DLSPH Open: The New Doctor of Public Health
May 7/2020
Dear Colleagues,
Having worked in both government and academia, I’ve long felt the need for deeper educational offerings that bridge these very different worlds to improve public health. Now, I’m pleased to share that a new DLSPH degree program will break fresh ground in this sphere. Our much-anticipated Doctor of Public Health program – the first of its kind in Canada – will begin accepting students next fall.
Adalsteinn Brown
Professor and Dean
The DrPH program is unique among our doctoral offerings because of its particular focus on the practical. Rather than training students for a career in research, the program prepares public health professionals to lead change locally and globally. Students will become expert in the application of research evidence to real world situations, creating highly implementable practice and policy. And they will draw on our large global network of faculty to design theses informed by real public health problems in existing settings.
The program helps to meet our ambition, outlined in the Academic Plan 2019-2024, to provide health professionals with a complete life cycle of education and training. With its emphasis on health systems and public health leadership, policy, evidence appraisal, knowledge translation and implementation, the DrPH will create senior leaders with proven experience achieving change. Nothing could be more relevant for our current circumstances.
The magnitude and complexity of the crisis presented by COVID-19 underscore the urgent need to nurture health leaders with a sophisticated understanding of how to create change, informed by a strong ethical framework and including Indigenous and global health perspectives.
Launching this program during a pandemic is no easy feat, and I’d like to commend Associate Prof. Erica Di Ruggiero and her team for their outstanding work and fortitude. Please contact them with any questions about the program, and stay tuned for more updates as the program web page and other materials come online.
Please share the news of this new opportunity widely with your networks and together we will empower a new generation of public health professionals to lead profound change.
Sincerely,
Adalsteinn (Steini) Brown
Professor and Dean, DLSPH