MPH Distance Learning Program

Expanding the Medical College of Wisconsin Masters of Public Health program

Full Project Name:MPH Distance Learning ProgramPrincipal Investigator:John Meurer, MD, MBA, Institute for Health and EquityAward Amount:2,200,848

Award Date

August2006

Project Duration:107 months

Project Description Narrative:

A sufficient and competant health workforce is one of five system priorities of the State of Wisconsin health plan. To assure the health of Wisconsin communities, there must be a strong public health infrastructure and a competent public health workforce.

Through this award, the Medical College of Wisconsin will revise and expand its Masters of Public Health degree program to offer a distance learning program that will expand access to quality public health education across Wisconsin.

Outcomes & Lessons Learned:

Created a revitalized and expanded program that resulted in increased in-state recruitment along with newly recruited faculty and a revised curriculum
Established a revised mission and goals and conducted recruitment for additional faculty and leadership
Submitted and received approval from the Graduate Studies Council for revised admission and graduation requirements, as well as approval of a revised course grading system
Successfully recruited 20 new faculty to the program and an additional eight new advisors to support student field placements and capstone projects
Identified opportunities to improve support for and engagement of diverse students, creating formal advising process and opportunities for interaction among students and faculty, including student involvement in program governance
Completed a full revision of program curriculum, adding new courses and assuring linkage to courses to public health competencies
Disseminated lessons learned through various publications and presentations