Interdepartmental Programs

Because certain topics are inherently cross-disciplinary, the University of Michigan School of Public Health has developed innovative interdepartmental programs. They are designed to deepen students' understanding of complex public health issues.

These are programs of study pursued in conjunction with a departmental graduate degree program. Faculty and students from all five departments within the school participate in these exciting programs, along with faculty from other University of Michigan schools and colleges.

Global Health Certificate

"The Global Health Certificate program is intended to engage students in analysis and action aimed at understanding and improving how globalization affects human well-being. Unlike only a few decades ago, people, products, and perspectives are now traversing national boundaries in minutes and hours rather than years or centuries. Manifestations of economically driven globalization, accompanied by increasingly transnational influences of culture, environment, and behavior, impact everyone's health each day, in ways that may be both beneficial and detrimental."
--Mark Wilson, Sc.D., Director, Global Health Program

Public Health Genetics

"In this era of rapidly unfolding advances in genetics, public health professionals have a significant role in translating this new knowledge into improved health outcomes. Knowing which populations have a genetic variation that puts them at risk will help us to develop and implement public health interventions. We must provide guidance to policymakers as they address the new issues to preserve confidentiality, provide protection against discrimination, and regulate commercialized genetics products and services. In order to achieve these goals, we must all contribute our expertise to create an informed public health workforce."
--Sharon Kardia, Ph.D., Director, Public Health Genetics Interdepartmental Concentration

Reproductive & Women's Health

The fields of reproductive health and women's health have changed considerably over past decades. As a result, schools of public health are faced with the challenge of how to best prepare students for this dynamic and incredibly diverse area. While many schools continue to prepare students with traditional programs, the University of Michigan School of Public Health is committed to providing innovative interdisciplinary educational programs. Partner programs here at the University of Michigan have also been responding to changing circumstances and priorities and have created a new landscape of possible collaborations and educational opportunities. The RWHIC faculty has begun a process of evaluating how the School of Public Health can play a role in rallying these various resources into an even stronger and sustainable intellectual community that can meet current and future challenges. We expect this process to continue through fall 2007. The Reproductive and Women's Health Interdepartmental Concentration is not accepting new applications at this time.

Printed from http://www.sph.umich.edu/academics/interdepartmental.html on July 24, 2008