Master of Public Health Program Receives 5-year Accreditation

The Master of Public Health Program in the University of Maryland School of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore received accreditation for a five-year term, until July 1, 2014, from the Board of Councilors of the Council on Education for Public Health at its June 17-20, 2009 meeting.  The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) is an independent agency recognized by the US Department of Education to accredit schools of public health and certain public health programs offered in settings other than schools of public health.  The MPH Accreditation Self Study and the CEPH Accreditation Report are publicly available through links on the MPH Webpage:  http://medschool.umaryland.edu/epidemiology/mph/
 
The Master of Public Health Program (MPH) is a professional degree program that is administratively based in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine within the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). The MPH Program provides graduate students, medical and other health professional students, and health professionals with graduate training in public health. The MPH Program is dedicated to improving the health status of populations and reducing health disparities. This mission is accomplished by integrating advances in the medical, pharmaceutical, nursing, dental, social work, legal, allied health, and other health services disciplines represented across the professional schools, research, and clinical centers at UMB.

The MPH Program is closely aligned with existing degree programs in the six UMB professional schools and offers the following dual degrees: DDS/MPH, JD/MPH, MD/MPH, MS Nursing/MPH, MSW/MPH, PharmD/MPH.

Regents Give Public Health School Approval

The University System of Maryland Board of Regents approved the first steps toward creation of a school of public health at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), which would be the seventh professional school at the downtown campus.

The campus already is the home of a rapidly growing Master of Public Health Program that was started in 2004. From an original class of four students, there are now more than 70 students in the program who are taking advantage of the unique, multidisciplinary opportunities provided by UMB.  The accreditation of the MPH Program in 2009 is an important step in the creation of a School of Public Health.

The mission of the Master of Public Health Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore is to advance the health of diverse populations in Maryland and elsewhere by providing graduates with the knowledge and skills necessary to: (1) investigate the causes, prevention, and treatment of health problems; (2) integrate public health practice into their professional lives; (3) develop collaborative public health initiatives in teaching, research, and service; and (4) serve as public health leaders at the community, state, and national levels. The mission of the MPH Program is accomplished by integrating public health practice with dentistry, law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, and other health services disciplines represented across the professional schools, research, and clinical centers at UMB.

“Professionally trained public health workers are urgently needed,” says Ramsay who cites a 2003 report by the Institute of Medicine on the future of public health.    “Nationally, it has been estimated that 80 percent of public health workers lack specific public health training, and only 22 percent of chief executives of local health departments have graduate degrees in public health,” he adds.

Statistics from the American Public Health Association indicate that 50 percent of the federal public health work force and 25 percent of the state public health work force will retire in the next five years. Similar shortages have been projected by Maryland health officials.

“We are grateful for the vision shown by the chancellor and the Board of Regents in meeting this urgent need,” says Ramsay. “We appreciate the trust they have placed in us to create our first new school in 45 years.”

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Please refer to information on the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine web site, for public health educational programs, including our MPH, MS, and PhD programs."

The University of Maryland, Baltimore, is home to the dental school, graduate school, and schools of law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work. It is the founding campus of the University System of Maryland.