KU School of Medicine-Wichita

4 Teaching population health and research to medical students Medical students aren't left out by the department, as they can take a four-credit elective, Clinical and Population-Based Research, from Professor Elizabeth Ablah, Ph.D., MPH, CPH. Students begin with two weeks of classroom work followed by eight weeks of summer sessions. Since 2020 the class has been fully online, where students can wear their jammies but must always turn on the camera and participate. They formulate research projects, work with mentors, analyze data, learn research-writing styles and produce two things: a publishable paper and an oral or poster presentation. The topics range widely, with recent topics including transgender surgery complications, vaccine eectiveness, EMS data on behavioral health problems and continuous blood glucose monitoring. "It's all across the board, and it's really fun," Ablah says. "It's a wonderful opportunity for the student to understand what evidence- based research is, which is often an ethereal concept. They understand how the research process occurs and what needs to happen," Ablah says. "They'll be more cognizant of what The department's Master of Science in clinical research program is much smaller than the MPH one, with just one to three students — often graduates of the internal medicine residency — at a time focusing on the research skills sought by fellowship programs. Requiring fewer credit hours — 33 — "it takes out a lot of the traditional public health courses like administration and social behavioral health, and adds in more epidemiology, more biostatistics," Armstrong says. "It focuses on grant writing, scientific writing and clinical trials. It has primarily attracted students who need to show a track record of research and publication. So far, our graduates have gotten almost exclusively cardiology fellowships, but there's also been a couple of nephrology fellowships." In addition to its degree program, the department oers three online graduate certificates for those wanting to pursue careers in public health. The 12-credit-hour programs focus on essentials of public health, epidemiology, and public health policy, practice and management. The in-person program has emphases in epidemiology or public health practice, while the online one oers a public health generalist degree. All students complete an internship and a capstone project. Required classes include epidemiology, public health administration, management of public health data, and community health assessment, intervention and advocacy. "Medical schools are always seeking the best and brightest," Armstrong says. "What we hear from MPH students trying to get into medical school is they're told to continue their personal and professional development and come back and apply again. One of the things they suggest is to get an MPH degree, because it's very complementary to the clinical world. "For foreign medical graduates, they are in a very competitive residency match process, and they're vying for a limited number of spots," she says. "With an MPH, they get research opportunities, and it really shows a dedication to being here in this community and contributing to its overall health." We really think of it as an opportunity for us to give these future clinicians a glimpse into what public health and population health are. They can use their time in the MPH program to get some good research experience and really stand out. Melissa Armstrong, Ed.D., M.A., education assistant professor, MPH director Melissa Armstrong, Ed.D., M.A. education assistant professor MPH director Population Health

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