Information for New Students

You will be receiving a welcome email that includes much of the information provided on this page, but also includes some exclusive and specific information you will need as you transition into your first semester. Please make sure you read that email in full!

Virtual New Student Orientation

You are invited to the Virtual Online New Student Orientation for Spring 2025 Admits. Thursday, December 5th 5PM-6:30PM(PT), Zoom Link Coming Soon!

Agenda: Meet our OOMPH Team, hear about the practicum from the RISE team, meet with your Program Managers, Q&A and so much more.

To RSVP for this event, please respond to the bCal invite (which will be sent separately to your Berkeley email address).

If you can’t make it, the session will be recorded and posted shortly after.

To access past new student orientation recordings, please visit the Events Archive page.

Concentration Specific Orientations

This is an opportunity to meet your Faculty Advisor and Program Manager during the Concentration Specific session. Separate calendar invites will be sent, but you are welcome to join any/all sessions! The sessions will be posted on the Program Calendar:

• Epidemiology & Biostatistics Session with Dr. Sandra McCoy: Monday, December 9th from 5:00pm – 6:00pm (PT)
• Food, Nutrition & Population Health Session with Dr. Sarah Zyba: Tuesday, December 10th from 5:00pm – 6:00pm (PT)
• Health Policy & Management Session with Dr. Brent Fulton: Thursday, December 12th from 4:00pm – 5:00pm (PT)
• Interdisciplinary Session with Dr. Evan vanDommelen-Gonzalez: Thursday, December 12th from 5:00pm – 6:00pm (PT)

These sessions will be recorded and posted on the Event Archive in the Student Gateway shortly after.

Graduate Advising

You will be able to book a 1:1 advising appointment with your Program Manager after Orientation. We recommend meeting with your Program Manager at least once per semester during your first year.

We look forward to meeting you!

Enrollment will begin on Nov 22, 2024

In your first semester, OOMPH students must enroll in the required breadth courses for a total of 6 units only.

Spring Full Term Courses: Tuesday, January 21, 2025-Sunday, May 11, 2025

Required 1st year courses:

• PHW200G: Health and Social Behavior (3 units) Enrollment #TBA
• PHW250: Epidemiological Methods I (3 units) Enrollment #TBA

Note: You should not enroll in any other courses.

Check out how to navigate enrollment through a step-by-step process of enrollment in classes.

There are 6 required core and breadth courses for all students earning an MPH degree. These courses, taken primarily in the first year of the program, provide students with a foundation in the concepts and competencies relevant to addressing determinants of health, using both qualitative and data-driven approaches.

• PHW200G: Health and Social Behavior (3 units)
• PHW200F: Intro to Environmental Health Science (2 units)
• PHW200E: Health Policy and Management (3 units)
• PHW142: Introduction to Probability and Statistics (4 units)
• PHW250: Epidemiologic Methods I (3 units)
• PHW289: Interdisciplinary Seminar (3 units)

Other Program Requirements include:

• Complete 42 units.
• Complete Concentration specific requirements (must be taken for a letter grade and completed with a grade of B- or higher)
• A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater (good academic standing)
• Complete 2 On-Campus visits (part of W200E and W289)
• Complete Practicum
• Pass Comprehensive Examination

After you’ve received your student ID# you may begin the process of creating your CalNet Account.

CalNet ID = username

Logging in with your CalNet ID and passphrase allows you to access campus applications and services. If you already have a CalNet ID but cannot log in, reset your passphrase using the self-service passphrase reset tool.

You are required by the UC Berkeley campus to use your Berkeley email address (@berkeley.edu) for all your campus related email communication. All OOMPH information is communicated using your Berkeley e-mail address.

Please sign up here by clicking “Enroll Now” and creating a new account with your Berkeley email address. Completion of this tutorial is required

This self-directed tutorial is designed to help prepare you for required classes including PHW250 Epidemiologic Methods I and PHW142 Introduction to Probability and Statistics in Biology and Public Health. This fully asynchronous tutorial covers topics including computer literacy, programming, and a brief intro to R, plus many key math topics such as algebra and logarithms. R is the statistical analysis software used in our biostatistics courses at Berkeley.

All new students are required to take the OOMPH 101 primer on culture, navigation, and expectations for Online MPH courses. This training is available during a “week zero” module in your first OOMPH course. You will have access to the training one week prior to the course start date with a two week time frame to complete it. 

Navigating CalCentral: Review and navigate key functions in CalCentral.

Navigating the Student Gateway: Review and navigate key functions in the Student Gateway.

University Health Services (UHS) provides comprehensive medical, mental health, and health promotion services to all Cal students and a variety of occupational health services to faculty and staff.

Online MPH Students must comply with the Mandatory TB & Immunization Program requirements.  For more information please visit the UHS website.

All registered UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students, including Online MPH students, are automatically enrolled in the Berkeley Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) as a way to meet the university’s health insurance mandate.

SHIP can be waived under certain circumstances during specified waiver periods with strict deadlines. 

For detailed information and instructions from the OOMPH Team about how to waive SHIP see please visit this page.

View the video below to review SHIP and the waiver process.

If you have questions regarding the waiver process or need support please contact the SHIP Office here.

Want to learn more about our different concentrations? Take a look at our Concentration Page! You can find out more information about the following online programs:

• Interdisciplinary Program
• Epidemiology and Biostatistics Concentration
• Health Policy and Management Concentration
• Public Health Nutrition Concentration
• Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Management

Below you will find a few helpful resources. For a full list please visit our Resources Page

Both the University and the campus community have made it a priority to ensure that harm and violence have no place at Cal. This can include but is not limited to, hate or bias-related incidents, sexual violence, sexual harassment, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. Through numerous trainings, we are equipping our campus with the skills to recognize instances of potential harm or violence and offer help safely, be that by de-escalating, intervening, or reporting any potentially violent or concerning situations.

Prevention Education Requirements

All students are required to complete prevention education training in order to be able to register for classes.

• Newly admitted OOMPH students must take the online training and participate in a live/synchronous zoom session.
• Students will be emailed a personalized link to Think About It for Graduate Students with information about how to complete this online training. The link will also be available in CalCentral.
• Training must be completed or a hold will be placed on your registration.
• For students who are unable to attend the live session due to time zone compatibility or other extenuating circumstances, they will be offered an asynchronous session option with an accompanying quiz.  This option will be offered after a registration hold is placed on the student’s CalCentral account.

If you have any questions about these expectations, please email gradlife@berkeley.edu.

The Bioscience, Natural Resources & Public Health Library offers resources and services you can access remotely, such as research guides, databases, and electronic copies of library materials where available.

Check the Library FAQ for frequently asked questions.

If you have any questions about library resources, please click here

As a First Generation student, what do you wish you knew?

How did you move through the challenges, what or who helped you?

Berkeley Graduate Division is the central service center for graduate education on campus, overseeing degree completion, professional development, and policy administration for UC Berkeley graduate students.

Accommodations for students with disabilities needing to complete this requirement may be requested through the Disabled Students Program. Visit the Academic Accommodations Hub student and instructor portal for information about support resources and academic policies.

If you have any questions about the DSP process, please contact Julie Moss, the DSP liaison for OOMPH.