News

New program accelerates students’ path to careers in public health

Published on September 17, 2014

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Grinnell student Justin Vaverka (biology ’15) collects bacterial samples on surfaces in hospital rooms with guidance from Associate Professor of Biology Shannon Hinsa. His work is part of a public health project aimed at decreasing bacterial loads in hospitals by installing copper alloy surfaces. Photo courtesy of Grinnell College.

The University of Iowa College of Public Health and Grinnell College have developed a new cooperative degree program that allows Grinnell students interested in working in public health to begin their careers more quickly.

The new program will enable Grinnell students from any major to earn both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master’s of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree in five years, rather than the customary six.

Believed to be the first public health program of its kind involving coursework at two different institutions, the Grinnell–UI M.P.H. program will begin admitting students in Spring 2015.

Grinnell College President Raynard S. Kington—a physician and public-health investigator who served as deputy director of the National Institutes of Health before coming to Grinnell in 2010—says the program reflects Grinnell’s strong commitment to providing a broad liberal arts education that prepares students “for the honorable discharge of the duties of life.”

“I cannot think of a better or more timely collaboration,” Kington adds. “This program will build on the breadth of Grinnell’s nationally known liberal arts curriculum and the depth of University of Iowa’s outstanding public health program. This is a paradigm for how nationally selective liberal arts colleges can partner with leading universities to provide students with an education that will enable them to make a real difference in the world.”

Grinnell students from any major are welcome to apply for the program, beginning in February 2015.

“Grinnell College is an exceptional partner for this academic collaboration,” says Mary Lober Aquilino, associate dean for M.P.H. and undergraduate programs in the College of Public Health. “Grinnell’s core value of social responsibility aligns well with the basic tenets of public health, including social justice, equity, and sustainability. The University of Iowa College of Public Health will benefit from the ability to draw from a diverse and highly qualified student group. The public–private agreement demonstrates a model for future academic alliances in Iowa.”

Jim Swartz, Grinnell’s Dack Professor of Chemistry and one of the faculty members who helped develop the cooperative degree program, notes that “Graduate study in public health, combined with the breadth and interdisciplinary nature of liberal arts education at Grinnell, will help prepare our students for a wide array of careers in public health. These include positions as policymakers, program administrators, epidemiologists, or biostatisticians, among others.”

Students in the cooperative degree program can move more quickly toward the master’s degree because some courses in the program satisfy requirements at both Grinnell and the UI. More information is available at www.grinnell.edu/academics/offices/ui-mph and at cph.uiowa.edu/grinnell-bachelor-of-arts-to-ui-mph-undergrad-to-grad/.