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Office for Public Health Practice

MD/Public Health Track MPH Program


WVU School of Medicine: MD/Public Health Track MPH Program

AAMC link: http://www.aamc.org/meded/mdmph/va/wv.pdf

MD/MPH brochure

MD/MPH Program

MD/Public Health Track MPH Program
For WVU Medical Students

This is a new program offered to WVU medical students. The Public Health Track will be in addition to the regular MD curriculum and is offered by the Department of Community Medicine of the School of Medicine. This track was approved by the WVU School of Medicine Curriculum Committee on May 7, 2007. Students may apply in February of each year. Four students will be selected for the program each year by a committee made up of faculty.

The components of the Public Health Track are:

  • Completion of core Master of Public Health (MPH) courses online
  • Completion of MPH practicum
  • Participation in community service experiences linked to Public Health
  • Opportunities to receive unique training experiences with external agencies
  • Completion of remaining requirements of MPH degree during primary care residency at WVU (optional)


The Public Health Track offers a focused learning experience in public health, with graduate level education and the opportunity to pursue professional education cooperatively with experienced faculty. Candidates achieving A or B grades in other coursework and/or honors and satisfactory evaluations in the medical curriculum may apply these toward the attainment of the WVU MPH degree.

Program Description:

1. MPH Core Content
Students will complete a minimum of four core courses or 10 credit hours of the MPH Program. The courses are all available on-line. Students may choose to complete all MPH required coursework or 13 credit hours.

  • PUBH 630 Policy and the Health System 3 Credits. Spring
  • PUBH 650 Environmental Health 3 Credits Spring
  • CHPR 612 Social and Behavioral Theory 3 Credits Fall
  • CHPR 634 Health Promotion Research Methods 3 Credits Fall
  • PUBH 691 Public Health Seminars 1 Credits Summer, Fall or Spring

2. MPH Practicum
Students will complete the MPH practicum (8 credits), with a research proposal relevant to Public Health during the one month RHEP rotation in the MS III year. The identified research will be completed during the 2 month MS IV RHEP rotation at a designated local health department. Students will complete and present a scientific paper, with details of the culminating experiences acquired, during the MPH Student Practicum Presentation

3. Community Service
Students will complete 50 specified community service hours that will be tailored to Public Health and the medical curriculum, from the existing requirements for 100 hours while in medical school.

4. External Agencies
Students will receive unique competitive training experiences from:

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
    • Epidemiology elective program
    • Competitive 1 year fellowship in applied epidemiology for rising 3rd & 4th year students at CDC in Atlanta, designed to increase the pool of physicians with a population health perspective.
  • 4 week STEER program, the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Scholars program.
  • The eleven-week summer internship program at the Public Health Sciences Institute at Morehouse College.
  • National Institute for Occupational & Safety Health (NIOSH) for Morgantown students
  • West Virginia Bureau for Public Health (WV BPH) for Charleston area students
  • Baltimore ”beltway agencies” and/or Washington, DC sites for Eastern Division students

5. Completion of MPH degree during primary care residency training
Students can complete the MPH degree during residency training in Internal Medicine; Family Medicine; Pediatrics; Obstetrics & Gynecology; Emergency Medicine Residency Programs, and in post-graduate Years 2 and 3 of training.

Students accepted in the Public Health track must remain in good academic and professional standing within the MD degree curriculum. Should a student have an adverse action imposed by the Dean removing this good standing, the student will no longer be eligible for the participation in the program. Due process for adverse actions will follow the standard procedures in the Policy on Academic and Professional Standards Governing the MD degree program. There will be no readmission to the program once the status is lost.

Combined MD/MPH Program

CMED and the School of Medicine offer a joint MD/MPH degree.  The vision of the combined degree Program is to bridge the gap between clinical practice and public health for tomorrow’s public health leadership. The MD/MPH curriculum takes five years to complete, including three summers.  After completing the first year of medical school, the student commences taking MPH classes in the summer.  The core MD/MPH requirements are very similar to the MPH Program requirements. However, students who successfully completed the second year medical course, CCMD 712 Epidemiology and Biostatistics, are exempt from taking PUBH 660 Public Health Epidemiology. Moreover, MD/MPH students take courses in a different sequence and require a longer time span to finish the combined degree.  Also they integrate their MPH practicum experience into the research requirements for medical students.  Because the standards of the MPH practicum are more rigorous than for medical school research, the Medical School Research Committee routinely accepts the proposals approved by the MPH Practicum Committee. The proposal is completed during the second semester of MPH course, with the practicum implemented during the fourth year research month in medical school. These students also complete the required Practicum Report Course at the end of their MD/MPH [program as part of their culminating experience.   

Students wishing to enter the combined MD/MPH program must apply separately to each academic unit and meet the requirements of both. Applicants must consult with the School of Medicine Associate Dean for Student Affairs and the Director, MD/MPH program prior to applying for admission. The student is required to declare intent to pursue the MD/MPH by February 1 of the first year of medical school.

For more information, please contact:

Rachel T. Abraham, MD, MPH
Asst. Professor/Director, MD/MPH Program
Dept. of Community Medicine
rabraham@hsc.wvu.edu ; (304) 293-0267