The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health is the only school of public health in our nation’s capital and is ranked 14th on U.S. News and World Report's list of Best Public Health Graduate schools. With more than 30 concentrations in public health, our programs engage your interests and prepare you for a successful career as a public health practitioner and researcher. If you haven’t made a decision yet, here are some aspects of Milken Institute SPH that you want to consider: location, faculty and facilities.
Location
The Milken Institute SPH in Washington, D.C., offers students resources that are only available to those studying in the nation’s capital. Part of what makes the Milken Institute SPH stand out is the practicum project students take part in. Students are paired with an organization in D.C. to further their learning in their respective area of public health. Besides the proximity to monuments and the White House, the location provides opportunities to work with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, D.C. Department of Health, the Public Health Foundation, Pan American Health Organization, Red Cross, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Congressional Research Service, the World Bank, and many other government organizations, nonprofits, and think tanks. Students have ample opportunities to intern, work and do research with the leaders in their fields. By taking advantages of D.C.’s resources, public health students can apply what they learn in the classroom to career-related experience.
Faculty
A result of this institution being located in the U.S.’s center of policy and research is having distinguished faculty who are chartering the future of public health. Dean Lynn R. Goldman is a former EPA assistant administrator. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration head under President Barack Obama is now a professor here. Across the five departments—Global Health, Health Policy and Management, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Environmental and Occupational Health, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics—the professors are constantly publishing their research findings and working outside of the university in public health.
Facilities
Milken Institute SPH offers top-notch facilities for its students. In order to have a productive learning experience, you need the resources to succeed. The public health building at 950 New Hampshire Avenue opened in 2014 and this past year won the American Institute of Architects Award for interior architecture. This building is highly sustainable as it is LEED Platinum certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. There are many labs, classrooms and research spaces for all areas of public health study.
In addition to the main building Milken Institute SPH has the Public Health Research Clinic on H Street, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library in Ross Hall, research labs and a greenhouse in the Science and Engineering Building, and a Weight Management and Human Performance Lab at the Virginia Science and Technology campus. The lab is open to the public for testing as well as research for students in the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences.
A degree from the Milken Institute SPH is a two-fold endeavor: The academic component and the real-world experience. Students who choose the Milken Institute SPH join the GW network and work alongside academics, researchers and leaders who impact the landscape of public health. The Milken Institute SPH positions itself at the heart of public health policy, leadership and activism, and just blocks or metro stops away you'll find federal agencies, consulting firms, nonprofits and research centers.
Students choose public health at GW to make a positive change their community, their country and our world.