University of San Francisco Masters Degrees in Nursing & Health

Why get a dual degree in public and behavioral health?

The MPH-MSBH dual degree has been designed to prepare practitioners who are committed to eliminating health disparities, working with vulnerable populations, and creating social and physical environments that promote good health for all. This program is ideal for students who want a broad, in-depth knowledge base in public health with an emphasis on behavioral health skills. Courses are practice oriented and applied skills are emphasized. Dual degree students graduate with the knowledge to design, implement, and lead evidence-based health care and community programs.

The dual degree requires approximately 60 units. Full-time, dual degree students should be able to complete their course work in 6 semesters (24 months). Students can attend on a part-time basis and spread the program over three years. The course sequence can be adjusted on an individual basis.

On completing the dual degree program, graduates will have two degrees: Both the Master of Public Health and the MS in Behavioral Health. By pursuing this dual degree option, students will achieve a substantial savings in time and credits over completing these two degrees separately.

The dual degree has been designed to help students understand and address the social, emotional and environmental determinants of health and wellbeing. The program stresses the needs of underserved and at-risk populations. It teaches students how to implement and monitor programs; set up budgets, timelines and tracking tools; and write a grant proposal. Students also learn about ethics and policy, research methods, epidemiology, and statistical analysis and their roles in program development.

There is substantive focus on how to develop evidence-based interventions that have a high likelihood of success, use behavior change theory and holistic models and frameworks, and are based on community needs and assessment.

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Our classrooms extend beyond campus borders, into a city famous for its forward-thinking approach to public health advocacy and community outreach.

An interprofessional degree for tomorrow's public health leaders. Study public health in classrooms that extend well beyond campus borders, into a city famous for its forward-thinking approach to public health advocacy and community outreach.

• Authoritative – CEPH-Accredited Program
• Flexible – Entry in Fall for On-Campus; Entry in Fall or Spring for Online Format
• Interprofessional – Award-Winning Faculty from Nursing, Law, and Public Health

The Master of Public Health (MPH) Program is an interprofessional degree offered by the School of Nursing and Health Professions through its Department of Population Health Sciences.

Candidates complete coursework in a myriad of fields, including epidemiology, biostatistics, community and behavioral health, environmental health, and public health policy and management.

The program is particularly well suited for candidates eager to develop practice-oriented skills and competencies to promote population health.

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The Master of Science in Behavioral Health (MSBH) at USF prepares you to address disparities in the current health care delivery system. As a student in our program, you will examine the intersection of social, physical and psychological factors that impact health and well-being. Through inter-disciplinary classes, fieldwork experiences, and a capstone project, you learn psychosocial interventions as well as tools for planning, managing and evaluating community-based programs and services.

Our graduates have learned to become effective team members, who have acquired the tools to improve the accessibility and delivery of health and mental health programs. We look to our graduates to become leaders in designing the evidence-based, integrated health practices that are the cornerstone of the Affordable Care Act.

Program Highlights

- Program can be completed in 12 months
- Classes meet twice a week in the evenings
- Courses are designed to teach practical, real world skills
- Curriculum is fully integrated so that courses build on one another
- Classes are small, inter-professional and highly interactive
- Internships, located throughout San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, allow students to apply classroom learning in the field under the guidance of a preceptor and USF faculty
- Faculty are accomplished academics and practitioners

What is Behavioral Health?

Some use the term "behavioral health" to refer strictly to mental health care or substance abuse counseling. At USF we think of behavioral health more broadly. In our MSBH program, behavioral health involves analyzing and understanding how human behavior is influenced by social, physical and mental factors and how human behavior, in turn, impacts physical well-being, empowerment, and engagement in all aspects of care.

The MS in Behavioral Health program is designed for people:

- Interested in human behavior, especially the intersection between mental and physical health
- Wanting to start a career in behavioral healthcare
- Currently working in the healthcare system and wanting additional skills in interdisciplinary team leadership, program evaluation, and project management
- Wanting a foundation for other careers such as medicine or dentistry

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The Master of Science in Nursing (ME-MSN) Non-Nurse program is designed for students who hold a bachelor's degree in areas of study outside of nursing and are seeking new careers as registered nurses (RNs).

The program, rated among the top in the country, prepares students for licensure as RNs while integrating graduate-level study that prepares them for positions as clinical nurse leaders (CNLs).

Students complete 68 credits over the course of two years of continuous study on the USF main campus. It’s full time, with classroom instruction three days weekly and clinical practice two days weekly.

The CNL Role

The new Clinical Nurse Leader role prepares nurses as clinical leaders in often complex environments to assist patients in creating an experience of a coordinated approach to care. The CNL role is a pivotal role that allows health care professional teams to be creative in envisioning how other roles will best promote reliable and competent patient care.

ACCREDITATION

The baccalaureate degree in nursing, master’s degree in nursing and the Doctor of Nursing Practice at the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

It is also approved by the California State Board of Registered Nursing. Students who graduate from the program are also eligible to receive the California Public Health Nursing Certificate.

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The Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program prepares RNs already holding an associate’s or bachelor’s degree to advance within the field by gaining experience to develop and manage patient care plans, and to advocate for best practices within the health care field.

The program, rated among the top in the country, prepares students as Clinical Nurse Leaders (CNLs). It comprises 35 credits for RNs with a BSN and 46 credits for RNs with an ADN over the course of 2 years of study. Designed with a comprehensive schedule of classroom and online instruction plus practicum coursework.

TOP RANKING PROGRAM

Rated among the best graduate schools in the country for Clinical Nurse Leader Program.

BYPASS THE BSN

Nurses with an Associate's degree can bypass the BSN degree and complete their degree in two (2) years. Save Time and Money.

