Public Health Sciences

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Public Health Sciences Education Office
P.O. Box 800717
Charlottesville, VA 22908-0717
(434) 924-8646 Fax: (434) 924-8437
https://med.virginia.edu/phs/

Overview

The Department of Public Health Sciences brings a unique, interdisciplinary approach to education and research in population health and clinical research, and to the generation, integration, management and interpretation of basic science, clinical, and health-related information. The Department fosters collaborations with clinicians, researchers, public health agencies, communities, and policymakers to undertake innovative research, develop educational opportunities, and inform evidence-based, equitable decisions about clinical care and population health sciences.

The Department provides a robust Educational Program in public and global health, as well as in clinical and population research at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels. Department faculty collaborate on cross-University education and research with faculty from law, public policy, nursing, architecture, education and business. They also serve as a bridge to the community at large for community-engaged initiatives to improve population health.

The Department of Public Health Sciences is the administrative and academic home of two graduate degree programs granted through the University’s School of Medicine: the Master in Public Health and the Master in Clinical Research. In addition, public health faculty administer and teach in the undergraduate Global Public Health major (which is one of the University’s Global Studies Programs), as well as provide required courses for the Human Biology Distinguished Major in the College of Arts and Sciences and for the Health and Wellness Minor in the Curry School of Education and Human Development. Department faculty also provide required education for medical students in epidemiology, biostatistics, and health policy.

The nationally accredited Master of Public Health Program (MPH) offers an individualized and interdisciplinary experience that focuses on the competencies professionals need to improve the health of populations, communities, and individuals. The curriculum provides graduate professional training in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies; health policy, law, and ethics; translational and community-based research; and community engagement programs and health-related strategies.

The Master of Science in Clinical Research (MS-CR) provides a broad range of training opportunities for students interested in the areas of clinical investigation, clinical information management, quality and outcomes research, and population and health services research.

Faculty

More than 30 faculty members teach public health sciences courses in the PHS graduate programs. Faculty have a broad range of disciplinary background, experience and expertise, including biostatistics and epidemiology, policy, health system organization and management, qualitative and quantitative methodologies. 

Students

Approximately 75 graduate students are matriculating in the PHS graduate programs each year, along with more than 100 undergraduates. The student population is culturally, geographically and scientifically diverse, and students focus on a wide range of health-related research and interdisciplinary projects. The following are topics in 2016: Effect of prescription drug monitoring program and “pill mill” law on opioid overdose mortality; Examination of the predictive power of post-discharge health outcomes on readmission risk for patients enrolled in remote care; A decision tree to optimize foot and mouth disease vaccination strategies in cattle in the U.S.; Mixed-methods pilot study with a virtual support network for men at risk for HIV in South Africa; Perceived social support: analysis of an anonymous community message board; The prevalence and distribution of childhood respiratory-related illness in clinics in Nevis, 2010-14; Cluster analysis in public health decision-making: exploring childhood asthma inpatient hospitalizations in Cook County, IL, 2011-14, and Underinsured complex pediatric patients in Virginia: a geospatial analysis.