MPVM Program Requirements
MPVM student education is centered around required and elective courses as well as a research project. Our recently updated curriculum augments our strong offerings in statistics, epidemiology, and implementation of research with Animal/human Health Leadership, ecosystem health, and infectious disease epidemiology. A growing menu of annual or every-other-year elective offerings includes disease ecology, epidemiological modeling, zoonoses, risk analysis, diagnostic test evaluation, spatial epidemiology, and many others within and beyond the School of Veterinary Medicine.
Candidates for the MPVM degree must satisfactorily complete, in residence, a total of 31 units of required coursework in epidemiology, biostatistics and research methodology (required classes and their scheduling are shown below) and a minimum of 11 units of elective courses in areas such as epidemiology, biostatistics, herd health management, animal health economics, simulation modeling, veterinary medical data management and computer applications, zoonoses and veterinary public health. Of the 11 units of elective courses, no more than 2 units of seminar sessions can be included.
Students must maintain a GPA of at 3.0 to remain in good academic standing. Students may use this form as a guide for choosing courses and should discuss this form and plans with their program advisor, Dr. Janet Foley (jefoley@ucdavis.edu), Dr. Gabrielle Maier (gumaier@ucdavis.edu), or Dr. Carly Moody (cmoody@ucdavis.edu):
MPVM Academic Advising Form (pdf).
REQUIRED COURSES
Fall Quarter
MPM 200: Introduction to Information Management, 1 unit. Course leader: Terry Lehenbauer/Sharif Aly. Course Description: A practical application of epidemiological methods using the microcomputer as a tool to solve problems. Utilizes spreadsheets and databases as tools to organize and analyze data.
SPH 244: Introduction to Health Science Statistics I, 4 units. Course leader: Laurel Beckett. Introduction to statistical methods and software in clinical, laboratory and population medicine. Graphical and tabular presentation of data, probability, binomial, Poisson, normal, t-, F-, and Chi-square distributions, elementary nonparametric methods, simple linear regression and correlation, life tables.
MPM 205: Principles of Epidemiology, 4 units. Course leader: Woutrina Smith. Course Description: Basic epidemiologic concepts and approaches to epidemiologic research, with examples from veterinary and human medicine, including outbreak investigation, infectious disease epidemiology, properties of tests, and an introduction to epidemiologic study design and surveillance.
MPM 208: Applied Research Methods: Veterinary Research: Planning and Reporting, 2 units. Course leader: Janet Foley. Course Description: Planning, critical analysis, ethics, and oral communication of veterinary research.
MPM 210: Advanced Animal/human Health Leadership: Policy and Risk Communication, 1.5 units. Course leader: Jonna Mazet. Course Description: International, national and state policy issues affecting veterinary medicine, how policy is made, organizational cultures, the role of science in policy-making, ten best practices in risk/crisis communication, message-mapping for the public and policy-makers, and effective meeting management.
Winter Quarter
SPH 245: Medical Statistics III, 4 units. Course leader: K. Rajan. Course Description: Analysis of data and design of experiments for laboratory data
MPM 206: Epidemiologic Study Design, 4 units. Course leader: E. Robert Atwill. Course Description: Build on concepts presented in MPM 205. Concepts of epidemiologic study design clinical trials, observational cohort studies, case control studies—introduced in MPM 205 are covered in more depth, using a problem-based format. Discussion on published epidemiological studies.
MPM 207: Epidemiologic Problem Solving, 1 unit. Course leader: Beatriz Martinez Lopez. Course Description: Integration of epidemiologic and statistical methodology in a problem-solving approach to contemporary animal population health issues. Data validation and manipulation; descriptive statistical analysis using spreadsheets, database management, and Epi Info software.
MPM 209: Applied Research Methods: Scientific writing, 1 unit. Course leader: Mary Christopher. Course Description: Effective scientific writing and publication in a peer-reviewed journal are essential skills for veterinary health professionals. Students will learn key concepts and valuable techniques for honing their message, organizing and writing, improving readability, and publishing their research.
