Public Health Law Research Graduate Certificate
The Public Health Law Research Graduate Certificate, housed jointly in Temple’s College of Public Health and the Beasley School of Law, focuses on the emerging field of legal epidemiology—also known as public health law research—which is the scientific study of the effects of laws and legal practices on health. This field of research generates evidence that can inform policy initiatives to advance health and well-being. It examines everything from the impact of laws and regulations on healthcare to more incidental effects of laws that impact health broadly, like housing, education and employment laws or economic and civil rights policies.
This transdisciplinary certificate provides fundamental training in public health law and legal epidemiology research methods, such as policy surveillance, which is the systematic, scientific collection and analysis of significant public health policies.
The field of public health law research generates evidence that can inform policy initiatives in order to advance health and well-being. The certificate is offered in association with the Center for Public Health Law Research—founded in 2009 at Temple—which has built a theoretical foundation for the field, developed innovative research methods for policy evaluation, and is working on translational research in order to use evidence in improving public health practice.
As a student in the public health law certificate program, you will learn to
- conceptualize and design a public health law study,
- conduct a legal epidemiology study, evaluating the impacts of laws or policies under the mentorship of a graduate faculty member during an independent research project,
- demonstrate the integration of behavioral and organizational theory with a law or policy,
- describe the mechanism behind a law or policy,
- develop policy surveillance techniques for collecting and coding laws,
- learn to conduct statistical analysis, and
- systematically evaluate laws and policies on an individual level.
The admissions process you'll follow depends on if you are applying as a matriculated or nonmatriculated graduate student. Please be sure to carefully review the admissions information for this certificate program.
What sets apart our Public Health Law Research Certificate?
- A unique, interdisciplinary program: Temple’s Center for Public Health Law Research is a pioneer in the field of legal epidemiology, and the certificate is the only one of its kind in the nation.
- Designed for public health practitioners, researchers and advocates: The certificate advances the goals of current graduate students in various disciplines, including criminologists, historians, lawyers, public health practitioners, sociologists and others who value health, well-being and equity.
- Nationally renowned faculty: Courses are taught by nationally recognized faculty in Temple’s College of Public Health and Beasley School of Law, who not only conduct innovative research on policies and laws across a broad spectrum of issues but are also founders and champions of the field.
Program Format
The 12-credit, four-course certificate program is available either as an independent program or as a supplement to your primary graduate degree at Temple University.
You can complete the certificate on a part-time basis through a combination of online and in-person classes, finishing in two years or less.
See a full list of program courses.
Related Graduate Degrees in the College of Public Health
- MPH in Health Policy and Management
- PhD in Health Policy and Health Services Research
- MPH in Epidemiology
- MPH in Environmental Health
- MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences
- MPH in Applied Biostatistics
- PhD in Social and Behavioral Health Sciences
- PhD in Epidemiology