The University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska
at Omaha recently received accreditation for its joint Master of Public
Health Program. The program received national accreditation by the Council
on Education for Public Health.
Public health is focused on promoting, protecting and advocating for
the public’s health. Public health addresses physical, mental and environmental
health concerns of communities and populations at risk for disease and
injury. Professionals who work in public health focus on improving the
health of Nebraskans.
The accrediting body awarded the degree program accreditation for five
years, the maximum period allowed. Accreditation is voluntary.
Magda Peck, Sc.D., director of the new UNMC/UNO Graduate Program in
Public Health, said this is a great time in Nebraska for a degree in public
health.
This has been the right time for public health in Nebraska, Dr. Peck
said. The Master Tobacco Settlement invested money in new health departments
so that now every part of our state is covered. Then after 9/11, and the
scares of bioterrorism, smallpox and anthrax, we were reminded that public
health officials are responsible for keeping the public safe. We need prepared
professionals beyond the physicians, nurses and fire departments and others
on the front lines. We need public health professionals who can plan and
educate, evaluate and lead, she said.
The program recruits students from across the state.
We have students in our program from across the state, she said. We
have begun to provide some of our core classes via distance education so
that we can send our classrooms out beyond the Omaha/Lincoln area.
We feel the real impact will be felt certainly beyond the metropolitan
area. Its also our job to educate public health practitioners who will
serve rural Nebraska, Dr. Peck said. People can become healthier in rural
Nebraska through prevention of obesity, injuries, heart disease, cancer.
When we keep people from getting sick in the first place, it may mean that
they need to go to Omaha or Lincoln or Denver for specialty care a whole
lot less often.
She said accreditation is a national stamp of approval.
The degree will mean something no matter where in the world our students
practice, she said. It also means our program joined the dozens of others
in the country that meet a certain level of excellence.
Dr. Peck said Harold M. Maurer, M.D., UNMC chancellor, and Nancy Belck,
UNO chancellor, made the new degree possible.
The program educates and trains students to become public health professionals.
About 40 faculty make up the program from the UNO and UNMC campuses, including
areas of medicine, nursing, public administration, social work, business
administration, sociology, and health, physical education and recreation.
Two specialties currently are offered — community health education,
which encompasses educating communities on what they need to know to keep
healthy, and health administration, which includes educating and training
students to design and administer public health programs that use taxpayer
dollars wisely and efficiently.
Since January 2002, more than 70 students have enrolled in the MPH programs
health administration or community health education tracks. Twelve more
students will earn their degree by the end of this summer.
Dick Raymond, M.D., chief medical officer, Nebraska Health and Human
Services System, said the increase in depth and breadth of public health
is needed to drive health policy. Its important to have this resource
in the state. If this degree werent available in the state, Nebraskans
leaving the state to pursue this kind of degree might not have come back.
The lay public may not fully understand what public health is but they
see examples of it almost every day. Dr. Peck said public health is about
creating the conditions necessary for all people to be healthy.
There are people in Nebraska who are doing public health right now.
Theyre out working in hospitals or community action agencies or health
education programs taking care of the needs of populations at risk. For
example, we know that Nebraskans a have higher incidence of obesity, diabetes
and heart disease.
We have great medical professionals providing excellent diagnosis and
treatment, but who will educate the public about the steps we all need
to take so that people make healthier lifestyle choices? Who will design
and implement evidenced-based programs to address smoking cessation, second
hand smoke and children, and smoke-free environments? Who will work with
the state legislature to help shape bills and laws that are based on public
health science and be in the public’s interest for healthier families,
communities and workplaces? MPH program graduates will be able to do this,
and more.
For more information, call Valdeen Nelsen, MPH program coordinator,
at (402) 561-7586.