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SUNY Downstate Medical Center to Launch School of Public Health Initiative:

Apr 9, 2008

School will be First at a Public University in NYC

 

Brooklyn, NY - SUNY Downstate Medical Center inaugurates its new School of Public Health Initiative during a ceremony on the Brooklyn campus on Friday April 11, becoming the first School of Public Health at a public university in New York City. This is the first new school at Downstate since 1966.

The ceremony is the first step in a process that will eventually result in the transfer of Downstate’s nationally accredited Master of Public Health (MPH) program into the new School. The MPH Program is currently housed in Downstate’s College of Medicine. Downstate’s current Master of Public Health Program, in addition to its original track in Urban and Immigrant Health, has developed five new MPH tracks: Biostatistics, Community Health Sciences, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and Health Policy and Management. The Doctor of Public Health is offered in Community Health Sciences, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and Health Policy and Management. In 2004, the Master of Public Health Program awarded diplomas to its first 10 graduates. The program currently enrolls 115 students and has 14 full-time professors.

“The School of Public Health initiative represents an exciting new development that builds upon the medical center’s long tradition of excellence in education, research, and community service,” said Dr. Pascal James Imperato, the Founding Dean of the school, and current director of the Maters of Public Health Program. “I can’t think of any better place to study and address the serious public health problems that we face in this country than in Brooklyn, where more than 2.5 million people live.”

“Creating a School of Public Health here at Downstate has been a top priority,” said Dr. John C. LaRosa, President of Downstate Medical Center, who launched the public health program as a centerpiece of his strategic plan in 2000. “The school will strengthen Downstate’s role as the anchor for health education in Brooklyn and expand our commitment to public health. We expect it to have a major impact.”

“The School of Public Health Initiative is designed to train professionals to address critical healthcare issues in the community. At the same time, the new school will provide wonderful opportunities for SUNY students to advance their careers and to have a positive impact on their communities,” said Carl T. Hayden, Chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees. “It is a perfect complement to both the SUNY System and the campus’s mission.”

The need for this school was highlighted by a recent report from The Institute of Medicine on the severe under-representation of racial and ethnic minorities in the health professions in general and on the importance of training to improve cultural competence for all health practitioners, including public health professionals. According to the report, public health professionals need to be able to communicate with diverse populations, to understand the issues, concerns, and needs of these groups in order to work collaboratively to improve population health.

“On behalf of the State University of New York, I want to convey our deep appreciation to President LaRosa, Dean Imperato and the faculty and staff of SUNY Downstate Medical Center for establishing this important school of public health initiative,” said Dr. John B. Clark, interim SUNY chancellor. “It is admirable that this school will address the unique health needs of New York City’s urban and immigrant populations, as well as environmental and community health issues.”

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About SUNY Downstate Medical Center

SUNY Downstate Medical Center, founded in 1860, was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, School of Public Health, University Hospital of Brooklyn, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively.

SUNY Downstate ranks twelfth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from SUNY Downstate than from any other medical school.