U. offers new master's degree

Students and professionals across the country can now come to Penn to obtain a master's degree in public health. The University's new graduate degree program is organized within the School of Medicine but will involve cooperation with seven of Penn's other schools as well. The curriculum focuses on five areas -- biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental and occupational health, behavioral sciences, and healthcare policy -- that best explain public health education, according to Shiriki Kumanyika, an epidemiology professor and the program's director. Many students in the program will have already earned a medical or professional degree or will be participating in a M.D./M.P.H. dual-degree program. While any graduate student can apply to the program, "a large number already have a professional degree," Kumanyika said. Ideal candidates for the nationally accredited degree program are "dedicated medical professionals who believe public health is important to individual health and will work to improve health," said Marjorie Bowman, chair of the faculty advisory committee for the M.D./M.P.H. option. She added that the goal of the program is "creating medical leaders who think from a public health perspective." While the program currently only has one student enrolled, administrators anticipate that it will rapidly expand since more applicants are expected over the summer. The program's current student Pediatric and Emergency Medicine Professor Joel Fein said that the "M.P.H. program offers a perspective that I wanted to gain" and has "a global approach." The fact that the program is a University-wide effort shows that people want public health to be a focal point at Penn, Kumanyika explained. So far, the program has garnered high praise. "The courses are very enjoyable," said Fein, who is also an attending physician at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "The faculty is also extremely enthusiastic." The field of public health is quickly growing. There are approximately 80 other locations at universities where students can earn M.P.H. degrees. "The M.P.H. degree is widely recognized as an important degree in public health and medical fields," Bowman said. "It is truly exciting to have such an interdisciplinary program established at Penn."

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