George Washington University
Public Health and Services
Washington D.C.
Overview
The George Washington University, chartered by Congress in 1821, is private and nonsectarian. It holds regional accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, as well as the School of Public Health and Health Services. Affiliated institutions include the Children’s National Medical Center.
The diverse student body includes a growing number of full-time (9 credits per semester) students from throughout the nation as well as international students. About half of the students are professionals who work full-time and attend school part-time, and many other students work part-time in the local D.C. area. Many students have recently completed their bachelor’s degrees. In addition to the many professional development opportunities available in the D.C. area, the departments and the School sponsor a large number of student activities, including seminar series, symposia, Public Health Week, and career workshops.
Recent graduates of the programs are employed in health-care organizations, national associations, federal government agencies, state health departments, major corporations, and international organizations.
The Location and Community
The George Washington University is located in the Foggy Bottom area of Washington, D.C., in proximity to the White House, the Pan American Health Organization, the World Bank, and the Kennedy Center. Subway access to the metropolitan area is available on campus.
Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University (GWU) is fully accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health and offers the following degrees: Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) with specializations in biostatistics, community-oriented primary care, environmental and occupational health, epidemiology, health information systems, health policy, health promotion, international health policy and programs, international health promotion, maternal and child health, and public health management; Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.) with specializations in environmental and occupational health, health behavior, health policy, and international health; Master of Health Services Administration (M.H.S.A.) and Specialist Degree, accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Health Services Administration with specializations in health management and leadership and health policy; Master of Science in health policy; and Master of Science in exercise science with specializations in clinical exercise physiology and exercise, nutrition, and eating behavior. Students may develop unique interdepartmental or intradepartmental programs by adding a public health or health services administration graduate certificate to their degree program. The M.S. and Ph.D. in epidemiology or biostatistics are offered in cooperation with the GW Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Statistics, and the GW Biostatistics Center. The following joint programs are offered: M.D./M.P.H., J.D. or LL.M./M.P.H., P.A./M.P.H., M.A. in international affairs/M.P.H. in international health, and Master’s International Program with the Peace Corps/M.P.H. The GW School of Business and Public Management offers an M.B.A with a concentration in health services administration. Classes are generally scheduled on weekday late afternoons and evenings.
Facilities & Resources
Four research centers are part of the School: the Center for Health Services Research and Policy (CHSRP), the Center for International Health, the Center for Risk Science and Public Health, and the Center for Prevention Research. The centers provide opportunities for master's-level special project research and doctoral dissertations. The Himmelfarb Library contains more than 100,000 volumes and more than 1,500 periodicals. The library offers extensive computer-search and educational facilities. Students also have access to the other University libraries and computer facilities.
Expenses and Aid
Current tuition is $984 per credit hour for the 45-credit M.P.H. and the 45-credit M.S. in public health microbiology and emerging infectious diseases, the 48-credit M.S. in health policy, the 36-credit M.S. in exercise science, the 50-credit M.H.S.A., and the 72-credit doctoral programs.
Financial Aid:
Student loans, scholarships, the GW Loan Program, work study, and graduate administrative assistantship positions are available. All applicants are automatically considered for academic scholarships offered by the departments. Teaching assistantships and other financial aid are available to doctoral students. Graduate programs for GW employees, including Medical Center residents and fellows, include tuition benefits. Information on financial aid should be requested from the Office of Student Financial Assistance, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 20052 (telephone: 202-994-6620).
Housing/Living Expenses:
The cost of living in the Washington metropolitan area is comparable to that of other major urban centers in the United States. A wide variety of off-campus housing is available; information on apartments and houses in the metropolitan area may be obtained from the Off-Campus Housing Resource Center Web site at http://www.och.gwu.edu.
How to Apply / Application
Applicants are admitted for the fall, spring, or summer for most programs. Applications for the summer should be postmarked before April 1; for the fall, before May 15; and for the spring, before November 15. Late applications are processed on a space-available basis. Students should apply early to receive competitive scholarship consideration. A bachelor’s degree and specific prerequisites are required. GRE, MCAT, or GMAT test scores are required for those who have not completed a graduate degree. All international applicants must submit GRE scores. TOEFL scores are required of international applicants from countries where English is not an official language and who do not hold a degree from an accredited U.S. institution of higher education.
Who to Contact
School of Public Health and Health Services
The George Washington University
2300 Eye Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
202-994-2160
E-mail: sphhsinfo@gwumc.edu
Departments, Faculty and Research
The research of the School of Public Health and Health Services is organized into research centers closely linked to the School’s departments. The rapidly growing research programs offer increasing opportunities for master’s degree special projects, theses, doctoral dissertations, and research positions. Research efforts are especially strong in areas affecting local, national, and international health policy.
