PHHP Annual Report 2013
Education
The college continues to expand its academic, professional and certificate programs. The college launched a bachelor’s program that enables students from two-year colleges to obtain a bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and disorders and to pursue professional studies in audiology and speech-language pathology. The Master of Science in Epidemiology program enrolled its first student in the fall 2013 semester. PHHP also fully implemented a variety of new certificate programs, providing students with opportunities for education and training in Forensic Vocational Rehabilitation, One Health and Psychiatric Epidemiology. The college’s educational offerings include 10 doctoral, eight master’s, two bachelor’s and nine certificate programs. The 560 degrees awarded by PHHP in 2013 represents a growth of 4.5 percent over the previous year.
Research
The college’s research funding has more than doubled during the last decade, and its faculty members are among the most productive at the University of Florida. The college is ranked 19th in NIH funding among the 51 accredited schools of public health. PHHP has continued to compete successfully for extramural support of its research programs. College researchers are making important contributions to understanding, treating and preventing a broad array of health and public health problems, including Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, cholera, chronic pain, environmental toxins, HIV/AIDS, insomnia, malaria, muscular dystrophy, obesity, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexually transmitted infections, smoking, stroke, substance abuse and zoonotic diseases.
Service
The department of speech, language, and hearing sciences offers services at several UF Health locations, including UF Health Shands Hospital, Hampton Oaks, Magnolia Parke and Park Avenue. The department of clinical and health psychology provides psychological services for the entire Health Science Center and UF Health Physicians practices. The college’s Rural South Public Health Training Center has provided training to more than 1,100 health professionals on HIV/AIDS prevention and management and on public health foundational skills building. HealthStreet, a community-based effort that works to reduce disparities in health care and research, has established contacts with more than 4,000 residents in the Gainesville area (80 percent of whom are of minority group status) and has enrolled more than 1,400 people in research studies at UF. HealthStreet recently expanded to provide services to residents of the Jacksonville, Fla., community.