State University of New York
Downstate Medical Center
Public Health
Brooklyn, New York
Overview
As one of only 125 academic medical centers across the country, SUNY Downstate has four colleges: Medicine, Nursing, Health Related Professions, and Graduate Studies. The M.P.H. Program joins these noted schools to graduate highly trained and community-minded health professionals engaged in public health. The SUNY Downstate M.P.H. Program is housed in the medical center’s Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health of the College of Medicine. The program’s faculty includes nationally respected leaders in public health who have distinguished themselves through teaching, research, and service. Located in the heart of Brooklyn, SUNY Downstate offers students the opportunity to live, study, and work in one of the most diverse, dynamic, and vibrant urban environments in the world. Students graduating from this program can expect to understand and deal with many issues facing public health professionals in diverse communities throughout the world.
Students range from faculty physicians, physician’s assistants, nurses, occupational therapists, and other health professionals to recent undergraduates. Students are racially and ethnically diverse and reflect Brooklyn’s many multiethnic communities.
The Location and Community
Located in the heart of Brooklyn, SUNY Downstate Medical Center was founded in 1860 to help people making their way in the New World by treating health problems carried from the Old. At SUNY Downstate, students live, work, and study in one of the most diverse, dynamic, and vibrant urban environments in the world. Representatives from local, state, and national organizations share their experience and knowledge in lectures, seminars, and the other special events that an international city such as New York provides.
Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) Program at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center (also known as the SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn) offers an M.P.H. degree with a concentration in urban and immigrant health to students on a part-time basis. The M.P.H. Program is intended for students who have completed at least a baccalaureate degree program at an accredited institution and have a strong interest in careers related to public health research and practice. Concurrent degrees with the College of Medicine, College of Nursing, and College of Health Related Professions are also available to interested M.P.H. students. Students who attend the program on a part-time basis and take approximately 6 credit hours per semester can expect to complete the program within two years. In addition to the academic requirements of the program, students must complete a 250-hour practicum experience.
Facilities & Resources
The Health Science Education Building is the central location for classes, laboratories, an auditorium, and one of the largest medical libraries in the United States. The Medical Research Library of Brooklyn offers the resources of more than 200 databases, 600 electronic full-text journals, more than seventy-five electronic books, and a constantly expanding collection of resources as well as the assistance of a professional reference staff. In addition, a Learning Resource Center provides networked workstations with a variety of software programs that access library resources, statistical programs, curriculum materials, e-mail, and the Internet.
Clinical facilities include the University Hospital of Brooklyn and Kings County Hospital Center as well as other affiliated institutions throughout the New York metro area and several community clinics operated by SUNY Downstate staff members. University Hospital is a major referral center for tertiary care and has one of the largest kidney transplantation programs in the Eastern United States.
Expenses and Aid
Current tuition for in-state residents of New York is $288 per credit hour; $438 per credit hour for out-of-state residents. Students taking less than a full-time schedule (less than 12 credit hours) are eligible for part-time financial assistance. For the purposes of financial aid, a student must have a minimum of 9 credit hours to be eligible for full-time grants and/or loans. Part-time students are ineligible for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) but may be eligible for other forms of aid, depending on the credit load.
Financial Aid:
Information about financial aid, including federal loans, can be obtained by calling the Office of Financial Aid at 718-270-2488 or by visiting the Web site at http://sls.downstate.edu/financialaid/index.html.
Housing/Living Expenses:
Living expenses for students attending the Downstate M.P.H. Program are estimated to be approximately $12,000 per year. Students who choose to live on campus in the dormitories are charged between $1973 and $5128 per semester, depending on the size of accommodations. Additional fees are approximately $500 per year.
How to Apply / Application
Requirements for admission include satisfactory completion of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution, an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better in the major course of study, letters of recommendation, and appropriate test scores. Applicants for concurrent degrees with other programs in the medical center must apply to and be accepted by each program. The admissions requirements for each degree apply. Students applying for concurrent degrees should indicate their intent on each application.
