December 30, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health is collaborating with universities in South Asia and the Caribbean to offer master's-level training programs that meet a growing demand for global-health professionals to lead research, prevention and care, and policy initiatives.
The new master's programs in public health were developed through UAB's Sparkman Center for Global Health and UAB's International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health (ITREOH) program along with input from international scholars, accrediting agencies and public-health educators from each university's home country.
A Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) program is now offered at the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad, with degree tracks in epidemiology, health economics or environmental and occupational health. An M.P.H. program is now offered at Manipal University in Karnataka, India, and will soon begin at the University of Kelaniya in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with a degree track in environmental and occupational health. A Master of Science (M.Sc.) program with a degree track in environmental and occupational health will begin in 2011 at Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan.
These new master's programs address a broad array of issues in physical and mental health, and community improvement goals guided by initiatives of the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and many other governmental agencies and nonprofit groups, says Craig Wilson, M.D., a professor of epidemiology and pediatrics and director of the Sparkman Center for Global Health.
"Our field of global health is directly linked to world population changes, economic relationships and many other factors that make nations and regions increasingly interdependent on one another," says Wilson. "These graduate programs will help to bridge the gaps in international public-health research, training and policy making.
"This unique approach to international curriculum development serves as a model for future programs across the globe."
UAB's ITREOH program is led by Nalini Sathiakumar, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., and Elizabeth Delzell, M.S.P.H., D.Sc., and emphasizes the need for graduates to enter public-health service in their home countries. ITREOH is funded by the National Institutes of Health John E. Fogarty International Center.
About the UAB School of Public Health
The UAB School of Public Health is a community of scholars and professionals working and teaching in varied arenas of public health with the goal of fostering research and best practices crucial to the health of our nation and its peoples. The school offers more than 20 areas of study and manages dozens of research and community-service centers. Click here to find out more about becoming a student.