UAMS College of Public Health, Hendrix College Team Up to Offer Unique Degree Program for Undergraduates

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK – A joint agreement between the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Hendrix College will allow undergraduate students at the four-year college to begin earning credit toward a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree.


 


Beginning in their junior year, students at the liberal arts college in Conway can start earning select credit hours through the joint program that will go toward both their undergraduate and M.P.H. degrees.


 


“It is anticipated that these students who graduate from Hendrix College with their bachelor’s degrees will continue their education and successfully graduate from UAMS with their M.P.H. degrees,” said Jim Raczynski, dean of the College of Public Health. “We are pleased to team up with an institution with such international acclaim as Hendrix.”


 


The UAMS College of Public Health prepares graduate and professional students for careers that will help meet the many public health and health care needs in the state. Specialty tracks include biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental and occupational health, health education/health behavior, and health policy and management.


 


Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a liberal arts college that is among 165 colleges featured in the 2008 edition of the Princeton Review: America’s Best Value Colleges.


 


“For many years, Hendrix College and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences have joined to educate the state’s future doctors and medical professionals,” said Robert Entzminger, Hendrix provost. “Now we are strengthening that partnership through this one-of-a-kind educational opportunity with the College of Public Health. We are excited to offer our students the ability to participate in this dual-degree program that officially joins Hendrix with one of the finest medical institutions in the country.”


 


The M.P.H. degree prepares students for careers in several health-related fields either by itself or in combination with other professional or graduate degrees. The value of the combined degree program is that it will enable students to eliminate duplication in course content, make efficient use of academic interactions and reduce both the time and costs incurred in earning the M.P.H.


 


Once a student is approved by a Hendrix advisor, the candidate applies for admission to the College of Public Health through its standard process. The M.P.H. program typically requires applicants to already have earned a bachelor’s degree, but in this case that requirement is waived.


 


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,538 students and 733 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with about 9,600 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $5 billion a year. Visit www.uams.edu.