New urban-health master’s program aims at diverse student body

 

Urban health problems, racial and ethnic health disparities, chronic disease and violence are in focus as part of a dynamic program being offered to students of all backgrounds this fall — a new master’s program in public health aimed at everyone from the English major to the nurse.

Under the direction of Dr. Shan Mohammed, a physician whose direction in life was reshaped by a Peace Corps experience in Thailand, the new program aims to provide students with a “professional tool kit” to help the urban community get well and stay that way.

“There’s an important place for clinical medicine in the world, and what a physician can do is really important,” Mohammed said. “But the potential for a public health program offers incredible  opportunities to assure conditions in which people and communities can be healthier. ”

The interdisciplinary program, which has thus far received applications from individuals in nursing, English, journalism, anthropology, community organizing and other fields aims to teach students a wide range of courses, from epidemiology and biostatistics to occupational and environmental health.

The ultimate objective is to provide students with community-oriented educational and practice opportunities that will prepare them to effectively address the social, behavioral, and environmental health risks faced by diverse urban populations.

Students will gain analytic, technical and advocacy-related skills and provide them with opportunities to learn about violence prevention, urban public health management, health infomatics and chronic disease prevention and management.

Instead of a thesis, students will be required to complete a six-credit community-based practicum in urban health and will also work with a mentor.

“Offering this program has been a goal for many at Northeastern University,” Mohammed said, crediting former visiting professor Jean McGuire with laying the groundwork to get the ball rolling (she now serves as assistant secretary of health and human services for Massachusetts). The program was approved last spring, and will accept students for its first class up to the May 1 deadline.

“Our goal is to recruit students from diverse backgrounds and create a dynamic and responsive program” that helps to address urban health issues, Mohammed said.

Mohammed trained as a physician at Case Western University and joined Northeastern in August. “I was very impressed with Northeastern’s commitment to urban initiatives,” he said.

A trustee of the Cleveland Free Clinic, Mohammed said his awareness of urban health as an issue grew out of his work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. He began to see the value of health work as one that extends from the hospitals and doctors office to the community.

With the new program, Mohammed hopes to put his beliefs into practice by engaging students with public health partners such as the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and finding career opportunities for graduates in settings that include federal, state and local health agencies, universities and hospitals.

 “Our program was developed in response to a growing demand in the public health workforce for professionals with specialized training in this area,” he said.

— Susan Salk