Public Health

Public health is the area of medicine devoted to the study of health and disease in populations. At NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the goal of public health is to improve the health of individuals and groups through preventive programs and health education.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center works closely with Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the only accredited school of public health in the New York City metropolitan area, and one of the first in the country. The Mailman School is a national and international leader in public health research, education, and service, with an emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion.

The Mailman School's public health experts address some of the most difficult public health problems ever encountered: 44 million people in the United States without healthcare insurance, the alarming spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the world, health problems caused by forced migration, the roles played by environmental pollutants and environmental degradation in the spread of disease, globalization of emerging infections, maternal mortality in under-developed countries, and the threats of bioterrorism. The School includes specialized Centers and Departments to deal with these and other public health concerns.

At NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, the multidisciplinary faculty of the Department of Public Health has expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics, health economics, policy analysis, outcomes and effectiveness research, medical ethics, and the behavioral sciences. The Department is organized into five integrated divisions: the Division of Prevention and Health Behavior, which includes the Multiethnic Drug Abuse Prevention Research Center; the Division of Community and Public Health; the Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research; the Division of Health Services and Policy Research; and the Division of Medical Ethics, a joint effort with the Department of Medicine.