EVMS celebrates Public Health Week
EVMS is joining with institutions, groups and individuals across the country to celebrate National Public Health Week. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Centering and Celebrating Cultures in Health.”
At EVMS, the Master of Public Health (MPH) program is focused on educating and training public health professionals through excellence in competency-based education, scholarship, and service learning focused primarily on Hampton Roads and the surrounding regions. These activities also support the Hampton Roads public health workforce development. Watch a video highlighting the program.
“There is a really high demand for public health now because of things like COVID-19 — all types of things that come up in the public health realm,” says Brian Martin, PhD, MBA, Professor and Associated Dean for Administration in the School of Health Professions. “There is a need for trained personnel, public health professionals, who can do things like conduct surveillance and epidemiological studies and manage organizations.”
Students in EVMS’ MPH program receive general training in the core areas of public health and then go into track-specific training in their second year. For many of the students, public health is more than a course of study — it's a calling.
“The introduction of the COVID-19 pandemic definitely opened my eyes to exactly how important public health is as a whole,” says Ashlee Steeley, MPH Class of 2023.
Samantha Brown, MPH Class of 2024, says she sees public health as a means of making the future brighter.
“It’s a way to help our community and protect our community,” she says.
In a March 31 presidential proclamation, President Joe Biden called the week a chance to “celebrate the life-saving work that our public health professionals do to keep Americans healthy and safe.”
“Public health professionals have been shaping our country for the better since long before COVID arose,” President Biden shares in the proclamation. “From expanding access to immunizations and improving safety standards for food, traffic, and the workplace, to advocating for cleaner air and water, public health professionals have improved the lives of all Americans and made our country stronger, healthier and more prosperous.”
Find out more about National Public Health Week 2023.
Interested in EVMS’ MPH program? Visit the program online.