Pending approval by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the University will add a Master of Public Health degree to its slate of Fall 2003 graduate degree offerings.
The MPH is a professional degree program combining public health sciences, population-based research and community practice of public health.
Traditionally, the MPH program is offered at schools of public health. Similar programs are currently available at Virginia Commonwealth University and Old Dominion University.
"What makes this program unique is its focus on ethics and law," said Ruth G. Bernheim, executive director of the Institute for Public Ethics and associate professor of medical education at the University.
Another key characteristic of the proposed program is its inter-disciplinary nature, program coordinators said.
"A masters of public health brings together many disciplines: public health, environmental science, health service administration and epidemiology," said Carolyn Engelhard, University program director for masters of science in health evaluation sciences.
The program has been submitted to SCHEV as a spin-off from the public health track of the masters program in health evaluation sciences that the University currently offers.
According to Bernheim, the degree grew out of a faculty working group that has been concentrating on public health and ethics for the past three years.
Involved faculty include professors and administrators in medicine, nursing, the College and the Law school.
"This is a truly unique masters that draws on faculty and students from around Grounds," Bernheim said.
In addition to internal stimuli, interest for the program has been spurred by increased national attention to public health, stemming from concerns over bio-terrorism and infectious diseases.
"It was time to bring forces together at the University to align with what's going on nationally," Engelhard said.
Already, the program has attracted conference partnerships with the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.
With budget cuts limiting the funding available to the new program, short-term additions of faculty and resources will be minimal, Engelhard said.
"In the short term, what we'll be doing is drawing on classes in other departments to fulfill some of the core competencies," she said.
Long-term funding for additional staff and equipment will depend on the level of enrollment.
Should the program be approved, Engelhard said she expects five students to participate in the program next year.
Program coordinators said they expect the program will draw students from a variety of different fields and interests.
"We are assuming the program will attract several different kinds of students," said Jeffrey Plank, associate vice president for research and graduate studies. "Some might be folks with a medical background, others might be current environmental science students"
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