THREE CAMPUS LOCATIONS TO CHOOSE FROM

Classes are offered at the following locations:
San Francisco | Pleasanton | San Jose

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE

Classes are held one night a week - same night throughout the program

RECOGNIZABLE DEGREE

Considered one of the most versatile and flexible MSN degrees. Our graduates are everywhere - AND Employers love our graduates. Our graduates are on the frontlines of patient care, on the boards of leading health organizations and in hospitals and governmental organizations where health policy is crafted. They will be your network.

The CNL Role

The Clinical Nurse Leader role prepares nurses as clinical leaders in often complex environments to assist patients in creating an experience of a coordinated approach to care. The CNL role is a pivotal role that allows health care professional teams to be creative in envisioning how other roles will best promote reliable and competent patient care.

Accreditation

The baccalaureate degree in nursing, master’s degree in nursing and the Doctor of Nursing Practice at the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

All graduates of the program meet the master’s degree outcome AACN Competencies and Curricular Expectations for Clinical Nurse Leader (SM) Education and Practice standards, and are eligible for certification by the Commission on Nurse Certification (CNC) as a CNL.

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The Master's in Counseling Psychology program with a concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) prepares students to be socially and culturally responsive relationship and family therapists and mental health counselors. At its core, the MFT’s clinical training program upholds values of equity, social justice, community and cultural wealth, and collaborative problem solving.

MFT Program Strengths

• Curriculum attends to the mental health needs of diverse cultures and communities.
• A focus on a community mental health recovery and wellness approach to serving clients and providing treatment options.
• Three-course cognitive behavioral therapy sequence that includes theory, skill building, and practice of broad treatment interventions.
• Courses that integrate a life-span development, family systems, multicultural, and social justice perspective in mental health practice.
• Small class sizes with faculty who are invested in student growth and learning.
• Many instructors are practicing mental health clinicians.
• Emphasis on incorporating evidence-based practices and client strengths.
• University-wide supportive services and opportunities to collaborate with instructors and students.
• Collaborative cohort learning model facilitates future support, resources, and continued networking opportunities after graduation and licensure.

PROGRAM DELIVERY

• 60-credit program with classes in the fall, spring, and summer semesters.
• Cohort-based model with fall (eight semesters) and spring (seven semesters) entry dates.
• Late afternoon (3:45-6:15 p.m.) and evening (7:20-9:50 p.m.) weekday classes with some Saturday sessions during fall and spring semesters.
• Intensive summer sessions starting no earlier than 3:45 p.m. on weekdays with some Saturday sessions.

Program Learning Outcomes

Self-Awareness and Contextual Understanding: The MFT program will prepare students to become culturally competent therapists who can critically analyze themselves and their clients across ecological contexts. Students will be able to:

• Develop a practice of cultural self-awareness and reflectiveness that critically evaluates how one’s beliefs, values, behaviors, personal experiences and cultural context affect one’s approach towards providing mental health treatment with clients of diverse backgrounds, belief systems, and relationship constellations.
• Identify the ways in which the surrounding socio-political, historical, and cultural contexts impact the mental health experiences of individuals and communities of diverse identities and cultural backgrounds.
• Explore and analyze power, privilege, and marginalization, as it relates to therapy practice, through multiple perspectives, worldviews, and epistemologies

Theoretical Grounding: The MFT program will prepare students to identify and critically analyze theory to address a wide range of clinical counseling and mental health issues, such that students will be able to:

• Identify the legal and ethical standards related to marriage and family therapy and professional clinical counselor practice and understand how they apply in various service contexts and with diverse populations.
• Understand the major theoretical concepts of counseling and mental health treatment to address a variety of mental health concerns and diagnoses from a strengths-based and culturally inclusive perspective.

Diagnosis, Assessment, and Research: The program will prepare students to become culturally competent therapists who understand socio-cultural complexities associated with diagnosis, assessment, and research. As culturally responsive therapists, students will be able to:

• Conduct culturally sensitive clinical and diagnostic assessments of clients’ mental health functioning that account for the influences of relationships, cultural backgrounds, identity, biological determinants, historical context, and developmental variables.
• Conceptualize psychopathology and psychiatric diagnosis in a way that recognizes the impact of environmental variables, social norms, cultural values, physiological and biological determinants, and relationship dynamics as variables that influence the presence of pathology.
• Develop foundational crisis assessment and intervention strategies that promote stabilization, utilize community resources and strengths, and respects clients’ unique cultural, developmental, mental health needs.
• Understand concepts of psychological trauma, including the range of traumatic experiences, symptomatology, and issues related to diagnosis, developmental impacts, and counseling treatment.
• Understand ethical research, procedures and practices, such as reflexivity in the role of the researcher, and what methods align with distinct forms of inquiry.
• Understand how to be a consumer of research in marriage and family therapy and how to use research to inform and improve culturally competent practice.

Therapeutic Interventions and Clinical Practice: Students in the program will be able to understand, develop, identify, and demonstrate the foundational components of culturally competent counseling in marriage and family therapy, clinical counseling, and relationship therapy. As practitioners, students will be able to:

• Understand the components of collaborative treatment planning, employing a client-centered and strengths-based approach.
• Identify culturally accountable, strengths-based evidence-based treatment interventions for application to diverse populations with a variety of mental health diagnoses.
• Provide effective, evidence-based, and culturally responsive therapy and counseling treatment for individuals, children, groups, families, couples, and diverse relational constellations dealing with mild to severe mental health issues under appropriate supervision of trained mental health practitioners.
• Demonstrate culturally responsive, evidence-based counseling and psychotherapy skills necessary for working with a wide range of individuals, families, couples, groups, and other relationship constellations across the lifespan.

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