Tufts University School of Medicine
Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts
Overview
Tufts University, founded in 1852, spans three campuses. The Medford campus consists of the Tufts College of Liberal Arts and Jackson College, the College of Engineering, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Boston School of Occupational Therapy, the School of Nutrition, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. On the Boston campus are the Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine, the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center, and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences. The School of Veterinary Medicine is located on the Grafton campus.
In the Boston facilities of Tufts University, approximately 1,500 students are preparing for the medical, dental, and veterinary professions, and approximately 400 students are pursing graduate degrees.
The Location and Community
Tufts University School of Medicine is located adjacent to New England Medical Center near Boston’s Chinatown. Metropolitan Boston’s well-known cultural resources include theaters, a symphony orchestra, museums, historic sites, and major-league sports teams. Easy access to many ocean beaches in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island and to mountains in New Hampshire and Vermont makes the area a recreational center. The concentration of academic excellence in the Boston area facilitates exchange and collaboration between individuals at different institutions. Tufts University has interlibrary loan agreements with a number of other universities in the area.
Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The Master of Public Health (M.P.H.), Master of Science in Health Communication, and Master of Science in Pain Research, Education, and Policy programs are designed to allow for full-time study or part-time study. Many courses are offered in the evening to accommodate persons who wish to remain employed while attending graduate school.
The Master of Science in Health Communication program is offered in collaboration with Emerson College. This program prepares students to develop, deliver, and evaluate health promotion and disease prevention strategies and campaigns, as well as disseminate information and participate in the formulation and implementation of health policy initiatives. Tufts and Emerson have long-standing traditions of academic excellence in communication and health sciences. Combining each institution’s unique resources synergistically strengthens their ability to educate students to play an active role in this burgeoning field.
The Master of Public Health Program is offered by the School of Medicine in cooperation with Tufts School of Nutrition Science and Policy and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Its mission is to provide a sound foundation in the fundamental disciplines of public health: epidemiology and biostatistics, environmental health, social and behavioral science, health services, and public health policy. In addition to receiving a strong foundation in the core disciplines, students gain additional depth in a chosen substantive area of public health. Core concentration areas include epidemiology and biostatistics, health services management and policy, nutrition, environmental health, and health communication. Graduates of this program have the necessary and appropriate knowledge and skills to practice in the broad arena of public health. Employment settings may include nongovernmental or governmental health organizations at the local, state, national, or international level; health-based consulting agencies and health insurers; and community health centers.
The Master of Public Health/Master of Science degree in nutrition is a collaborative program offered by the School of Medicine and the School of Nutrition Science and Policy. This program prepares students for careers that combine applied nutrition and public health and offers a strong public policy focus. Applicants to the dual-degree program must also apply to the School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Students should contact the Public Health and Professional Degree Programs for application materials.
The Juris Doctorate/Master of Public Health is a dual-degree program offered by the School of Medicine and Northeastern University School of Law. With a specialized curriculum, the two institutions enhance training of law students who seek to understand the role advocacy action can play in reducing risk and ameliorating conditions that threaten community well-being.
The Master of Science in Pain Research, Education, and Policy program is offered by the School of Medicine in collaboration with the Health Institute, New England Medical Center’s Departments of Anesthesia and Nursing, and the Schools of Nutrition, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine, and Arts and Sciences at Tufts University. This unique, multidisciplinary degree program prepares students to evaluate and participate in the conducting of pain research; to develop, implement, and evaluate pain education programs; to enhance clinical pain management skills; and to evaluate pain policy initiatives. Graduates of this program will have the necessary and appropriate knowledge and skills for clinical, educational, research, and advocacy positions in local, state, national, or international agencies or organizations that include pain and its relief as part of their mission. Applicants to this program must hold a bachelor’s degree. Potential applicants include physicians, nurses, dentists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, veterinarians, and other allied health professionals.
Facilities & Resources
Tufts students and faculty members are served by the University’s library system, which has more than 1 million volumes and approximately 5,500 journal and periodical subscriptions. The Health Sciences Library (HSL), with a working collection of more than 150,000 volumes, 1,400 journal subscriptions, and more than 700 online journals, addresses the information needs of the educational, research, management, and patient-care programs of the schools of medicine, dental medicine, and veterinary medicine; the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences; the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging; and the New England Medical Center. The Health Sciences Library combines conventional library materials and services with an increasing range of electronic information, including the Health Sciences Database (HSDB), which contains the full text of many syllabi, lecture slides, reserve slide collections, lecture recordings, and other multimedia and resource materials made available by faculty members.
Expenses and Aid
Tuition for all programs was $891 per credit hour for the academic year.
Financial Aid:
Financial aid opportunities available to qualified students include scholarships, college work-study, and several subsidized and unsubsidized loan programs.
Housing/Living Expenses:
The residential sections of Beacon Hill and Back Bay are within walking distance of Tufts University School of Medicine. Housing in Cambridge, Brookline, and Brighton is easily accessible by public transportation or bicycle. Limited dormitory housing is also available.
How to Apply / Application
Admission is based on academic performance, personal and professional experience, letters of reference, GRE General Test scores, and potential for contribution to the field. International applicants must demonstrate competence in English by means of TOEFL scores or comparable credentials. Admission is on a rolling basis. Applicants are encouraged to submit application forms and all supporting materials by April 15 for the fall semester and October 25 for the spring. Applications that arrive after these dates are considered at the discretion of the admissions committee as long as space is available in the program. International students are advised to submit applications for the spring semester by October 1 and for the fall semester by April 15.
