The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston. Immediately adjacent to the School, are the Harvard Medical School, the Countway Medical Library, one of the most complete biomedical research collections in the country, and the research laboratories of seven affiliated hospitals and institutes. A free shuttle bus links the Longwood Medical Area with MIT and Harvard University in Cambridge, which is just across the Charles River. Together, Boston and Cambridge offer a geographically compact, yet rich and varied academic and cultural environment. This program emphasizes the opportunities to take courses, train with mentors, work with colleagues and peers and capitalize on Harvard’s centers and institutes in both locations.
Students often live near the Medical School or in neighboring Brookline, while others live in Cambridge or Boston. Harvard University dormitories are available in Cambridge for rent for married students and graduate students. University housing is also available for rent for single students in Vanderbilt Hall in the Longwood Medical Area. Athletic facilities, health services, student lounges, and computer facilities are available in both Cambridge and the Longwood Medical Area. Students have access to all the libraries of Harvard University, which is the largest university library system in the world.
Forty-three colleges and universities in the metropolitan area sponsor a multitude of cultural and intellectual activities, all easily accessible via public transportation. In addition to a long list of renowned institutions, such as the Museum of Science and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston itself is a museum, with hundreds of historical sites and an exciting range of architectural styles as well as ethnically diverse neighborhoods offering an international flavor.
Recreational opportunities in the Boston area are many and varied. Sports fans can follow the Patriots, Bruins, Celtics, or the Red Sox—Fenway Park is only a short walk from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Within the city, the Charles River offers an afternoon of sailing and windsurfing, while the network of parks known as the “Emerald Necklace” winds its way from Kenmore Square, through Olmsted Park and past Jamaica Pond to the 265-acre Arnold Arboretum, which is both a city park and a Harvard research facility. Walden Pond and the Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge in Concord are within biking distance. The beaches of Cape Cod, and skiing, hiking, and camping in the Berkshires, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are accessible in day trips.
