Program is aimed at health care, media professionals and graduate students teaching effective communication of health-related issues to the world-at-large
Newswise — Stony Brook University has created an Advanced Graduate Program in Health Communications to provide both health care and media professionals as well as graduate students in related fields the necessary skills to communicate health-related issues to the public directly or through the press.
The new 18-credit certificate, to be jointly administered by Stony Brook’s Graduate Program in Public Health and its School of Journalism, is aimed at members of the public health workforce, health care professionals, media professionals (journalism, marketing, public relations and communication) and masters/doctoral students. The program aims to bridge the gap between medicine and public health and the world-at-large.
“We anticipate that graduates will find employment in academic settings, research facilities, public health organizations, or health care institutions,” said program director Evonne Kaplan-Liss, M.D., M.P.H., a physician and journalist with joint appointments in the School of Medicine and School of Journalism. “Graduates may also serve as health communication experts in media, consulting and public relations settings. Working professionals will gain communication skills that will enhance their skills and help them advance within their respective public health, healthcare or media professions.”
Graduates of the advanced graduate program will enhance their health communication knowledge, experiences, and skills and positively impact their chosen career pathway in journalism, communications, public health, medicine, or other health related profession. Applications will be accepted beginning October 2010 for a program start date of Spring 2011.
Plans are in the works for CME and other professional continuing education credits to be offered for selected courses.
Within the Graduate Program in Public Health a health communications focus is already a component of the Community Health concentration. The health communication course offerings include health literacy, cultural competency and introduction to biostatistics and epidemiology.
The School of Journalism’s new M.S. program, which begins in June 2011 and is the first of its kind in the SUNY system, will contribute courses in understanding the news media, distilling your message, writing for the public, and using improvisational techniques to connect with your audience. That program will focus on coverage of health, science, the environment and technology while preparing students to thrive as all-around journalists in the rapidly changing media landscape. The M.S. program is designed to serve the needs of journalism majors and working journalists who may have relatively little background in science, and people with strong science backgrounds seeking alternative career paths but may have little background in journalism.
For more information or to register for courses, contact Jonathan Ragone, MPH Academic Coordinator at 631-444-2074.
Part of the State University of New York system, Stony Brook University encompasses 200 buildings on 1,450 acres. In the 50+ years since its founding, the University has grown tremendously, now with nearly 24,700 students and 2,200 faculty and is recognized as one of the nation’s important centers of learning and scholarship. It is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, and ranks among the top 100 national universities in America and among the top 50 public national universities in the country according to the 2010 U.S. News & World Report survey. Considered one of the “flagship” campuses in the SUNY system, Stony Brook University co-manages Brookhaven National Laboratory, joining an elite group of universities, including Berkeley, University of Chicago, Cornell, MIT, and Princeton that run federal research and development laboratories. SBU is a driving force of the Long Island economy, with an annual economic impact of $4.65 billion, generating nearly 60,000 jobs, and accounts for nearly 4% of all economic activity in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and roughly 7.5 percent of total jobs in Suffolk County.
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