The Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University has been on the cutting edge of public health education since its inception over three-quarters of a century ago. It has assumed leadership in disease prevention and, with equal emphasis, in the active promotion of health for all. It is one of thirty-nine schools of public health in the United States accredited by the Council on Education in Public Health. Currently more than 900 students are enrolled in the degree programs leading to the Master in Public Health (MPH), Master of Science (MS), Doctor of Public Health (DrPH), or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Public health, as a profession, naturally interfaces with most professional disciplines that affect the lives of people. The School developed its dual degree programs to encourage students to integrate public health training with other clinical or professional studies. Dual degree programs currently enroll students in a variety of the University’s professional schools, including medicine, dentistry, nursing, occupational therapy, social work, international and public affairs, urban planning, business, and law. Among the overall educational objectives for all graduates of the School is the development of individual competence and improved skills, particularly in;

• Recognizing and defining public health problems, setting priorities and using scientific approaches to problem solving;
• Accumulating appropriate data information, analyzing and interpreting findings, and assessing relevance and validity; and
• Communicating effectively with colleagues and a variety of groups involved in delivering health services.

Public health is inherently interdisciplinary in its research, teaching and service programs. The School is unique in its extensive involvement in direct service delivery programs. The School and several of its Departments are involved in a number of substantial programs that provide public health services directly to populations in need, and in programs that provide ongoing technical assistance to other service-delivery organizations. Furthermore, as is appropriate for a school of public health, many of the School’s research projects focus explicitly on topics that are directly applicable to the delivery of public health services. More and more frequently, the problems and issues that engage the efforts of those working in public health are played out at “center stage” in the global community — the challenges of AIDS, environmental carcinogens, inequities in health care delivery systems, advances in genetics that may radically affect health behavior, the plight of populations displaced by natural disasters or civil strife. These problems are enormous in scope and require our best efforts. They are being addressed daily in the academic programs at the Mailman School of Public Health, and by our faculty and students in their research and in their service activities. At the same time, the Mailman School of Public Health, located in a multi ethnic neighborhood of New York City with a medically underserved population, delivers care at the most immediate local level. Our outreach includes a model Head Start program with a health component, school-based health clinics that aim to provide basic health care and prevent early pregnancy and school dropout, and community health promotion programs to screen for cancer and provide self-help education for the growing number of asthma sufferers in our urban neighborhoods