About the Institute
Over the past decades, one vision of the College has been to support the training of students to diversify the public health sciences work force. As a result of this vision, the Public Health Sciences Institute (PHSI) was created under the auspices of a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). PHSI, a program in the Division of Science and Mathematics, is the only undergraduate program with a concentration in public health in the Atlanta University Center (AUC). PHSI functions as an academic program that formulates and implements strategies that will lead to positive outcomes for underrepresented minority Americans and has made a commitment to training undergraduate students in biostatistics, epidemiology, and occupational safety and health. These students receive mentoring and support from public health professionals to encourage them to pursue advanced degrees in Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Occupational Safety and Health. PHSI provides support to students attending undergraduate AUC institutions (Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, and Spelman College). PHSI is also in partnership with graduate AUC institutions (Morehouse School of Medicine and the Interdenominational Theological Center). All students in the AUC are encouraged to complete courses in the Public Health Program.
The primary goal of PHSI is to better prepare disadvantaged minority students for entry into graduate programs at schools of public health with special emphasis on the areas of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Occupational Safety & Health where minorities are drastically underrepresented. The specifics objectives of PHSI are to: a) better prepare disadvantaged minority students for graduate school by providing a comprehensive educational training program in public health; b) enhance the research skills of disadvantaged minority students through public health mentorships; c) provide financial support for student-faculty research teams to carry out public health research; d) increase interest among students in pursuing careers in public health; and e) heighten interest among faculty in the AUC to carry out public health research.
PHSI has significantly impacted students in the AUC and beyond since its inception in 1988 by actively sponsoring activities such as internships programs, interdisciplinary seminar series, public health awareness conferences, a minor concentration in public health, and student-faculty teams for research and mentoring. The total number of AUC students attending and completing graduate schools and programs in public health has tripled during the last ten years. The majority of these students have participated in one or more of the academic programs and activities implemented by PHSI. Data has suggested that PHSI has had an impact on the career interests and development of minority students and demonstrates the capability to succeed in increasing the number of underrepresented minority students in the areas of biostatistics, epidemiology, and occupational safety and health today and years beyond.