Who to Contact
Public Health and Professional Degree Programs
Tufts University School of Medicine
136 Harrison Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02111
617-636-0935
E-mail: med-phpd@tufts.edu
Faculty and Research
• Harris Berman, M.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health and Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine since September 2003, and Dean since July 2004. Dr. Berman was CEO of Tufts Health Plan from 1986 to May 2003. Prior to that, he had co-founded the Matthew Thornton Health Plan in New Hampshire, one of New England’s first HMO’s. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. His interests include global health, population medicine, health-care financing, and health-care organization.
• Anthony Schlaff, M.D., M.P.H., Director of M.P.H. Programs and Associate Clinical Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine. He trained in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital and in preventive medicine at Carney Hospital in Boston. Dr. Schlaff is Chair of the Community Health Planning and Policy Development section of the American Public Health Association and a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Public Health Association. His interests include community-oriented primary care, the interaction of clinical medicine and public health, socioeconomic disparities in health status, quality improvement methods, and public health workforce and infrastructure development.
• Marcia Boumil, J.D., has been a member of the faculty at Tufts University School of Medicine, Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, for eighteen years. She teaches Health Law, Mental Health Law, Ethics, and Maternal and Child Health. She is the Director of the J.D./M.P.H. Program between Tufts and Northeastern University School of Law, and teaches at Northeastern as well. As part of Professor Boumil’s professional responsibilities at Tufts, she directs the Comprehensive Family Evaluation Center at Tufts-New England Medical Center, an organization that provides court-ordered evaluations to the courts. She is the author of ten legal texts and numerous articles in the fields of health law, mental health, and family issues.
• Daniel B. Carr, M.D., FABMP, Professor of Anesthesiology and Medicine, Saltonstall Professor of Pain Research, and Medical Director of the Pain Management Program at New England Medical Center. Dr. Carr is Codirector of the Master of Science in pain research, education, and policy program. He was Cochair of the acute and cancer pain guidelines developed by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. His research interests include laboratory studies of novel analgesics and delivery systems; clinical drug trials, including new methods for testing scrapes and burns in emergency departments, with relevance for topical analgesics and preemptive analgesia; drug delivery systems for gynecological surgery and “breakthrough” pain; and health systems research into quality of life in patients with chronic, nonmalignant pain.
• Richard Glickman-Simon, M.D., Assistant Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine. In addition to practicing medicine, Dr. Glickman-Simon teaches in the traditional M.D. degree program, the combined M.D./M.P.H. program, and the M.S. in Health Communication Program. His interests include predoctoral medical education, clinical prevention, and alternative medicine.
• Paul Hattis, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., a physician-attorney, currently serves as a faculty member and Concentration Leader in Health Services Management and Policy in the Department of Public Health and Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. He currently sits on the Board of the Professional Examination Service of New York City and is on the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Partnership for a Heart Healthy Stroke Free Massachusetts. His research interests include community benefit responsibility of nonprofit hospitals, accreditation issues in health professional training tied to workforce diversity, and legal matters affecting clinician volunteerism. Dr. Hattis has worked in a wide variety of roles in the fields of health administration, law, and policy as well as in the field of preventive medicine.
• James N. Hyde, M.A., S.M., Associate Director of the M.S. in Health Communication Program and Concentration Leader to the Health Communication concentration within the M.P.H. Program. Professor Hyde currently directs NIH- and EPA-funded research activities that span the areas of prevention and primary care practice, environmental health policy, and tobacco control. Prior to his appointment at Tufts, Professor Hyde spent four years as Director of the Division of Preventive Medicine in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and four years at Boston’s Children’s Hospital as a Research Associate in the Harvard Medical School Department of Pediatrics. He has developed and maintains close working relationships with public sector colleagues at both state and local levels while serving as a consultant and working with federal agencies, including AHCPR, CDC, and EPA.
• Aviva Must, Ph.D., Epidemiology and Biostatistics Concentration Leader, Director of the M.S./M.P.H. Program, and Associate Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine. Dr. Must also maintains appointments in the Epidemiology Program of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and the School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She is a Research Affiliate at the Clinical Research Center of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Must’s research is in the area of obesity, particularly in the pediatric population. She is interested in the epidemiology, identification, and consequences of obesity in early life, with a particular focus on the interplay of metabolism, diet, and activity.
• Ruth Palombo, Ph.D., R.D., Assistant Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine and Nutrition Concentration Leader, M.P.H. Program. Dr. Palombo trained at the Harvard School of Public Health and Brandeis University’s Heller School of Social Policy and Management. She currently chairs the Massachusetts Commission on End of Life Care, a legislative commission dedicated to promoting education and awareness around end-of-life issues and improving quality of life at the end of life. She co-chairs the American Public Health Association Task Force on Aging. Her interests include successful aging among elders with chronic conditions and disabilities (with a particular focus on nutrition, physical activity, and social networks), fostering coordination and collaboration between the public health and aging services networks to enhance health promotion and disease prevention programs, and end-of-life issues.
• Beth Rosenberg, M.P.H., Sc.D, Assistant Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine and Concentration Leader for Environmental Health in the M.P.H. Program. Dr. Rosenberg is the Medical School representative to Tufts Institute for the Environment and works with a variety of local advocacy organizations as well as the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production. For the past ten years, her research has focused on the social determinants of occupational and environmental disease in an effort to design production systems that do not harm workers, the public, or the environment. More recent research efforts concern corporate social responsibility and sustainable production systems.