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CNYMPH program receives five-year accreditation

CNYMPH program receives five-year accreditation

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- The Central New York Master of Public Health Program, a joint program of Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University, has received a five-year accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). The accreditation is effective through July 1, 2019.

In approving the accreditation for the program, the CEPH reviewed numerous documents and dispatched a team of external peer reviewers to visit campus and interview administrators, students and faculty.

“This is an important milestone for the program, because it demonstrates that the program meets all the qualifications for public health education as required by the Council on Education for Public Health,” said Donna Bacchi, MD, MPH, director of the CNYMPH program. “This is important for both universities, our students and their future employers.”

The CNYMPH is administratively housed in Upstate’s Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine and is taught by faculty from Upstate and Syracuse University. The Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion, which is housed in the Maxwell School, provides graduate assistantships to three MPH students annually. The degree program enrolls about 50 students each year.

The program offers two degree options: the MPH and the joint MD/MPH, with Upstate’s College of Medicine. It also offers a certificate of advanced study in public health.

Reviewers highlighted the program’s research and community service opportunities for students.

Reviewers noted that students have the ability to participate in some 40 research projects related to public health either with faculty-directed research projects or university-funded initiatives.

For community service outreach, students are able to participate in community outreach through SU’s Lerner Center, the Center for Civic Engagement and the Public Health Interest Group at Upstate.

As part of its Grand Rounds series, the CNYMPH program has hosted several high profile speakers, including former New York State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah, and address key public health issues, including medical sheltering in times of flooding, gun violence and the Affordable Healthcare Act.

Regarding admission to the program, reviews found that 70 percent of the students who enrolled were accepted, and cite the program’s reasonable tuition, and access to high-quality faculty and educational support systems. They also cited access to both universities (Upstate and SU) and the value of access to the two alumni networks.

The program, which enrolled its first class in 2009, offers flexible options for both the full- and- part-time student. The program can be completed in as little as 20 months of full-time study, or may be pursued, part-time, over as much as five years. Course schedules are flexible and include a field placement requirement.

Graduates have assumed public health leadership roles in many fields, including: public health administration; government agencies; environmental health; managed care; insurance; research; education; non-profit health agencies; and more.

Upstate and SU began work on a joint degree MPH program in 2007 in large part to address various reports, especially the Public Health Workforce Task Force report (2006) that validated concerns around public health workforce shortages in New York. The report called for expanded education for public health, especially in management and training, and for the establishment of academic/practice partnerships.

Applications for the Fall 2015 class, will be accepted Sept. 1 through April 30, 2015. For more information, call 315-464-1799 or email [email protected].

Caption: Leah Moser, a student on the CNYMPH program, participates in one of the program’s community service outreach projects at the Southwest Community Center.

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