Pharmaceutical Development, Delivery, and Access.
As part of Boston University’s on-campus Master of Public Health (MPH) degree, you have the option to add a Context Certificate to your functional area of concentration, deepening your knowledge in an area or population of greatest interest to you.
Pharmaceutical Development, Delivery, and Access Context Certificate
Many public health programs rely on pharmaceuticals to achieve their goals—from treating infectious diseases to managing preventive and chronic care. This 12-credit certificate is one of the world’s few programs examining the intersection of public health and medicines. Students will gain skills in medicines development, delivery, policies, and programs. Students will be able to effectively translate their knowledge and skills into rapidly growing public health, pharmaceutical, and medical technology markets.
Upon graduation, students will be able to:
- Communicate the role of pharmaceuticals as public health tools for prevention and treatment of acute and chronic diseases.
- Examine critical steps in research and development of pharmaceuticals, including clinical trials and market dynamics.
- Analyze the performance of the pharmaceutical sector using key indicators.
- Demonstrate the ability to access and use data related to the financing, procurement, distribution, and use of pharmaceuticals in order to propose solutions to domestic and international pharmaceutical challenges.
- Apply a multidisciplinary systems approach to analyzing the overlapping roles of the public and private sectors in pharmaceutical policy, including innovation, intellectual property, and medicines regulation.
Sample Course Titles
- Pharmaceuticals in Public Health: An Introductory Course
- Pharmaceutical Management, Policy & Practice
- Design & Conduct of Clinical Trials
- Drug Epidemiology
View the BU Bulletin for Course Requirements
Sample Practicum
- Business Development Intern, Aldatu Biosciences (Boston, MA)
- Pharmaceuticals and Health Technologies Group, Management Sciences for Health (Arlington, VA)
- Public Policy and Government Affairs Intern, Biogen (Cambridge, MA)
- Global Transparency Data Analyst, ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Cambridge, MA)
- Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization (GAVI, Switzerland) – increasing vaccine access and equity through policy
- World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland) – developing a methodology to collect information on appropriate antibiotic use
- Health Systems Administrative Intern, Veterans’ Affairs Boston Health Care System
- Management Sciences for Health (Namibia) – working on pharmaceutical systems strengthening programs
- Biogen (Cambridge, MA) – pricing and reimbursement strategy intern supporting activities to develop pricing and access strategies
- Pathfinder International (Vietnam) – assisting in a mhealth based HIV study in communities outside of Hanoi
- Boston Children’s Hospital – working on a study on TB-related stigma in India
Certificate Director
“Many public health programs rely on pharmaceuticals to achieve their goals—from treating infectious diseases to managing preventive and chronic care. This certificate is one of the very few programs examining the intersection of public health and medicines. Students will gain skills in medicines development, delivery, policies, and programs. They will be able to effectively translate their knowledge and skills into rapidly growing public health, pharmaceutical, and medical technology markets.“