Ten years ago, HSPH devised a way for public health professionals to spend their summers hitting the books instead of the beach—and judging by the popularity of the Harvard Summer Session for Public Health Studies, the professionals don’t mind a bit.

The Summer Session offers graduate courses in biostatistics; environmental health; epidemiology; health policy and management; and health and social behavior.

The courses are the same as those during the academic year, but they last three weeks, instead of eight weeks, and classes meet each day.

The coursework is intended for health professionals in training or those who are considering a mid-career change into public health.

The session launched in 1993 and attracts students from many countries. Last year, 160 students from across the U.S., Asia, Canada, Europe, and Latin America attended. More than half were physicians.

This year’s group arrives on July 1. For more information
about the program, visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/summer/brochure/.

As part of the Summer Session, Harvard faculty deliver lectures open to all HSPH students, staff, and faculty each Tuesday. See sidebar for a listing.

Also coming to the school on July 1 are students taking part in the Program in Clinical Effectiveness, designed for physicians who want to enhance their training in clinical research methods or who are interested in health care administration.

Launched 16 years ago, the program has trained approximately 1,130 physicians. For more information about the program, visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/clineff/.

The Master of Science (SM) degree in Health Care Management program accommodates physicians who work as leaders in health care organizations. The participants maintain their full-time jobs, coming to HSPH for three weeks during each of two summers. In the academic year, the physicians come to the school five times for four-day weekends per year. In addition, they spend 10 to 15 hours each week conducting work off-campus to be applied to their SM. For more information about the program, visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/mhcm/.

Summer Session
Hot Topics 2003

HSPH students, faculty, and staff are invited to the following lectures, which are part of the Harvard Summer Session for Public Health Studies.

All talks take place on Tuesdays, 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m., in FXB G-13:

July 8: “What are the Beliefs and Values Driving U.S. Health Policy?”
Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and management, Department of Health Policy and Management

July 15: “Bioterrorism Preparedness and Connectivity”
Leonard Marcus, lecturer on public health practice, Department of Health Policy and Management; co-investigator, Harvard Center for Public Health Preparedness

July 22: “Occupational Health in China”
David Christiani, professor of occupational medicine and epidemiology, Departments of Environmental Health and Epidemiology

July 29: “Violence Against Women, Sexual Health Risks, and Unwanted Pregnancy”
Jay Silverman, assistant professor of health and social behavior, Department of Health and Social Behavior

August 5: “You Are What You Eat—But Do You Know What You Are Eating?”
Eric Rimm, associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition, Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition

August 12: “Risk Perception: Why Our Fears Don’t Match the Facts”
David Ropeik, director of risk communication, Harvard Center for Risk Analysis

Sponsored by the Office for Professional Education, (617) 432-0090.