Master of Public Health Program Site Visit Announcement

The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accreditation site visit for the Master of Public Health Program in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland Baltimore will take place on January 22-23, 2009. 

View the MPH Program’s self study that was submitted to CEPH in August, 2008.  

In accordance with CEPH procedures, all schools and programs undergoing accreditation are required by the United States Department of Education to notify its affected parties (including students, alumni, faculty and the practice community) that they have the opportunity to provide written input into the deliberations of the site visit team.  All written third party comments will be accepted by CEPH until 30 days before the on-site visit.  Please send all written comments by December 22, 2008 to:

Karon S. Harden, MS, CHES
Training Programs Director
Council on Education for Public Health
800 I (eye) Street, NW
Suite 202
Washington, D.C.  20001-3710
kharden@ceph.org

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 MPH Program offers dual degree programs jointly with all of the professional schools at UMB, including the DDS/MPH, JD/MPH, MD/MPH, MSnursing/MPH, MSW/MPH, PharmD/MPH. The pending accreditation of the MPH Program 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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During this transitional time, please refer to information on the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine web site, for SPH 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.