VCU School of Public Health Development
VCU is proud to be developing the first School of Public Health in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The school was officially established in January 2005, when VCU designated the existing Department of Biostatistics and Department of Epidemiology and Community Health as the founding units. The first new academic department, Social and Behavioral Health, was established in September 2006. Two additional academic departments, focusing on (1) environmental and occupational health and (2) public health policy and management, are planned. During its development phase, the School of Public Health will remain a sub-unit of the VCU School of Medicine.
Current degree programs
VCU currently offers a number of graduate degrees through its
departments of Biostatistics and Epidemiology and
Community Health. Doctoral programs are available in Biostatistics
(including a concentration in Genomic Biostatistics) and in
Epidemiology. Master’s programs include
the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree with tracks in epidemiology, environmental
health, addiction studies, and generalist public health, as well as an
M.S. in Biostatistics and an M.S. in Clinical Research and Biostatistics.
Dual degree programs pairing the MPH with the professions of medicine,
nursing, pharmacy, and social work are also offered.
New Department of Social and Behavioral Health
The Department of Social
and Behavioral Health, chaired by Laura Siminoff,
Ph.D., will focus on understanding how social, behavioral and cultural
factors affect public health, and educating the public to make lifestyle
and other behavioral changes to improve the standard of health. The initial
focus of the department, in terms of faculty recruitment and research,
will be on cancer, health disparities and chronic disease. The top priority
is to create an active research base within the department. Plans
also call for developing a nationally ranked doctoral program along with
post-doctoral training programs and track(s) in the Masters of Public Health
program.
The department will help to provide expertise to public health and clinical practitioners about how they can integrate the social, cultural and behavioral issues that truly impact the public’s health, healthcare and ability to negotiate the healthcare system.
Center on Health Disparities
Established in November 2005, the Center
on Health Disparities has a mission to develop and facilitate research, education, access to
health care services, and workforce diversity initiatives that will eliminate
health disparities in populations in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The
center’s vision is
to positively impact communities through the development of programs that are
focused on the needs of those served. These programs will serve as a catalyst
for change in health policy and public policy in Virginia.
Among the center’s goals are:
- conducting research aimed at eliminating health disparities
- promoting education, knowledge, awareness, skills, behaviors and attitudes regarding health disparities
- developing programs and enhancing community partnerships to improve access to culturally sensitive health care services for health disparity populations in Virginia
- increasing the number of minority students, faculty, professionals and staff at VCU Medical Center.
Richmond Times-Dispatch News Article
