Public Health Concentration in IDGH

The Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health's Public Health activities emphasize integrating human public health and animal population health with the goal of simultaneously improving health for all. The section provides opportunities for veterinary and medical students to learn from each other, conduct joint research projects and engage in community service that benefits people and animals. The core of the Public Health activities is the D.V.M./Master of Public Health Program combined degree graduate program which is administered jointly by the School of Medicine and Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

The DVM/Master of Public Health Program electives are open to all D.V.M. candidates and are usually offered on the Grafton campus. The Public Health section administers the school's Smith Kilborne Award, which provides an opportunity for a second-year student to train at the Department of Homeland Security's Plum Island Animal Disease Center. The department encourages and supports veterinarians and veterinary-medical student teams in public health field research in the United States and abroad. It also serves as the campus home for the Tufts-Schweitzer Fellowship, which provides veterinary students numerous opportunities to demonstrate Dr. Albert Schweitzer's Reverence for Life philosophy through community service to people and animals.

By increasing awareness and appreciation for the role of the veterinarian in public health the program breaks down organizational and cultural barriers that separate human and animal health. It also teaches veterinary students how to speak the language of public health, raises their awareness of public health frameworks and tools that can be used to improve human and animal population health, and supports the involvement of veterinarians in decisions that affect public health policies and priorities.

More information about Public Health can be found in the D.V.M./Master of Public Health Program section.