School Of Public Health

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.

“UMB will be undertaking detailed planning over the next several months preparing for accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH),” says David. J. Ramsay, DM, DPhil, president of the University.  “The school will capitalize on its location with the nationally ranked schools of dentistry, law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work.”

The campus already is the home of a rapidly growing Masters’ of Public Health program that was started in 2004. From an original class of four students, there are now more than 50 students in the program who are taking advantage of the unique, multidisciplinary opportunities provided by 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.

“The mission of the school of public health will be to advance the health of diverse populations in Maryland and elsewhere,” says Ramsay. “It will accomplish this by preparing public health leaders to serve the community; investigating population-based causes, prevention, and treatment of health problems; and developing collaborative initiatives in teaching, research, and service.”

The CEPH requires depth of training in the five areas of knowledge considered basic to public health: biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, health services administration, and social and behavioral sciences. The school will draw from faculty members from all six UMB schools.

“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.