From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) is one of 17 schools comprising the University of Pittsburgh. The school was founded in 1948 was first lead by Thomas Parran, surgeon general of the U.S. Public Health Service.[1] It is ranked as the 11th best such school in the United States by US News and World Report.[2] In addition, it is ranked third among public health schools for funding received from the National Institute of Health.[3] It was the first of only two fully-accredited schools of public health in Pennsylvania (the other being Drexel University's School of Public Health in Philadelphia). The school offers Masters of Public Health and doctoral degrees in areas such as Behavioral and Community Health Services, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Human Genetics, Infectious Disease and many more. [4][5]
[edit] History
A desire by Pittsburgh residents to better understand the health risks involved in the pollution released from the city's many steel mills in the early 20th Century led to the creation of Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health in 1948 due to a $13.6 million grant from the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. Originating in the renovated former Municipal Hospital, now Salk Hall, the school was accredited on April 6, 1950 and admitted its first class of 29 full-time and 5 part-time students in September 1950.[6] The school moved into a new facility, now named Parran Hall, completed for it in 1957.[7] The School's first Dean, Thomas Parran, had previously founded the World Health Organization and served for twelve years as Surgeon General of the United States. Parran guided the early development of the school and recruited many of its prominent early faculty. An early focus of the School was occupational and industrial health and hygiene in the steel mills of Pittsburgh. These studies, and GSPH investigations of black lung among coal miners, strongly influenced the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 which, based mostly on GSPH generated data, created the first national standards for on-the-job worker safety and health.[8] Although the scope of the school has greatly broadened, this theme of research at GSPH has continued throughout the years with significant implications, including among other things, information on the hazards of asbestos. GSPH has grown through the years to become one of the top such schools in regards to sponsored research funding. It has also pioneered research directions, for instance, by being the first school of public health to have a department of human genetics, creating the first and only public health school chair in Minority Health, and playing critical roles in understanding diseases such as AIDS for which it initiated the longest-running national study of the natural history of the disease.[9] It continues to maintain strong relationships with regional and national government agencies such as the Allegheny County Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and has produced over 5,000 alumni in its 60 years of history.[10]
[edit] Departments
Parran Hall, the home of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health
- Behavioral & Community Health Sciences
- Biostatistics
- Environmental & Occupational Health
- Epidemiology
- Health Policy & Management
- Human Genetics
- Infectious Diseases & Microbiology
[edit] Centers
GSPH is responsible for or participates in the operation a variety of different public health centers including:
[edit] External Links
[edit] References
- ^ Alberts, Robert C. (1987). Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh 1787–1987. University of Pittsburgh Press, book Three; pp. 205. ISBN 0-8229-1150-7.
- ^ Hart, Peter. "U.S. News ranks Pitt grad schools", University Times, 2007-04-05. Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
- ^ Member School Profile: Detail: University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Association of Schools of Public Health. Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
- ^ [1]
- ^ University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health: Departments
- ^ Alberts, Robert C. (1987). Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh 1787–1987. University of Pittsburgh Press, book Three; pp. 206. ISBN 0-8229-1150-7.
- ^ Alberts, Robert C. (1987). Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh 1787–1987. University of Pittsburgh Press, book Three; pp. 209. ISBN 0-8229-1150-7.
- ^ University of Pittsburgh - Graduate School of Public Health: History. Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
- ^ Member School Profile: Detail: University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Association of Schools of Public Health. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
- ^ Duda, Kathryn. "Creating a Healthier World: GSPH works to protect and improve people's lives and their communities", Pitt Chronicle, 2002-10-21. Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
