MPH program adds new track in global health
The Vanderbilt Masters of Public Health (MPH) Program is launching a new track in Global Health.
William Cooper, M.D., MPH, director of the MPH program, says they are now accepting applications for the track’s inaugural year in fall 2012. Applicants should be those who are passionate about becoming leaders in global public health.
“Those currently working in global health are looking for people who have the training to step into leadership roles. This new track for the MPH program is a great fit and aligns well with the School of Medicine’s vision of creating leaders and scholars, so our students are positioned to make high quality contributions to people in global settings,” Cooper said.
The new track will constitute the first major expansion in the 15-year-old MPH program, adding another educational and career path for students to the program’s existing epidemiology focus.
The epidemiology track is led by Marie Griffin, M.D., MPH, professor of Preventive Medicine, and the global health track will be directed by Doug Heimburger, M.D., associate director for Education and Training at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health.
Doug Heimburger, M.D.
“This is a growing field, and increasingly, work in global health requires training and credentialing,” Heimburger said. “What will set our graduates apart from those from our peer institutions is a strong base of leadership and management skills taught by an interdisciplinary team, including instructors from the Owen Graduate School of Management, Biomedical Informatics, Peabody College of Education and Human Development and more.”
One major difference for the global health track is it will accept applicants from diverse backgrounds, including bachelors and masters prepared students as long as they have had some experience in global health work.
Currently, the MPH epidemiology program only accepts M.D.- or Ph.D.-prepared applicants.
All students in both tracks of the MPH program will receive the same core courses the first semester, and then will specialize in either epidemiology or global health in their second semester. Students will complete a public health practicum and a final scholarly project in the five-semester program, with global health students completing their projects in a global setting.
Currently there are about 30 students in the two-year MPH program. The global health track plans to admit as many as 12 for its first class.
Applications must be completed by Feb. 28, 2012. For more information, go to https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/mph/.