What Can I Do with an MPH in Physical Activity and Public Health?
Help people move more and build healthier communities.
Physical activity affects far more than fitness. It can help prevent chronic disease, support mental and physical well-being and improve quality of life across the lifespan. CDC identifies regular physical activity as important for both immediate and long-term health.
With an MPH in Physical Activity and Public Health, you learn how to design, implement and evaluate strategies that help people be more active where they live, work, learn and play. USC’s program specifically prepares students to increase physical activity at the population level through interventions, measurement, policy and environmental change. You'll learn to ask and answer questions like: How can we help more people move? How can communities make physical activity easier for populations? What programs actually work? How can physical activity help prevent disease?
What careers will I be prepared for?
Physical Activity Program Coordinator
Plan and deliver programs that help communities become more active.
Health Promotion Coordinator or Educator
Develop and manage initiatives that support physical activity, wellness and disease prevention.
Physical Activity Program Evaluator
Measure whether physical activity programs are working and identify opportunities to improve them.
Wellness Coordinator
Create health and wellness programming for workplaces, universities, health systems or community organizations.
Active Transportation Consultant
Help communities create safer, easier ways for people to walk, bike and move through the places they live. CDC recommends community design approaches that connect activity-friendly routes with everyday destinations to support physical activity.
Parks and Recreation Program Specialist
Develop programs and partnerships that make parks, trails and recreational spaces more accessible and useful for physical activity. CDC highlights parks, recreation and green spaces as important components of active communities.
Chronic Disease Prevention Specialist
Use physical activity as part of broader strategies to prevent and manage conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
Policy or Environmental Change Specialist
Work on policies, systems and community environments that make physical activity easier
and more accessible for entire populations.
Where are some places graduates can work?
- Health departments
- Health and wellness organizations
- Hospitals and health systems
- Parks and recreation agencies
- Community organizations
- Universities and research centers
- Transportation and community planning organizations
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Workplace wellness programs
Are you passionate about exercise science?
If you want to combine physical activity, public health and community change, USC’s
PAPH program gives you the tools to turn movement into measurable impact. If you earned
an undergraduate degree in exercise science but want to make an impact beyond one
client or patient at a time, an MPH in Physical Activity and Public Health can help
you take your knowledge of movement and health to the population level.