This is a new program which is offered to WVU medical students. The Public Health Track will be in addition to the regular MD curriculum and will be offered by the Department of Community Medicine of the School of Medicine. This track was approved by the WVU School of Medicine Curriculum Committee on May 7, 2007. Students may apply while in first, second, third, or fourth year of the medical school enrollment. There will only be four students selected for the program each year by a committee made up of faculty. The four students selected for the Public Health Track will based on the academic and professional standing within the medical school curriculum.
The components of the Public Health Track are:
- Completion of core Master of Public Health (MPH) courses online, no more than 27 credit hours (including the MPH Practicum)
- Completion of the MPH practicum during required rural rotations in MSIII and MSIV years.
- Participation in community service experiences linked to Public Health
- Opportunities to receive unique training experiences with external agencies
- Completion of remaining requirements of MPH degree during primary care residency training at WVU (optional) or other institutions in West Virginia.
The Public Health Track offers a focused learning experience in public health, with graduate level education and the opportunity to pursue professional education cooperatively with experienced faculty.
Program Description:
1. MPH Core Content
Students selected into the PH Track of the medical school curriculum may complete up to 27 credit hours of the following MPH Program. The courses that can be completed are the required courses of the MPH program which are all available on-line.
The required courses of the MPH program include:
- CHPR 612 - Social and Behavioral Theory
3 Hrs.
- PUBH 611 - Applied Biostatistics for Health
3 Hrs.
- PUBH 630 - Policy and the Health System
3 Hrs.
- PUBH 650 - Environmental Health
3 Hrs.
- PUBH 660 - Public Health Epidemiology
3 Hrs.
OR CCMD 712 Public Health, MD curriculum course
- PUBH 679 - Seminar
1 Hr.
- PUBH 687 - Practicum Proposal - 2 Hrs. & PUBH 689 - Practicum - 3 Hrs.
Or PUBH 691 - Practicum Internship 5 Hrs.
- PUBH 688 - Practicum Report
3 Hrs.
- PUBH 691 - Community-Based Participatory Research Methods
3 Hrs.
Or PUBH 629 - Survey Methods - 3 Hrs.
Total Required Courses 27 Hrs.
2. MPH Practicum
Students will complete the MPH practicum (8 credits), courses listed with a research proposal relevant to Public Health during the one month required rural rotation in the MSIII year. The identified research will be completed during the 2 month MS IV required rural rotation at a designated local health department. Students will complete and present a scientific paper, with details of the culminating experiences acquired, during the MPH Student Practicum Presentation
3. Community Service
Students will complete 50 specified community service hours that will be tailored to Public Health and the medical curriculum, from the existing requirements for 100 hours while in medical school.
4. External Agencies
Students will receive unique training experiences from:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- Epidemiology elective program
- Competitive 1 year fellowship in applied epidemiology for rising 3rd & 4th year students at CDC in Atlanta, designed to increase the pool of physicians with a population health perspective.
- 4 week STEER program, the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Scholars program.
- The eleven-week summer internship program at the Public Health Sciences Institute at Morehouse College.
- National Institute for Occupational & Safety Health (NIOSH) for Morgantown students
- West Virginia Bureau for Public Health (WV BPH) for Charleston area students
- Baltimore ”beltway agencies” and/or Washington, DC sites for Eastern Division students
Students accepted in the Public Health track must remain in good academic and professional standing within the MD degree curriculum. Should a student have an adverse action imposed by the Dean removing this good standing, the student will no longer be eligible for the participation in the program. Due process for adverse actions will follow the standard procedures in the Policy on Academic and Professional Standards Governing the MD degree program. There will be no readmission to the program once the status is lost.
Students who complete the PH Track will receive a certificate listing the credits received for courses completed during medical school enrollment.
For more information regarding the Public Health Track and the Public Health track MD/MPH Programs, please contact:
Rachel T. Abraham, MD, MPH,
Director, Public Health Track and MD/MPH Programs
Department of Community Medicine
(304) 293-0267 or rabraham@hsc.wvu.edu
For more information please review these websites:
Public Health Track for MD/MPH Program
Combined MD/MPH Program
AAMC MD/MPH Directory: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/84780/data/wv.pdf