The Program in Public Health (PPH) was established in 2003 to provide institutional focus for existing academic strengths in various sub-disciplines of public health, and to facilitate well-grounded education and innovative research in emerging aspects of the field. Under the Program in Public Health, undergraduate degree programs began enrolling students in 2006, and the Department of Population Health & Disease Prevention was established in 2007 to advance the collaborative interdisciplinary mission of public health research and education. In coming years, the Program in Public Health will expand to become a School of Public Health with accredited undergraduate, MPH, and Ph.D programs and a dual degree MD/MPH program with the School of Medicine.
Welcome to Public Health at UC Irvine! There is no better time in history to engage with public health at UC Irvine, home to innovative and resourceful public health research, practice, and education initiatives. Our mission is to create, integrate, and translate population-based knowledge into preventive strategies for reducing the societal burden of human disease and disability through excellence in research, education, and public health. We push forward the frontiers of knowledge in crucial areas of public health; we reframe and answer questions that emerge with new societal challenges; and we train a cadre of public health scientists and policy makers who are versatile in the interdisciplinary language necessary to succeed in today’s world.
There is also possibly no more sophisticated opportunity to explore the interdisciplinary dimensions that effective public health demands than to engage in our curriculum beginning at the freshman level up to the graduate and professional levels, with award-winning culminating experiences of students who integrate didactic activities with practice at a public health agency in the community.
It is arguable that very few, if any, contemporary human health issues are permanently limited to national or geographical boundaries. Rapid mobility of populations and disease vectors, international trade and commerce, trans-boundary conflicts, natural disasters, and the increasingly international flavor of regulatory issues have all demanded a broadening of the scope of public health research and training. The faculty members in the Program in Public Health at UC Irvine are uniquely positioned to take full advantage of rapid progress in the molecular sciences, informatics and communication, global environmental assessments, occupational health, human behavior, policy analysis, international relations, and clinical and translational sciences. These are all existing areas of scholarly strength that public health contributes to our campus, our country, and the world.
We are delighted by the opportunity to share with you our individual and collective excitement about the UC Irvine Program in Public Health. We look forward to engaging you in meaningful and productive excursions, inside and outside the classroom, the laboratory, and in the community, leading to deeper understanding of the determinants of the quality of health in populations, and to reward you with the knowledge and passion to act to improve the health status of diverse communities.
The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH: http://www.ceph.org/) is an independent agency recognized by the US Department of Education to accredit schools of public health and public health programs offered in settings other than schools of public health.
In Fall quarter, 2009 CEPH approved UC Irvine's application to undergo review for accreditation of our programs, including the Masters Degree in Public Health (MPH), the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Health Policy, and the Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health Sciences. The accreditation process includes several steps in which we are now fully engaged.
A site visit by CEPH has been scheduled for February 23rd and 24th, 2012. Written third-party comments about our accreditation may be submitted up until January 23rd to CEPH at the following address:
Council on Education for Public Health
800 Eye Street, NW, Suite 202
Washington, DC 2001-3710
USA
Summer 2010 December 6th, 2010 May 17th, 2011 July 18th, 2011 September 23rd, 2011
February 23rd & 24th, 2012 Fall 2012
*For CEPH purposes, the term "applicant" means that a school or program has received official notification from the Council that its application to begin the accreditation process has been accepted. If the school or program elects to withdraw its application for any reason, it must remove the term "applicant," as it relates to CEPH accreditation, from all materials, including print materials and websites, within 24 hours of providing notice to the Council. The Council will publish and maintain a list of applicant schools and programs on its website. Because accreditation terminology may be confusing to the general public and because schools and programs may withdraw their application at any time without penalty, applicant schools and programs must use only the following language when presenting their status to the public: "_____ is an applicant for accreditation by the Council on Education for Public Health."
Applicant schools and programs are encouraged to disclose as much information as possible to the public regarding their progress toward accreditation, including their site visit dates, anticipated accreditation decision date and the name and contact information for CEPH. For additional information, see: http://www.ceph.org/pdf/Procedures.pdf
