MISSOULA –

The University of Montana now has the state’s first nationally accredited master of public health program. The Council on Education for Public Health notified UM administrators of the accreditation approval on July 6.

An MPH degree prepares professionals to identify health problems and needs, consider mechanisms to meet those needs and assure the essential services to protect and promote patient health. Graduates serve as competent practitioners, researchers and teachers who carry out broad health functions in local, state, national and international settings.

“We are preparing public health practitioners who will use global insight to improve the health of the people of Montana and other rural areas,” said Craig Molgaard, chairman of the School of Public and Community Health Sciences. “We expect the people of our state to benefit immensely from our accredited MPH program.”

Molgaard said the MPH program, which is part of UM’s College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences, earned five years of accreditation from the national Council on Education for Public Health following an intensive self-study process and site visit. The accreditation runs until 2017 and is the maximum period allowed for initial accreditation of a new MPH program. More than 50 graduate students now are enrolled in the web-based program.

“Faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the program from the public health community in Montana – both regionally and nationally – worked extremely hard to achieve this accreditation,” he said. “The support of our ‘village’ was critical to achieving this success.”

For more information visit http://www.health.umt.edu/schools/pch/default.php.

###

CBS

State

071112hlth