Environmental and Occupational Health
• Chair: Tee Guidotti, M.D., M.P.H. Faculty: Ed Defabo, Ph.D.; David Goldsmith, Ph.D.; Katherine Hunting, Ph.D., M.P.H.; David Michaels, Ph.D.; Frances Noonan, Ph.D.; Rebecca Parkin, Ph.D., M.P.H.; Jerome Paulson, M.D.; Prem Sarin, M.D.
• The interests of faculty members center on occupational health and safety, risk science and environmental health, child health and the environment, ecosystem and human health, evaluation of scientific evidence in law and policy, and environmental security. Faculty members have disciplinary expertise in epidemiology, toxicology, clinical medicine, photobiology, risk science, emergency preparedness, and policy studies. The Center for Risk Science and Public Health is the focus for research in risk studies. The Mid-Atlantic Center for Child Health and Environment is the focus for education and research on environmental hazards affecting children. Collaboration is with the Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program on evidence-based dispute resolution and with the Department of Medicine on occupational and environmental medicine.
Epidemiology-Biostatistics
• Interim Chair: Dante Verme, Ph.D. Faculty: Sean Clearly, Ph.D.; Robert Hirsch, Ph.D.; Daniel Hoffman, Ph.D.; Katherine L. Hunting, Ph.D.; Jill Joseph, M.D., Ph.D.; Karl Klontz, M.D., M.P.H.; John Lachin, Sc.D.; Paul Levine, M.D.; Veronica Miller, Ph.D.; Madeline Rice, Ph.D.; Richard Riegelman, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.; Samuel J. Simmens, Ph.D.; Naji Younes, Ph.D.; Heather A. Young, Ph.D.
• The Department of Epidemiology-Biostatistics is the academic home for faculty members who provide study design, data management, and data analysis expertise for the Medical Center as part of the Biostatistics Center Medical Center Unit. The department actively participates in the Center for Risk Science and Public Health and the Center for Prevention Research. Faculty expertise includes community data for prevention, diagnostic testing, cancer epidemiology, randomized clinical trials, behavior research methods, computerized data analysis, and health services research methods. The GW Biostatistics Center serves as a base for doctoral research. The center works closely with the School as the coordinator for many multicenter controlled clinical trials.
Health Services Management and Leadership
• Acting Chair: Robert Burke, Ph.D. Faculty: Charlotte Collins, J.D.; Kurt Darr, J.D., Sc.D.; Steven Eastaugh, D.Sc., M.S.P.H.; Jennifer Korjus, J.D., Ed.D.; Josef Reum, Ph.D.
• The Department of Health Services Management and Leadership (HSML) is housed within the School of Public Health Services (SPHHS). The department originated in 1959 as a Program in Hospital Administration and has become a leading Accrediting Commission on Education for Health Services Administration (ACEHSA) program. With more than 3,500 graduates, students serve leading health-care organizations and policy positions across the country. Hallmark strengths include experiential learning, reputable faculty, and relationships with policy and health-care organizations in Washington, D.C. The program is involved with multiple research centers and institutes within the Medical Center. The HSML department works closely to provide cutting-edge research through the Center for Health Services Research and Policy (CHSRP), the Wertlieb Institute for Long-Term Care Management, and the Institute for Mental Health Initiatives (IMHI). The curriculum is designed to train tomorrow’s health-care leaders as opposed to managers, including elements such as legislative and policy trends, patient safety, performance improvement, leadership techniques, community health planning and advocacy, organizational theory, finance, and health law. Thus, the department intends to carry out its vision to provide both the skills of business (financial analysis ) and values of medicine (patient advocacy and social responsibility).
Global Health
• Chair: James Banta, M.D., M.P.H. Faculty: Muhiuddin Haider, Ph.D.; Elaine Murphy, Ph.D.; Richard Skolnik, M.P.A.; William F. Waters, Ph.D.
• The Department of Global Health offers undergraduate instruction and graduate training in global health promotion and global health policy and is closely linked to the Center for Global Health. The center works with communities, practitioners, and policy makers in research, training, and technical cooperation in order to build sustainable capacity for health leadership, reduce health disparities, and strengthen health systems and services worldwide. The center collaborates with private, bilateral, local, and multilateral organizations, including the World Bank, the Pan American Health Organization and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Center personnel are active in program design, management, and evaluation: qualitative and quantitative research; community participation; training of trainers; training of health systems managers; and curriculum development. The center has taken a leading role in the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, leprosy control, and anthrax immunization. Areas of expertise include infectious disease epidemiology; reproductive health; health and human rights; access to and barriers to care; HIV/AIDS programs; health program design and evaluation; and health communications, education, and social marketing.