The SUNY Downstate M.P.H. Program application can be downloaded from the M.P.H. Web site, listed below, or interested applicants can call the M.P.H. Program at the phone number listed below. Complete applications should be sent to the Office of Admissions at SUNY Downstate Office of Admissions (450 Clarkson Avenue, Box 60, Brooklyn, New York, 11203-2098; telephone: 718-270-2446).
The M.P.H. Program offers rolling admission for other than M.D./M.P.H. applicants. Applications are accepted in the spring, summer, and fall semesters of each calendar year. M.D./M.P.H. applicants must submit M.P.H. applications directly to the SUNY Downstate Office of Admissions. American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) applications must be submitted according to the instructions for that application. Deadlines for applications are as follows: February 15 for the summer semester, April 15 for the fall semester, and October 15 for the spring semester.
Who to Contact
Master of Public Health Program
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center
450 Clarkson Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11203-2098
718-270-1065
Fax: 718-270-2533
E-mail: mphprogram@downstate.edu
Faculty and Research
• Pascal James Imperato, M.D., M.P.H., Distinguished Service Professor; Chair, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health; and Director, Master of Public Health Program. Served for six years as a medical epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in West Africa, directing mass immunization campaigns against smallpox, measles, yellow fever, cholera, and meningococcal meningitis; awarded the Meritorious Honor Award and Medal by the U.S. Department of State for his work in Africa; served as Commissioner of Health of New York City and Chair of the Board, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.
• Karen Benker, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, Voluntary Attending Physician in Family Practice, and Founder and Director, Downstate’s Freedom from Tobacco Project. Delivering primary care to inner-city and immigrant populations, research and intervention on HIV-related issues and smoking cessation.
• Jack A. DeHovitz, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health and of Medicine. Examining the risk of HIV disease in women, cost of HIV disease in intravenous drug users, natural history of HIV disease in women.
• Joseph G. Feldman, Dr.P.H., Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Epidemiology of cancer, HIV infection, infectious diseases, health-care evaluation.
• Michael A. Joseph, Ph.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Chronic disease epidemiology; epidemiology of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS); morbidity in African-American men; social epidemiology, particularly issues of behavioral and cultural determinants of cancer screening practices among communities of color.
• Judith H. LaRosa, Ph.D., Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health and Deputy Director, Master of Public Health Program; RN. Served as first Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Research on Women’s Health; as Professor and Chair, Department of Community Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; and as Director, Tulane Xavier National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health. Research interests: women’s health, public health, cardiovascular disease.
• Edmond S. Malka, M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Life Fellow of the American Institute of Chemists, member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), Certified Professional Chemist (National Certification Commission in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, USA), and Chartered Chemist (The Royal Society of Chemistry, UK).
• Allen D. Spiegel, Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Health-care administration, physician-patient communication, strategic health planning, risk management, medical sociology, public health education; publications: twenty-three books, eleven book chapters, more than 150 articles and book reviews.
• Rebecca Schwartz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Role of psychosocial and behavioral factors in health promotion and risk prevention among low-income urban populations. Dr. Schwartz also conducts clinical work with children, adolescents, and families and has particular experience in therapeutic interventions for youth who are HIV positive.
• Allen D. Spiegel, Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Health-care administration, physician-patient communication, strategic health planning, risk management, medical sociology, public health education. Publications: twenty-three books, eleven book chapters, and more than 150 articles and book reviews.
• Tracey E. Wilson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Prevention of unintended pregnancy, STDs, HIV, and other health-related issues among women living in inner-city areas of New York City; sexual and contraceptive behaviors of HIV infected and uninfected women; issues associated with medication adherence.
• Scyatta A. Wallace, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Cultural and contextual considerations in behavioral health interventions with youth populations, promoting health education and health-care utilization among Black populations, and ethical issues in health care and health-related research with vulnerable populations.
