Public Health Certificate Program

The Public Health Certificate Program (PHCP) offers highly motivated, well-qualified doctoral candidates in Biomedical Graduate Studies an opportunity to experience the relationship between public health and biomedical research. Public health can be defined as “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency” (E.A. Winslow, 1920). Public health relies on a variety of disciplines, but the foundation is biomedical research, whose fundamental goal is to acquire new knowledge about living things in order to help us understand how to treat diseases and improve health, with the ultimate goal of improving the public’s health.

PHCP produces scientists who can think about the “big picture”: how biomedical research directly impacts public health. PHCP students learn population-based approaches and applications as they are also gaining expertise in molecular, cellular, and biochemical sciences. This two-pronged approach prepares students for broad roles in academic, industrial, and government research.

PHCP provides supplemental training through three mechanisms: formal coursework in public health, a bi-weekly seminar series, and a public health research experience.  PHCP students interact with MPH faculty, as well as Penn’s public health community through the Center for Public Health Initiatives (CPHI).

Samuelle Delcy, PGG 4th year student, on why she is doing PHCP:

  “I applied for PHCP in the application process because I knew that part of my goal was to bridge science communication and public health. In order to do that, I needed several skills that we don’t gain throughout our doctoral education. Being in PHCP has allowed me to take classes where I learned how to put together a “pitch” and become a better communicator, important skills that aren’t taught to PhD students but are important for the fields that we want to go into. 

I’ve been able to take some really cool classes. I took a class focused on learning how to not only create but advertise programming to the right population. My project was on maternity health, specifically black women, and I created an entire program that was geared towards black women. That was a cool way of combining my love for educating people and learning how to strategically provide that information to people in power. I’ve also gotten the chance to explore the policy side of things.

The main thing about it is that your PhD is a long process where you are so focused on the small details in the lab that you sometimes forget why you started this journey. So, being able to attend the seminars and do work that aids communities has given me the opportunity to come back to the big picture, especially when things get tough in the lab.”