Students in the Path of Distinction in Public Health are expected to participate in the program throughout medical school with all requirements completed by March of their fourth year. This timeframe provides sufficient flexibility for students to access the required coursework, gain public health experience, and complete a reflection paper and presentation.
Path of Distinction in Public Health requirements
- PHS 712: Integration of Medicine and Public Health course
- Attendance at 8 POD-PH sponsored events in Phase 1
- Public health lens applied to a mentored during Phase 1 (typically summer)
- 3 reflections based on public health project
- Oral presentation at POD-PH Fall Symposium (Phase 1 fall semester)*
- POD-PH Learning Community
- Phase 2: Co-lead a learning community session and attend at least 1 session
- Phase 3: Attend at least 3 learning community session
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Project Requirements
Students in the Path of Distinction in Public Health will apply a public health lens to a summer project. The process includes submitting a project proposal that includes how they plan to apply a public health lens to their work, then writing a reflection paper and presenting their work.
Project guidelines
- Mentored by a faculty member
- Ideally, community or health systems based and incorporate at least one of the following:
- Quality Improvement
- Community Health Assessment
- Program Planning
- Program Evaluation
If the project does not meet the above criteria and you believe your project is public health focused, please contact kcoffey3@wisc.edu
Project Opportunities
There are several options for medical students to complete the required Path of Distinction in Public Health project/field experience.
We require students to engage early and complete projects in the summer during Phase 1 of medical school. Multiple opportunities exist through established programs and projects facilitated through the university.
How do I find a project?
Students who participate in the Path of Distinction in Public Health may craft an experience specific to their interest in any area, such as urban health, rural health, global health, health care quality, health disparities or health policy. The Path of Distinction in Public Health collaborates with programs throughout the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. These programs offer ideal ways to have a field experience in an area of specific interest while meeting the requirements of Path of Distinction.
Potential projects
Shapiro Summer Research Program
Medical students at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health have numerous opportunities to engage in mentored research through several school-sponsored programs and external programs offered by the National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and many others. Learn about the Shapiro Summer Research Program
Several Shapiro projects have a community-facing facet to the project or the opportunity to incorporate a community piece potentially exists.
Global Health Institute
The Global Health Institute (GHI) has created a range of global health field experiences for students in the health professions that may fulfill the Path of Distinction project requirement. Students who wish to pursue a global health field experience to fulfill the PoD-PH field experience requirement should contact James Conway, MD, jhconway@wisc.edu and/or Betsy Teigland teigland@wisc.edu.
Students who wish to do more in-depth learning about global health are encouraged to complete the Global Health Certificate.
Summer Research Clinical Assistantship
The Summer Research Clinical Assistantship offered by the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health allows students to work on clinically relevant, hands-on research under the mentorship of department faculty members.
Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation summer fellowship opportunities
The goal of the Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation’s Summer Fellowship Program is to provide medical students a public health, research and/or community service opportunity within a Wisconsin community. The experience exists to educate students about ways in which the medical profession can work to improve health through connections to community organizations and/or government.
The period of these fellowships is eight to 10 weeks. Fellowships are be selected on a competitive basis, based on fellowship proposals submitted.
General fellowships available: For these general fellowships, students have the opportunity to create their own project or to connect with an existing project and submit a proposal for funding consideration. MD-MPH students are also eligible to apply and should email mdpublichealth@mailplus.wisc.edu to be connected with projects and mentors.
In addition, member physicians are willing to connect with students to create a project on many topics. All need to be submitted for funding consideration. For more information, contact Elizabeth Ringle at elizabeth.ringle@wismed.org.
POD-PH faculty and staff are happy to meet and discuss your interests and help identify possible mentors.
Oral Presentation
Students will present a public health reflection presentation based on their summer project in the fall of Phase 1. Presentations are 5-8 mins. long and will be given to students in PHS 712: Integrating Medicine and Public Health.
Phase 1-8
Students must attend 8 POD-PH sponsored meetings/activities in Phase 1.
Learning Community Meetings
The Path of Distinction in Public Health Learning Community is a group of public health-interested Phase 2 and 3 University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health medical students from across the statewide campus.
This group comes together to learn more about a breadth of public health topics, both in terms of didactics and applied skills. The Path of Distinction in Public Health Learning Community meets at least six times a year.
The ultimate goals of these meetings and of the learning community are to support a cohort of future physician leaders skilled in the following:
- Public health leadership and systems-based thinking
- Scientific communication
- Community engagement
- Cultural humility
- Integration of public health into clinical practice
Participation requirements
Participation in the Path of Distinction in Public Health Learning Community is an opportunity to meet consistently and build community with other like-minded students. It is expected that PoD-PH students consistently attend all learning community sessions as they are able. Remote access is available for those in the statewide campus.
Minimum requirements:
- Lead or co-lead 1 learning community session before graduation
- Attend 1 learning community session in Phase 2
- Attend 3 learning community sessions in Phase 3