. Among others, they will: analyze Indigenous epistemologies and methodologies as they relate to public health; appraise the relationships among Indigenous human health and the natural and spiritual worlds and how they interact with environmental health issues, and evaluate the role of Indigenous epidemiology, statistics, evaluation, and data governance in advancing the health of Indigenous communities.

PHP 521 Administrative Dimensions of Indigenous Health (3 units) | Spring Semester

Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to: analyze the historical and legislative foundation of the Indian Health Service; evaluate the value of innovative administrative strategies to improve health within the Indian Health Service, assess and interpret knowledge to develop relevant and meaningful administrative and policy options to improve indigenous health.

PHPM 568 American Indian Health Care Policy (3 units) | Fall Semester

This course addresses access to care through the Indian Health Service, Tribal PL 93-638 contracts, Medicaid and Medicare. Participants should be able to describe the legal basis for Indian Health Services, appraise access to care for Native Americans, and evaluate the challenges in serving Urban Indian Communities.

HPS 556 Indigenous Methods & Evaluation Approaches (3 units) | Spring Semester

This course will equip participants with practical skills to conduct evaluation of public health programs using perspective methods influenced by indigenous ways of knowing, frameworks, and cultural paradigms. 

*Note - in Spring 2023, this course will be offered as HPS 595 - Special Topics

HPS 597b Maternal & Child Health in Rural Southwest (1 units) | Summer 

This course is a one-week field-based course for MCH students in order to provide culturally competent knowledge and skills for working with Native American and border communities in the rural Southwest.  Eliminating health disparities and barriers among minority populations requires awareness and understanding of their diverse social, cultural and health practices.  This course provides MCH students with an opportunity to learn about different tribal and border health service provision models and approaches and the implications of these health care systems on health status.

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Admissions Criteria

Applicants to the Graduate Certificate in Health Administration are required to submit the following application materials:

• Official academic transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions attended. The applicant is required to hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with 2.75 GPA (GPA is based on the last 60 undergraduate units, or if the applicant has 12 or more graduate units, the GPA will be based on graduate units)
• One letter of support from a supervisor or a person familiar with the applicant’s professional abilities
• Resume or CV
• One page personal statement of experiences and goals

International applicants may need to provide proof of English proficiency

Apply online through the University of Arizona Graduate College.

Applicant Deadlines

Fall start

June 1st

Spring start

October 1st 

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For more information contact the Graduate Certificate Coordinator, Mariah Albertie: coph-certificate@email.arizona.edu