Educational Programs
Key to the Center for One Health Illinois is the DVM/MPH joint degree program offered in conjunction with the University of Illinois at Chicago. The program was started in 2005, and within five years had enrolled 33 students, including four who completed both degrees. Capstone project topics included a study of the temporal and spatial prevalence of blastomycosis in humans and dogs in Illinois, the transmission of Candida albicans between wildlife and wildlife handlers, and the prevalence and transmission of MRSA in horses and their handlers.
In 2007, a public health clinical rotation was offered to fourth year veterinary medical students. The four week rotation focuses on field epidemiology, outbreak investigation, field work and data analysis.
A public policy practicum was first offered as an elective course in the fall of 2008. This discussion and writing-intensive policy development course explores the science behind six areas of public health interest at the interface of human, animal and ecosystem health, introduces students to the policy making process at local, state and federal levels and asks students to develop policy options to address issues of interest. The course is open to students in all professional and graduate academic units and has attracted students from veterinary medicine, human medicine, neurobiology and law. Guest speakers with topical expertise and policy experience act as critics and advisors to students’ policy initiatives. A description of the course was published in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education (JVME 36(4), 2009, 397-402.)
During the summer of 2010 the COHI sponsored its first international public health course during which students traveled to Germany to study animal and public health infrastructure and policy in the European Union.
Courses offered at the College of Veterinary Medicine:
CHSC 400 |
Public health concepts and practice (taught with UIC-SPH) |
PATH 439 |
Health applications of GIS |
VCM 647 |
Public health clinical rotation (VM4 students) |
VCM 648 |
One health: emerging diseases and public policy |
VCM 671 |
International veterinary medicine |