Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health

Founded in 1998, Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health has rapidly developed into a nationally ranked, fully accredited public health research, service and training program. The School is ranked by U.S. News and World Reports as a Top 25 Graduate School in Public Health, with the average age of Schools ranked above them 40+ years. The school is also annually ranked among the top five schools of public health in student diversity.

The School provides an excellent forum for tomorrow's public health leaders to engage in a learning environment that builds on a wide array of research strengths and scholarly inquire of a stellar faculty (every year for the last six years a faculty member has received the prestigious designation of Regents Professor). Further, the research and practice links established by the faculty provide an extensive diversity of opportunities for students to work closely with professionals in applied public health settings.

Students pursue degrees at both the master's and doctoral levels. The practice focused Master in Public Health (MPH) degree is offered in the five core disciplines of Public Health (Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Environmental and Occupational Health, Social and Behavioral Health, and Policy and Management) and in a unique Border Health program centered at our McAllen campus. The research focused Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) degree is available in the five core disciplines as well. The school offers what may be the nation's premier Master in Health Administration (MHA) program for those seeking career opportunities in rural settings, although our graduates can be found in many urban settings from Dallas and Houston, to New York City and Los Angeles. The MHA program is one of only 10 nationally participating in the National Center for Health Care Leadership program designed to refine curricula by linking instructional objectives to practice-based competencies and was also recently ranked as a top program by U.S. News and World Reports. Doctoral programs are offered in Health Services Research (PhD), Social and Behavioral Sciences (DrPH) and Epidemiology and Environmental Health (DrPH). We also have several collaborative programs in place (e.g., MD/MPH, 4+1 programs with pre-med, agriculture and the undergraduate health academy at Prairie View A&M University) or in development (e.g., MSN/MPH, PharmD/MPH). SRPH was competitively selected by the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School to provide training to military personnel in the Department of Preventive Health Services Principles in the Army Preventive Medicine program, a collaborative graduate program at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio.

Academic Departments

SRPH offers master’s and doctoral degrees:

• Environmental and Occupational Health
• Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Policy and Management
• Social & Behavioral Health

Centers

In addition to academic departments, several centers and institutes operate within the School, providing additional contributions to rural public health research and practice.

• Center for Community Health Development
• Southwest Rural Health Research Center
• USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness
• Center for Health Organization Transformation

Programs

• Active for Life® National Program Office
• Program on Healthy Aging
• Program on Aging and Long-Term Care Policy
• Program on GIS and Spatial Statistics
• Program for Public Health and Water Research
• Program on Reproductive and Child Health
• Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities

External links

• School of Rural Public Health Website