January 22, 2009
School of Public Health name shortened
On Jan. 15, the UW Board of Regents approved dropping the words “and Community Medicine” from the School of Public Health’s name.
The School of Public Health and Community Medicine was established in 1970 by faculty members in the former Department of Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine. At that time, many of the faculty members were M.D.s, and the school’s professional degree, the Master of Public Health, was open only to physicians. Thus the term “community medicine” was used to reflect the new School’s strong medical orientation. However, the focus and the faculty members of the school have changed significantly over the intervening years to the point where community medicine has no meaning in the school, a statement said.
School of Public Health Dean Patricia Wahl said, “There were a number of other excellent reasons to shorten the school’s name. Of the 40 accredited schools of public health in the U.S., our school is the only one with community medicine in its title. The original name falsely advertises the school, since there are no faculty or programs of study that reflect community medicine, and it also leads to confusion locally with the School of Medicine.”
Dean Wahl expressed appreciation for the Regents’ approval and noted that the School has created a logo that merges its distinctive Soul Catcher emblem with the UW’s new wordmark.
