PhD/MPH Dual Degree Program
Psychology and Public Health at The University of Texas at El Paso
The PhD/MPH Dual Degree Program at UTEP prepares students to address complex health and behavioral challenges through integrated training in psychological science and public health. The program is designed for students interested in understanding, preventing, and addressing health problems at both the individual and population levels through interdisciplinary approaches to behavioral health, prevention, intervention, program evaluation, and community health.
Students earn both the PhD in Psychology and the Master of Public Health (MPH), developing expertise that bridges behavioral science, prevention science, population health, and community-engaged approaches to improving health and well-being. While the Health Psychology concentration within the Psychology PhD program provides strong preparation in psychological science and behavioral health, the dual-degree pathway expands this training through additional preparation in epidemiology, public health evaluation, implementation of health programs, and population health approaches. The result is an interdisciplinary training experience that prepares students to work across academic, healthcare, public health, and community settings where psychological and public health perspectives increasingly intersect.
UTEP’s location on the U.S.-Mexico border provides exceptional opportunities for training and community engagement within one of the largest binational and predominantly Hispanic regions in the world. Students gain experience addressing health issues particularly relevant to culturally diverse and historically underserved populations, including Hispanic and border health.
Program Highlights
Students in the dual-degree pathway benefit from:
- Integrated training in psychology and public health
- Coordinated mentorship across both programs
- Preparation in prevention, intervention, and program evaluation
- Coursework in behavioral science, epidemiology, and population health
- Community-engaged and culturally informed training experiences
- Opportunities to work across healthcare, public health, and community systems
The coordinated structure of the program allows students to integrate training experiences across psychology and public health while reducing unnecessary duplication in coursework and professional preparation. Coursework and training experiences are intentionally sequenced to support interdisciplinary development across prevention, implementation, evaluation, and community health perspectives.
Mentorship and Training
Students work closely with a primary faculty mentor in Psychology who oversees the student’s primary scholarly and professional development within the PhD program including the doctoral dissertation. Students also collaborate with faculty mentors in the MPH program who provide primary oversight on the MPH thesis and related public health training experiences. This coordinated mentorship structure allows students to develop interdisciplinary perspectives while maintaining depth of training in both psychology and public health.
Because mentorship is central to the training model, applicants should demonstrate strong alignment between their interests and the expertise of prospective faculty mentors in both Psychology and Public Health.
Career Preparation
In addition to strong preparation in psychology and public health, the dual-degree pathway helps students develop the interdisciplinary perspective increasingly needed to work across healthcare systems, public health agencies, research settings, and community organizations. Graduates are prepared to contribute to the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs and interventions designed to improve behavioral and public health outcomes across diverse populations and settings. Graduates are prepared for careers in academia, healthcare systems, research institutes, public health agencies, and community health organizations.
Admissions
Admission to the dual-degree pathway requires admission to both the PhD in Psychology and the MPH program. To streamline the admissions process, students complete a single application through the Psychology PhD program.
Applicants interested in the dual-degree option should clearly indicate this interest in their personal statement and discuss how their interests align with faculty mentors across both programs.
Because doctoral mentorship is central to the program structure, admission is selective and based in part on the availability of appropriate faculty mentorship and alignment of training interests.
