Academic publications of full-time master of public health program students

ObjectiveTo investigate academic publications of students of the full-time master of public health （professional degree， MPH） program and explore their research capacity.

MethodsA total of 160 students of the full-time MPH program admitted from 2010 through 2014 were included in the study. Their academic publications were retrieved for analysis.

ResultsThe average number of academic publications was 1.35. Moreover， 10.2% of the students had academic publications in Chinese journals， and 12.5% had publications in SCI-indexed English journals. Type of disciplines， province they were from， and economic status of their family were determined to be significantly associated with academic publications in SCI-indexed journals.

ConclusionStudents of the full-time MPH program have research capacity； however， they have achieved relatively few academic publications of high quality. Establishment of a teaching and training program is warranted in both practice and research for students in full-time MPH programs in universities.