Department of Public Health

The Department of Public Health houses is home to two centers: Office of Public Health Practice (OPHP) and the Center on Health Policy. The OPHP is a collaborative, multi-disciplinary center that promotes, supports, and delivers public health education to improve the skills and capabilities of Indiana'd public health professionals. The Center for Health Policy (CHP) collaborates with state and local government and public and private health care organizations to conduct high quality program evaluation and applied research on critical health policy-related issues.

Student organizations include the undergraduate and graduate student councils, which provide opportunities for all students to participate in school governance. These organizations sponsor activities for professional development, service contributions, and social networking. All students enrolled in a public health degree program are members of the undergraduate or graduate student councils.

Additional student organization sare the MHA Student Association, which is open to all graduate health administration students, and Upsilon Phi Delta, a national honorary society for health administration programs.

Graduate Student Organizations

MHA Student Association
The purpose of the MHA Student Association is to help coordinate activities to allow students to get to know each other. This group promotes mentoring relationships between health administration students and experienced professionals and fosters community relationships within the field.

Upsilon Phi Delta
Upsilon Phi Delta is a national honor society for students in healthcare administration, with a chapter established on the Indianapolis campus The society acknowledges scholastic excellence by students in the MHA program. Membership is limited to students in the MHA program graduating from the program with a 3.8 cumulative GPA or above.

Undergraduate Student Organizations

Students enrolled in an undergraduate degree program in Public Health are members of the Public Health Undergraduate Student Council, which provides opportunities for all students to participate in school governance. These organizations sponsor activities for professional development, service contributions, and social networking.

Centers

The Office of Public Health Practice (OPHP)
The Office of Public Health Practice is dedicated to the improvement of public health practices for the health, safety, and welfare of Hoosiers. As a collaborative, multi-disciplinary center, OPHP promotes, supports, and delivers public health education to improve the skills and capabilities of Indiana’s public health professionals. The Office of Public Health Practice is Indiana’s premier public health continuing education resource and is recognized for its collaboration, research, and leadership in public health.

OPHP provides continuing education to everyone interested in the important issues of public health. In a national effort to build competencies and improve capacity, courses help participants improve their knowledge and skill in public health. Learners have the opportunity to assess levels of competency, develop an education plan, and access competency-based courses to improve professional development. OPHP’s services include:

  • Online Training—Through the Learning Management System (LMS), videos, courses, satellite downlinks, and MP3 files are available.
  • On-site Sessions—Face-to-face classes hosted by the Training Center are available throughout the state. A Public Health Speaker’s Bureau provides local and national experts to speak at conferences, meetings, and events.
  • Resource connection—Assistance in researching and connecting public health organizations.
  • Technical Assistance—CD-ROMS, recordings, and electronic production services are also available.

To learn more about the Office of Public Health Practice and a listing of current training opportunities, visit the Office of Public Health Practice's website.

Center for Health Policy (CHP)
The Center for Health Policy (CHP), created in 2006, is housed at Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Public Health. The CHP faculty and staff collaborate with state and local government, as well as public and private health care organizations in health policy and program development to conduct high quality program evaluation and applied research on critical health policy-related issues. The CHP faculty and staff serve as a bridge between academic health researchers and state and local government, health care organizations and community leaders.

To learn more about the Center for Health Policy, visit the Center of Health Policy website.