MPM 212: Infectious disease epidemiology, 3 units. Course leader: Beatriz Martinez Lopez. Course Description: Concepts and methodologies used to approach and control infectious diseases, with a major emphasis on zoonotic, vector-borne, food-borne, and water-borne diseases. Methodologies include advanced surveillance techniques for acute and chronic disease, approaches to disease prevention, control, and eradication, and analytical techniques used in infectious disease epidemiology.
Spring Quarter
MPM 204: Applied Veterinary Population Stats III, 4 units. Course leader: Pranav Pandit. The course provides students with a specialized understanding of statistical methods that are commonly used in the fields of veterinary epidemiology and animal science research. The primary objective is for students to develop proficiency in applying statistical modeling techniques to investigate issues and questions within these domains. The course focuses on quantitative methods such as Poisson regression, survival analysis, and related advanced models tailored to the types of data and variables encountered in veterinary and animal population studies.
MPM 201: Emerging issues at the Interface of Animal, Human, and Ecosystem Health, 2.5 units. Course Leader: Christine Kreuder Johnson. Course Description: Principles of one health with emphasis on the relationships and interdependence of environmental, animal and human health. Exploration of critical data gaps needed to achieve sustainability in ecosystems and disease prevention
ELECTIVES
Students choose electives reflecting their personal interests/selected track. Students may select appropriate courses not on the electives list and have them approved by their Graduate Adviser. Electives must be upper-division undergraduate-level or graduate-level courses. A list of some electives follows. Please check back for updated information and explore the UC Catalog as well.
*Subject to change without notice as each campus department may at any time add or remove a course due to instructor availability.
Course/Units Course name
Fall
SPH 204 (3) Globalization and Health: Evidence and Policies.
PMI 214 (2) Vector-Borne infectious diseases. Course leaders: Lark Coffey
Winter
*PHR 210 (1) Epidemiological approaches to waterborne zoonotic diseases. Course Leader: E. Robert Atwill.
VME 158/258 (3/4) Disease ecology. 3-4 units. Course leader: Janet Foley.
ARE 147 (3) Resource and environmental policy. Course Leader: Kristin Kiesel
ARE 176 (4) Environmental economics
SPH 298 011 Study in Community & International Health
PHR 106 001 Human-Animal Interactions: Benefits & Issues
*Offered odd years, beginning in 2023
Spring
ARE 175 (4) Natural resource economics. Course Leader: Cynthia Lin Lawell
PHR 266 (3) Analytic Epidemiology. Course Leader: Madan Dharmar
PHR 277 (3) Mathematical models in epidemiology. Course leader: Sharif Aly
PHR 298 (2) Food Safety Epidemiology. Course Leaders: Maurice Pitesky and Brett McNabb
PMI 206 (1) Mentored Scientific Writing. Course leader: Mary Christopher
VME 217 (2) Evaluation of diagnostic tests. Course leader: Ashley Hill, taught in odd years only
*Epi 223 Spatial Epidemiology (3)
*Epi 224 Health and Ecological Risk Analysis (3)
EPI 223 Spatial Epidemiology
SPH 276 Critical Assessment in Health Policy & Economics
SPH 295 International Health (this one has "P/NP - S/U Only" grading type)
*alt years
RESEARCH
Applied Epidemiology research project (8 units): to be started as soon as feasible and completed by Summer session II of year 2. (corresponds to 240 hours of effort)
In addition to coursework, a project which culminates in a written and oral presentation is required. Eight units of credit are earned upon completion of the research project, for a minimum of 50 units total, for the program. The intent of the project is to foster development of skills in the design and conduct of research and data analysis. The study can be designed to uncover facts, or it can involve the development of a disease control program. The research report must represent a careful and systematic study in epidemiology. Data previously obtained may be used in the formulation of this study, but a data set that has already been analyzed is not acceptable. Additional detailed information is here.