Master of Public Health in Public Health Systems
Uganda's public health workforce is overwhelmingly trained to deliver programmes rather than to design, finance and lead the systems those programmes run inside, and the result is districts staffed by capable people improvising with spreadsheets. Public health systems is the discipline of making a ...
The four facts
What you actually need to compare
- Award and entry
- MPH
- A
- Duration and mode
- 18 months (3 semesters)
- Hybrid. Includes 0 months of paid, assessed cooperative education.
- Cost
- UGX 3,900,000 per year
- Tier 3 laboratory classification. Includes UGX 900,000 annual laboratory premium.
- Outcome targeted
- Public health specialist, health systems analyst, surveillance and epidemiology lead
- Reviewed by 2031. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed.
Pricing Model 5.1 · The Forward Standard
Master of Public Health in Public Health Systems fee
UGX 3,900,000 per year
- Laboratory tier
- Tier 3
- Annual premium
- UGX 900,000
- Per semester
- UGX 1,950,000
- Whole programme
- UGX 5,850,000
- Approximate USD
- ≈ USD 1,539
What this fee includes
- Teaching, practice tutoring, assessment and competency verification
- The Amagezi platform and AI tutor around the clock
- All learning materials
- Every examination, including first resits
- Identity card, library, guild, sports and basic wellbeing
- Co-op placement matching and the Capability Passport
- Graduation and the statutory NCHE fee
- Online application
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.
Roles
- Public health specialist
- health systems analyst
- surveillance and epidemiology lead
- health programme manager
- health policy and planning officer
- district health leader
- monitoring and evaluation specialist
- health systems consultant
Employer types
- Ministries and district health systems
- public health and reference institutes
- international health and development organisations
- health financing and insurance bodies
- non governmental health organisations
- research institutes
- regulators
- global health agencies
- the graduate's own venture, incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme is built for clinicians, health workers and public health professionals moving into systems leadership, and supports senior and international roles. Progression routes include doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Postgraduate programmes carry work integrated learning inside the taught structure rather than the twelve month undergraduate cooperative education placement. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Master of Public Health in Public Health Systems. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 501 | Applied Intelligence for Professionals Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 502 | Research Evidence and Method Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| MPHS 510 | Foundations of Public Health and Systems Both | 6 | 3-2-2 |
| MPHS 511 | Epidemiology for Public Health Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| MPHS 512 | Biostatistics and Health Data Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| MPHS 513 | Health Systems, Policy and Financing Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 503 | Governance, Ethics and Leadership of Intelligent Systems Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| MPHS 520 | Surveillance, Outbreaks and Response Performance | 7 | 3-2-4 |
| MPHS 521 | Programme Design, Monitoring and Evaluation Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| MPHS 522 | Health Economics and Priority Setting Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| MPHS 523 | Environmental and Global Health Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| MPHS 524 | Public Health Leadership and Ethics Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MPHS 530 | Public Health Systems Project and Dissertation Performance | 20 | 0-2-12 |
| MPHS 531 | Doctoral and Research Preparation Seminar Objective | 5 | 3-2-0 |
| MPHS 532 | Research Translation and Policy Impact Objective | 5 | 3-2-0 |
Total credit units: 90
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Coursework + project + integrated exam
Work-integrated learning
12 months paid co-operative education
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Master of Public Health in Public Health Systems
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 30 COMPETENCY UNITS
Year 1 · this step is worth 30 CU
Cumulative
30
Programme total
90
30 CU of 90 CU completed by the end of this step (33%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual Judgement CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C4Communication and Persuasion CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary MasteryLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public Contribution CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning · Ethical and Contextual Judgement · Communication and Persuasion · Stewardship and Public Contribution. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Analyse a population's health and the system serving it using valid evidence.
- PLO 2Design and run disease surveillance and outbreak detection and response.
- PLO 3Apply epidemiology and biostatistics to a real public health question.
- PLO 4Design, finance and evaluate a health programme or system intervention.
- PLO 5Apply health policy, economics and governance to a system problem.
- PLO 6Lead health system change with people, evidence and ethics.
- PLO 7Apply health data and intelligent systems to population health honestly.
- PLO 8Communicate and defend a public health decision to leaders and communities.
- PLO 9Deliver a major applied public health project inside a real system with a measured outcome.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
Uganda's public health workforce is overwhelmingly trained to deliver programmes rather than to design, finance and lead the systems those programmes run inside, and the result is districts staffed by capable people improvising with spreadsheets. Public health systems is the discipline of making a health system detect, decide and deliver at population scale, and it is exactly the capability the region's health leadership most lacks. This Master of Public Health is built around systems and evidence: the graduate can build and run modern surveillance and health system capability rather than commission it, and the programme terminates in a major applied project inside a real health system.
Admission requirements
A good first degree (second class or above) in medicine, nursing, a health profession, a health or social science, or a cognate field; or substantial public health experience admitted through recognition of prior learning; plus a short reasoning task scored against Capabilities C2 and C3. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: recognition of prior learning against the admission profile under Part G, including substantial professional practice in lieu of the named first degree field. Online components require the Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.