Graduate Certificate (GC) in Arts in Public Health

Engage the arts to enhance public health, advance health communication, address health disparities and injustice and promote a culture of health. This program is designed for graduate students and professionals in public health, the arts, and other health and human services professions who are interested in empowering their communities through the arts. You can request more information or start an application to learn more.

Use your creativity to spark change and promote wellness, both culturally and socially. Create a healthier community.

Building from the same essential facets and learning objectives that shape our online programs in arts in medicine, this certificate program features a practicum requirement aimed specifically at providing students with first-hand experience in using the arts to promote community health. Throughout the program, students will examine the many ways in which arts programming can enhance personal and public health and make a positive impact on upstream drivers of health. Students will also develop professional skills such as program planning, assessment, and interdisciplinary partnership and collaboration in the context of arts in public health.

Forge partnerships between public health & creative professionals. Use the arts – including drama, murals, music, performance art, and digital media – to help create a culture of health. 

Each of the courses offered through our certificate program reflects the best practices in the emerging field of arts in public health. As national leaders in research and real-world involvement, the Center's experienced faculty provide a rigorous, relevant, and evidence-based curriculum. We invite you to download our free white-paper, Creating Healthy Communities Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, to learn about the power of partnership between the arts and public health sectors.

For those interested in practicing arts in health in a clinical setting or in their community as part of a hospital outreach program—but not as a part of a public health program, community-oriented, or health communication effort—our graduate certificate in arts in medicine (GC) or master of arts in arts in medicine (MA) may better suit your goals. 

Curriculum

The graduate certificate in arts in public health recommends a 3 credit graduate public health course prerequisite and 12 credit hours of graduate arts in public health coursework to complete. Some MPH programs will allow students to transfer up to 6 - 12 credit hours of our program as electives or outside concentration courses. If you do not have an MPH degree, please apply by March for Summer C admission to take an online prerequisite public health course at UF.

Graduate Level Public Health Course (PHC6000, 16 weeks, 3 credits)

Recommended Public Health Courses

The graduate certificate (GC) in arts in public health recommends that applicants complete at least one graduate-level course in the discipline of public health. Concurrently pursuing or holding a master's of public health (MPH) satisfies this prerequisite.

The UF College of Public Health and Health Professions (PHHP) offers online courses for artists and other professionals applying to our program without a background in public health. Click here to request more information.

Public Health Courses

Anyone may complete one online PHC6000-level courses during the Summer term at UF–even if you've never studied public health before. Below are a sample of potential offerings that have been previously offered and may be offered again by UF PHHP.

• PHC 6001 Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health
• PHC 6313 Environmental Health Concepts in Public Health (every other summer, even years)
• PHC 6519 Zoonotic Diseases in Humans and Animals 
• Other courses may be approved in the futre, please email AskMPH@phhp.ufl.edu

You can see what courses are available in the upcoming Summer term by visiting https://one.uf.edu/soc and review past syllabi for any of these courses by visiting https://mph.ufl.edu/current-students/courses/syllabus-archives/.

Creativity and Health: Foundations of Arts in Medicine (HUM5357, 8 weeks, 3 credits)

This online graduate course explores the deepest questions at the heart of arts in health. From historical perspectives to theoretical foundations, the course engages at the intersection of the arts, creativity and health promotion to facilitate an understanding of these complex and interwoven disciplines. Lively discussions and all course materials help inform the field and practice of arts in health in a variety of settings. This is the initial core course for the Master of Arts (MA) in Arts in Medicine and the Graduate Certificate in Arts in Medicine. (This course can be taken as an elective by nonmajors.)

Arts in Medicine in Practice (HUM5595, 8 weeks, 3 credits)

This second core course for the Master of Arts (MA) in Arts in Medicine and the Graduate Certificate in Arts in Medicine explores the practice of arts in health in the fields of health and human services. The course provides a dynamic, interdisciplinary overview of the diverse practices and methodologies in the contemporary field of arts in health in healthcare and community settings. Students learn what they need to know to navigate these settings safely and professionally as they prepare for their practicum. (This course can be taken as an elective by nonmajors.)
Prerequisite: HUM5357 Creativity and Health: Foundations of the Arts in Medicine.

Arts in Public Health Practicum* (THE6948, 16 weeks, 3 credits)

This course will engage the student in focused professional-level practice using arts strategies for promoting public health.  The student will undertake 48 hours of work in an approved practicum setting over eight of the 16 weeks of the semester, including project planning, implementation, and evaluation.  Literature review, field research, reflective writing, regular meetings with an approved on-site supervisor and the course instructor, and a culminating paper will deepen the student’s understanding of professional arts in public health practice. 

*Prerequisites: HUM5357 Creativity and Health: Foundations of the Arts in Medicine and HUM5595 Arts in Medicine Practice. 

Arts in Public Health Professional Seminar* (THE6933, 8 weeks, 3 credits)

The course will prepare students for professional-level practice at the intersection of the arts and public health. The seminar will orient students to the professional competencies, trends in practice, and ethical frameworks that are part of the professional toolkit of arts and public health practitioners who use the arts for health promotion and/or health communication. The seminar introduces students to the core issues, trends, and critical debates that have emerged at the intersections of the arts and public health. Learning methods include reading, listening and discussion, research and critical writing, and journaling.

This course is appropriate for graduate students and professionals of the arts, public health, community and social practice, and other health-related professions.

*Prerequisite: THE6948 Arts in Public Health Practicum