Mailman School Reinvents Public Health Master’s Curriculum

With admissions to public health programs soaring nationwide and public health issues in the news almost daily, this year’s incoming class at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health couldn’t have picked a hotter field.

Now the class of about 400 students has an added distinction: They are the first to be offered a redesigned curriculum that takes a new approach to training students to address 21st century public health concerns, from the global obesity epidemic to emerging infectious diseases to the impact of climate change.

Emphasizing interdisciplinary study, teamwork and leadership, the two-year master’s in public health, or M.P.H., includes a new core curriculum and a course on integrating science with the practice of public health. It also offers more than 20 certificates in specialized areas, including aging and toxicology. A one-year accelerated program has also been introduced for professionals with advanced degrees.

“Our students will be leaders in public health in 2050,” said Dean Linda Fried, who 2½ years ago challenged Mailman’s faculty to rethink the school’s curriculum. “We needed to make sure students understood emerging issues and the new science that offers new ways to tackle the problems of today for the health of all.”

Dr. Sandro Galea, Gelman Professor of Epidemiology and chair of the department, led a multi-year curriculum planning process. Nearly 200 members of the faculty served on 10 committees and numerous sub committees and considered input from graduate students, alumni and prospective employers, including the New York City Department of Health.

“This was the right place and time, with willing leadership and an excited faculty, to bring about fairly massive change,” said Galea.

Over the last 10 years, the number of applicants to public health programs across the country has more than doubled. Mailman, where 80 percent of students pursue the M.P.H., has seen a more than 20 percent increase in applicants in just the last year. At the same time, public health needs have changed as populations age and governments grapple with the fallout of terrorism, natural disasters and pandemics.

“Health is much more than access to health care. It is living in a safe environment, mental and physical wellness, healthy food, water security and even education,” said Melanie Valencia, a 22-year-old M.P.H. student from Ecuador. “For medicine to truly make a difference, these rights must first be met. I chose public health to be able to use science as a policy guide.”

The new core curriculum is team-taught and brings students from disparate specialties, such as environmental health and health policy, into a single classroom. These courses now account for 21 of the program’s 45 to 60 credits.

“We asked ourselves what should all of our students know, what should they be able to do and what should they all understand,” said Ronald Bayer, a professor of sociomedical sciences who chaired the committee of 12 that drafted the new core curriculum. “We talked across disciplines—it’s not an accident that within the first two weeks of school students have had 16 lectures on public health history, ethics and human rights.”

With the introduction of concentrations, students who complete the M.P.H. will graduate with both a master’s and a certificate in such disciplines as infectious disease, reproductive health and global health. More certificate programs will be added over time.

Given the highly collaborative nature of the public health field today, Mailman created a new course, “Leadership and Innovation,” which focuses on leading teams, being a team member and the implementation of team-generated ideas. During orientation, students debated in pairs and critiqued each other’s communication skills and ability to be persuasive.

Like business schools, Mailman now uses the case study method to bring real-world perspectives into the classroom, a surprisingly uncommon teaching technique in public health education. “We’ve had original cases written specially for us, and we’ve been training our faculty in how to teach in this new way,” said Fried.

The new accelerated M.P.H. was constructed for people with significant experience in the field or a related graduate degree. This year’s inaugural class is made up of approximately 50 such students.

Melissa Begg, a Mailman professor and vice dean responsible for implementing the new curriculum over the last year, is collecting feedback on the changes from students and faculty. In January, faculty will meet to review the data and try to solve any problems that have cropped up. “We’ll continue to work on this over time,” she said.

Columbia appears to be ahead of the curve. Harvard’s revised public health curriculum will be introduced next year, and Fried said other schools will soon follow Columbia’s lead.

“We are breaking the mold because it’s the right thing to do,” said Fried. “I am so proud of this faculty. Their actions define this institution.”