Preventive Medicine and Public Health

Healthy communities. We are passionate about healthy communities.
It’s why our faculty entered the field of Public Health. We believe that we can improve the health of people in Kansas and the region by advancing the science of Public Health through our teaching, research, and service.

We are committed to excellence in teaching, whether it is teaching public health students, medical students or future researchers. In our Masters in Public Health program, we take gifted students and empower them with the tools they will need to face the Public Health challenges of tomorrow. We prepare our medical students to navigate complex health care systems and provide them with skills for life-long learning. With our new Masters in Clinical Research program, we are preparing the next generation of researchers for careers in scientific discovery that will advance the future health of our communities.

We are committed to excellence in research — research that has direct, tangible benefits for our communities. Our research is conducted in the community, with community participation, working to harness public health and scientific discoveries for the benefit of all of our citizens. In our applied research programs, we are tackling the greatest challenges to the health of our communities, addressing issues such as obesity, tobacco, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Moreover, we are trying to tackle these issues in our most vulnerable communities, including rural, Native American, African American, and Latino communities.

We are committed to excellence in service. Our faculty have dedicated themselves to life-long careers in public service. This service is not confined to the medical center campus, but extends to collaborative work with our public health partners at the local, state, and national level.

We are proud of our program, and we are continuously striving to make it better. We hope that you will take the time to learn more about the University of Kansas Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health. We think that the more you read about our Department, the more you’ll appreciate the critical role that Public Health science plays in our communities.

A letter from
Edward F. Ellerbeck, MD, MPH
Chair, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health