In its efforts to carry out the mission of public health – to help prevent and treat health problems that shorten lives and sap the quality of life – UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions has come closer to its goal through a recent national accreditation.
Since the School of Public Health's founding in 2003, the vision of becoming accredited from the Council on Education for Public Health has been in the works. The vision recently become a reality with an accreditation good for five years after a rigorous multi-year process.
According to Lynn Kozlowski, dean and professor of Health Behavior of the SPHHP, the accrediting group, CEPH, has several requirements, for example, the type and number of degree programs that must be offered, and the number and qualifications of faculty supporting these degrees.
'We had to develop new degree programs and hire additional faculty,' Kozlowski said. 'This made the school stronger in the area of public health.'
Once the school improved its programs, the SPHHP was awarded 'applicant status' and started a final two-year process that involved writing a self-study report of the school.
The SPHHP also hosted a visit by an external committee of experts who evaluated the school's report and met with groups of administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni and community partners. The final step was to write a response to the site-visit committee's written report. The CEPH board reviewed all documentation and made the decision in October.
Accredited schools of public health must provide master of public health degree programs in each of five core public health areas: epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, social and behavioral sciences and health services administration. The schools must also offer at least three doctoral degree programs.
UB's SPHHP offers these five Master of Public Health degrees, plus three highly regarded doctoral programs in biostatistics, epidemiology and community health and health behavior.
According to Dale Fish, associate dean for Academic and Student Affairs of the SPHHP, UB is one of only two schools in the country that are accredited by the council and also include 'health professions' in its name. These health professions include dietetics/nutrition, exercise science, occupational therapy and physical therapy.
'This unique mix of academic programs along with faculty interests and expertise, is particularly valuable in a public health academic environment,' Fish said. 'It is valuable because obesity, type-2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and various neurological disorders (e.g., cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis) are major public health issues, and faculty in those health professions are well qualified to address those public health concerns.'
With a national shortage of public health workers, the SPHHP hopes that the accreditation will assist in its training of public health workers and help deal with the shortage. There will be a need for more than 250,000 public health workers by 2020 to meet the world's health care needs.
According to Kozlowski, with the recent accreditation of the SPHHP in 2009, graduates from 2006 onward are eligible to take a certification exam in public health that only graduates from accredited programs are eligible to participate in.
'We expect our enrolments will increase in public health areas,' Kozlowski said. 'Those interested in careers in public health generally see an added value to graduating from an accredited program and certain jobs in public health give preference to those with degrees from accredited schools.'
The SPHHP administrators, faculty and staff alike hope the recent accreditation will influence an increase in the number of qualified public health workers on a national and global scale and will assist in the continuation of carrying out the mission of public health.
'The faculty, staff and students in our school enjoy a unique opportunity to work cooperatively to address public health issues on individual and population levels,' Fish said. 'The [SPHHP] administrative team are convinced that the unique mix of interests and expertise in the school, coupled with our efforts and continuing desire to collaborate across disciplines, may serve as a model for ‘schools of public health' in the future.'
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Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
