Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Jefferson College of Population Health announce partnership

Four third-year medical students are the first Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) cohort to be accepted to the Jefferson College of Population Health (JCPH) Master of Public Health (MPH) program.

JCPH and Geisinger formed a unique partnership that will provide up to 10 GCSOM medical students with scholarships that cover the cost of tuition to pursue the MPH during a year off between their third and fourth years of medical school. It will initially launch as a three-year pilot program. The program was conceived by Geisinger board member, Dr. David Nash, Founding Dean of JCPH, as a means to advance the MPH program goals of preventing illness and promoting and protecting human health by educating future clinicians to be effective advocates for their patients and to gain the knowledge and skill needed to effect policy change.

“As a member of the Geisinger board, Dr. Nash is well aware of Geisinger’s singular focus on population health. He is also familiar with GCSOM’s devotion to community,” said Steven J. Scheinman, MD, GCSOM president and dean and executive vice president at Geisinger. “He clearly recognizes the synergy between us and the College of Population Health he founded. Together, we can empower future physicians not just to improve an individual patient’s health, but to transform entire neighborhoods. We are grateful for his vision.”

Vanessa Thiel of Bensalem said she was excited to hear she had been accepted to the program. “I really wanted to do this. It will make me a better physician,” she said. “When Dr. Nash came to talk to the third-year students at our orientation, he told us the program was specifically designed for doctors who will be going into the clinics. I think the most important thing I’ll gain from the MPH is a firm understanding of the fundamentals of our healthcare system and the policy issues that impact it. I’ll get the skills I need to be a true advocate for my patients.”

Nathan Hoff of Honesdale plans to pursue psychiatry as his medical specialty, so he was sold on applying when Program Director Rosemary Frasso, PhD, MSc, CPH pointed out that mental health is a largely untapped area of public health research. “I’ve always been interested in policy,” Nathan said. “I was a political science major in college and have been involved with the Pennsylvania Medical Society throughout medical school. Being able to unite my interests in policy and mental health while completing my thesis project -- as I have the opportunity to do in the MPH program – really piqued my interest.”

Cynthia Ciccotelli of Yardley hopes to pursue her passion -- primary care and preventive medicine. For this reason, she said the MPH will be invaluable. “In particular, one of my career goals is to work as a family physician in an underserved area,” she said. “I truly feel that having the MPH will open up doors for me to impact the policies behind how healthcare is delivered. I’m really looking forward to this program, and I’m thankful that Geisinger is providing this incredible opportunity for us.”

GCSOM student Sahil Pandya of Allentown said being accepted to the program fulfills a longstanding dream. “As an undergraduate at Muhlenberg College, I minored in public health. When Dr. Nash visited GCSOM, I remembered how passionately I felt about understanding how population and personal health interact. I hope to practice emergency medicine, so it’s important to understand issues like cost and access and to know how to direct patients to appropriate care and manage chronic conditions.”

Public health is an interdisciplinary field of study that emphasizes social justice, supports human rights and respects the dignity of individuals and the integrity of communities. “What I often tell prospective dual degree students is that public health training is like getting a pair of magic goggles. You simply see patients differently, --- you learn how to look beyond the biomedical and appreciate and address the social determinants of health,” Dr. Frasso said.

Public health professionals track outbreaks of disease, conduct community health assessments, plan health education programs and direct campaigns to reduce risk factors that foster chronic health conditions like heart disease and diabetes. They develop and advocate policies, both public and private, that reduce harmful environmental exposures and provide increased access to preventive health services for underserved populations. Many engage in public health research and support multi-cultural global health initiatives here and abroad.

The accepted students will complete their third year of medical school this summer, then begin classes at JCPH in the fall. They will return to GCSOM to complete their fourth year and graduate in 2021.

About Geisinger
Geisinger is committed to making better health easier for the more than 1 million people it serves. Founded more than 100 years ago by Abigail Geisinger, the system now includes 10 hospital campuses, a health plan with more than half a million members, a research institute and the Geisinger College of Health Sciences, which includes schools of medicine, nursing and graduate education. With more than 25,000 employees and 1,700+ employed physicians, Geisinger boosts its hometown economies in Pennsylvania by billions of dollars annually. Learn more at geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.