Two for one - Dual-degree program trains students in public health and social work

Alexa Copeland and Lindsay Keeling trekked different parts of the world as Peace Corps volunteers, but their paths eventually crossed at NMSU. Their shared interest in public health and social work led them to a program in the College of HEST that trains students in both fields.

NMSU offers a dual-degree program through the School of Social Work and Department of Public Health Sciences that allows students to earn master’s degrees in social work and public health under a single degree plan. It is one of only 42 such programs in the nation and one of only two based along the United States-Mexico border. 

“This is dual degree attracts many students because of its practical nature and international applicability,” says Jagdish Khubchandani, the program’s coordinator and professor of public health. “We have graduated more than 50 dual-major students since 2015.”

The MPH/MSW program is popular among students passionate about community development and outreach, especially returned Peace Corps volunteers seeking to further their interests and careers in international service – like Copeland and Keeling.

Copeland served in Namibia for two years and worked as a community health educator for children and adults living with HIV. She also helped local schools and communities improve food security through backyard gardening. 

“After I finished my Peace Corps program, I’d been thinking about getting into a program for social work,” she says. “But I did a lot of public health work in Namibia. So, I wanted to merge the two and found the dual program at NMSU.”

Like Copeland, Keeling became interested in public health while serving with Peace Corps. Keeling spent two years in Kosovo working with the Bozniak populations in the Župa Valley. After completing her service, Keeling decided to apply to the MPH/MSW program at NMSU. 

Copeland and Keeling started the program in the fall of 2020. Their cohort also included two other returned Peace Corps volunteers, Nancy Patterson and Joe Allbright. The four became friends and were part of NMSU’s Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program, a network of partnerships between the Peace Corps organization and more than 90 universities across the country.

Students in the MPH/MSW program must complete 96 credit hours over three years, including two social work practicums and one public health field experiences.

For their social work practicums, Copeland and Keeling spent two semesters working at the Las Cruces Fire Department. They assisted with a mobile health care unit and provided intensive case management for people in crisis.

“There’s so much responsibility associated with our practicums and field experiences,” Copeland says, “but I would say they’re probably just as valuable as our academic studies because we’re getting hands-on experience and integrating what we’re learning in a direct-practice way.”

Keeling, who graduated this spring along with Copeland and Patterson, called the MPH/MSW program an enriching experience, saying the two fields complemented one another. 

“Public health has a more scientific approach, with data analysis, epidemiology and disease prevention. In social work, we learn more about human-value skills, cultural competency and ways to work with people,” she says. “The benefit of the dual program is that public health and social work are so connected that much of the material from one translates to the other.”