Prevention and Community Health
• Chair: Ayman El-Mohandes, M.D., M.P.H. Faculty: Edward Bartlet, Ph.D.; Susan Blake, Ph.D.; E. Richard Boyd, Ph.D.; Letitia Carlson, M.D., M.P.H.; James Cawley, M.P.H., PA-C; Tina Cheng, M.D., M.P.H.; Lawrence D'Angelo, M.D., M.P.H.; Cheryl Foucht, M.D.; Mercedes Hernandez, Ph.D.; Cara Krulewitz, M.D.; Karen McDonnel, Ph.D.; Fitzhugh Mullen, M.D.; Khairia Omran, M.B.Ch.B., Dr.P.H., M.P.H.; Izabel Ricardo, Ph.D.; W. Scott Schroth, M.D., M.P.H.; Ellen Schulken, Ph.D.; Thomas Shea, Ph.D.; Caroline Sparks, Ph.D.; Suzanne Stutman, M.A., M.S.W.; Richard Windsor, Ph.D., M.P.H.
• The Center for Prevention Research is being developed as the research focus for the Department of Prevention and Community Health in cooperation with faculty members from Children’s National Medical Center and other departments of the Medical Center. The center includes the Robert Wood Johnson-funded Making the Grade program and the D.C. Initiative to Reduce Infant Mortality. Faculty expertise and research interests include violence, smoking cessation pregnancy, adolescent health, exercise physiology, school health, program evaluation, training of health professionals, and public health practice. The Institute for Mental Health Initiatives (IMHI) works closely with the Center for Prevention Research, translating behavioral research findings into practical applications and fostering public dialogue about mental health.
Health Policy
• Chair: Sara Rosenbaum, J.D. Faculty: Brian Biles, M.D., M.P.H.; Phyllis C. Borzi, J.D., M.P.H.; Charlotte W. Collins, J.D.; Eric Goplerud, Ph.D.; Warran Greenberg, Ph.D.; Julia Hidalgo, Sc.D., M.S.W., M.P.H.; Brian Kamoie, J.D., M.P.H.; Jeanne M. Lambrew, Ph.D.; Jeffrey Levi, Ph.D.; Kathleen A. Maloy, J.D., Ph.D.; Anne Rossier Markus, J.D., Ph.D.; John G.H. Palen, Ph.D., M.P.H., P.A.; Wayne L. Pines; Marsha Regenstein, Ph.D.; Peter W. Shin, Ph.D.; Bruce Siegel, M.D.; Colleen Sonosky, J.D.; Bert Spiker, Ph.D., M.D., F.C.P., F.F.P.M.; Joel Teitelbaum, J.D., L.L.M.; Sara E. Wilensky, J.D.
• The Department of Health Policy specializes in health policy studies and research. The department focuses on virtually all phases of U.S. health policy—both public health and health services—preparing students to analyze health policy matters in a broad, cross-cutting, and real-world context. The department offers various degrees, including a Master of Public Health degree specializing in health policy, a Master of Science degree, and a Dr.P.H. degree. The department also serves as the home for the School’s joint degree studies in law and public health and provides the policy specialization for the MHSA program. The department’s full-time faculty members are known for their policy research and their reputations as policy analysts. Adjunct faculty members are drawn from Washington, D.C.’s health policy leadership. The curriculum is structured to train students in the methods and tools of health policy analysis, including qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques, legal and economic analysis, and the preparation and presentation of research results and policy options to health policy makers. The department houses the Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program and the nationally renowned Center for Health Services Research and Policy (CHSRP).
Exercise Science
• Faculty: Donald Paup, Ph.D.; Patricia Sullivan, Ed.D.; Larry Hamm, Ph.D.; Wayne Miller, Ph.D.; Ellen Schulken, Ph.D.; Beverly Westerman, Ed.D.; Jerome Danoff, Ph.D., PT; Leah Washington-Lofgren, M.S.
• The Department of Exercise Science offers a B.S. degree in exercise science, a B.S. degree in athletic training, and a M.S. degree with emphasis in either clinical exercise physiology or in exercise, nutrition and eating behavior. The department prepares students for careers or further study in athletic training, exercise physiology, cardiac rehabilitation, physical therapy, public health, medicine, fitness, lifestyle management, and other professions. Students are provided internship experiences in cardiac rehabilitation, healthy weight management, fitness evaluation and exercise prescription, exercise for special populations, athletic training, and lifestyle counseling. The department supports service programs in many of these areas, as well as a complete laboratory suite that is equipped for clinical and fitness exercise stress testing, body composition analysis, metabolic measurement, and nutrition assessment. The emphasis of the educational experience is on providing an in-depth understanding of exercise physiology and applying that knowledge in clinical and community settings. The faculty maintains an ongoing research agenda with respect to the cardiovascular and metabolic aspects of exercise with applications in disease prevention, obesity, cardiovascular disease and rehabilitation, diabetes, obesity, nutrition, and eating behavior. Much of the research is interdisciplinary, with other departments in the Medical Center and throughout the world.