Columbia University - Index

Columbia University - Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health - Index

Simulations of public health crises
are vital for preparing students to
respond to actual events. Epiville, an
online learning tool developed by faculty
in the Department of Epidemiology in
collaboration with Columbia's Center
for New Media Teaching and Learning, is
a virtual town where public health
emergencies arise often and unexpectedly.
Those enrolled in Principles of
Epidemiology, a core course for MPH
students, use the Web-based program to
work their way through a series of
exercises designed to help them master
real-life challenges, such as the outbreak
of disease and other natural and manmade
disasters.
REAL-TIME LEARNING
As a former senior economist for
healthcare and labor market policy to the
President's Council of Economic
Advisers, Sherry Glied, PhD, professor
and chair of the Department of Health
Policy and Management, is plugged into
the national healthcare policy debate. She
works as an adviser to the Congressional
Budget Offi ce and as a policy consultant
to several states. "Things happen very
quickly in health policy,? says Dr. Glied.
"I am able to enrich my course material
with examples of state and federal health
policy being debated, studied, and-in
some cases-passed at the time I am
teaching it. What I present to my students
is 100 percent infl uenced by what's
happening in the real world.?
THE IVY LEAGUE ADVANTAGE
As a part of the Columbia community,
Mailman School students have access to a
university comprised of 16 schools, fi ve
BRINGING FRONTLINE KNOWLEDGE INTO
THE CLASSROOM
Following the devastating tsunami that hit several countries in
Southeast Asia, Neil Boothby, EdD, professor of clinical Global
Health in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family
Health and director of the Program on Forced Migration and
Health, traveled to the region to address the needs of orphans
and separated children. "In Banda Aceh, I helped people search
for lost family members-I'll never forget the joy and relief we
all felt when separated children and parents found one another
through our tracing efforts.?
"Following this experience, I incorporated the experiences of
tsunami survivors into my course on humanitarian response. As
a result, several students from my department have undertaken
summer internships with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
devoted to child protection and care in Aceh.?
mailman.columbia.edu/experience 7