The College of Pharmacy will offer a new dual-degree, graduate-level program with the College of Public Health this fall. The Pharm.D./M.P.H. degree will combine the professional doctor of pharmacy degree with the graduate master of public health degree and offer four programs of study: health promotion and behavior, health policy and management, epidemiology or biostatistics.
“This program is the college’s first dual-degree program,” said Trina von Waldner, director of postgraduate continuing education and outreach in the College of Pharmacy and coordinator of the new program. “There is a growing need for practitioners trained to work in the field of population health to establish policies and procedures for chronic disease management, wellness programs, emergency preparedness and educational programs for healthcare workers.”
The program “will increase the availability of affordable education and training in public health so that more professionals with expertise in public health will remain in Georgia,” said von Waldner, who hopes to enroll five students in the first year.