Part-Time Faculty
• Alvin M. Berk, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health and Assistant Vice President, Downstate’s Management Systems. Role of grass-roots organizations in formulating public policy; contributed columns to Newsday, the New York Post, and the New York Times and on TV; since 1989, has served as chairman of Brooklyn Community Board 14 and since 1993, as chair of the Coalition of Brooklyn Community Boards.
• George Braman, M.D., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Recent Director, Quality Management, and assistant attending physician, Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens; served seven years as public health physician, New York State Department of Health; held clinical and teaching positions in geriatric medicine.
• Ruth C. Browne, M.P.P., M.P.H., Sc.D., Assistant Professor in the College of Health Related Professions and the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Browne is the founding Executive Director of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH).
• Gerald W. Deas, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health and Director, Health Education Communication. For many years had primary-care practice in inner-city area of Queens; deeply involved in health education; for ten years was medical reporter on McCreary Report on Fox Television (Channel 5); for twenty years, has spoken on WLIB radio five mornings a week addressing issues of health promotion and disease prevention; has a weekly half-hour show on Time-Warner cable TV as well as shows on Brooklyn Cable Access TV (BCAT) and Brooklyn/Queens Cable TV; articles appear regularly in the Amsterdam News, Caribe News, and New York Voice.
• Barbara G. Delano, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Medicine and of Preventive Medicine and Community Health; Director, Home Dialysis Program, Kings County Hospital/Downstate Medical Center; and Associate Director, Renal Disease Division of State University Hospital. Research primarily on hemodialysis; author of numerous publications in the field.
• Imogene A. Drakes, M.S., M.B.A., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Professor Drakes’ experience extends across the health-care spectrum from forensic science (in particular, forensic toxicology) to clinical laboratory science, and she is currently a third-year toxicology student in the Doctor of Public Health program at Columbia University.
• Francesca Gany, M.D., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health at the Downstate Medical Center. Since 1989, has served as Executive Director of the New York Task Force on Immigrant Health and as Director of the Center for Immigrant Health. Currently an attending physician at New York University Medical Center.
• Judith Hey-Hadavi, M.D., D.D.S., Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and Assistant Professor of Clinical Dentistry at Columbia University. Serves as Medical Director of Medical Regulatory Affairs for the Metabolic and Cardiovascular Group at Pfizer, Inc. Area of expertise is research design.
• Robert P. Jacobs, M.D., M.B.A., Senior Vice President for Clinical Affairs at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Served as Chief Medical Officer and Visiting Professor of Medicine at Downstate prior to assuming this senior management role.
• Larry I. Lutwick, M.D., Professor of Medicine. Serves as Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Veterans Administration New York Harbor Health Care System, Brooklyn Campus. Previously served as Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Maimonides Medical Center.
• Suzanne M. Lutwick, M.P.H., RN, Project Epidemiologist with the New York Anti-microbial Project at the Public Health Research Institute of New York. Previously served as Director of Infection Control at Maimonides Medical Center.
• Karen A. M. Myrie, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Dr. Myrie is currently an attending pediatrician at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn. She serves on the board of the Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families and is active in the New York Coalition of 100 Black Women.
• Pamela Sass, M.D., Assistant Professor of the Department of Family Practice, Director of Community Medicine Activities, and Course Director of Community Oriented Primary Care for Family Practice Residents. Active in curriculum reform for the College of Medicine; was physician and Medical Director, Montefiore Medical Center’s Valentine Lane Family Practice Center.
• Mahfouz H. Zaki, M.D., Dr.P.H., Clinical Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health. Preceptor for department’s first- and second-year small-group teaching programs for more than twenty-five years; former Director of Public Health for Suffolk County; his scientific research on public health issues is widely cited in literature; his innovative public health interventions are regularly duplicated throughout U.S.; former Peace Corps physician and adviser in public health for Afghanistan.