Online graduate certificate in Public Health now offered at UVM

by Rachel Carter, University Communications - American healthcare system redesign and adjustment demands new requirements for accountability, collaborative healthcare networks and population-based medical practice. Designed to address these fundamental changes, the University of Vermont Graduate College, in collaboration with the College of Medicine and Continuing Education, is launching the much anticipated online certificate of graduate study in public health.
Beginning in summer 2013, medical and graduate students, health practitioners, public health professionals, and healthcare researchers can enroll in the 18-credit, online graduate program which navigates current public health and health policy issues. Students will gain a strong foundation in population health sciences including epidemiology, biostatistics and environmental health.
Public health is a multidisciplinary field blending public policy, research and population health sciences. The focus of public health is on promoting healthy practices and preventing disease among entire populations, rather than on treating individual illness.
‘ With the many changes in health care and new models of population-based medical practice, it is more important than ever for medical and public health practitioners to develop the skills needed to evaluate and promote health for a wide variety of populations,’ said Doctor Jan Carney, associate dean for public health and professor of medicine at UVM College of Medicine and co-developer of UVM’ s online certificate for graduate study in public health. ‘ This new program is aimed at helping individuals develop those skills and providing a broad ethical framework for decision making, leadership and advocacy.’
Trained across the field of population health sciences, faculty will challenge students to explore public health and policy issues while developing the skills and foundation to advance in the fluctuating healthcare system. The UVM online certificate of graduate study in public health faculty hail from UVM’ s College of Medicine, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the Vermont Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.