Most of us are used to seeking out healthcare professionals when we are sick, injured or just need routine care. And yet, what many don’t realize is that working parallel to the medical field, public health professionals are working at the population level to improve the quality of lives through health and wellness promotion and illness prevention.
Whether it’s providing access to summer food programs to address children’s food security or creating policy for safe water, public health researchers and practitioners are working with the community to make lives better.
In 2024, UTSA and UT Health San Antonio — now integrated as UT San Antonio — joined forces to help accelerate those efforts with the launch of the UT San Antonio School of Public Health.
“We call our school the ‘people school’ because we want to be people-centered,” says Vasan Ramachandran, founding dean of the School of Public Health. “We are very much grounded in the community. That’s where we want our research experience, our teaching and our service to be.”
Ramachandran adds that the school works with a number of iconic community-based organizations that are grounded in public health.
“Each student in the graduate program is committed to 180 hours of applied practical experience. This experiential learning is community situated. It’s a form of community service learning,” he says.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the field of public health is expected to grow approximately 17% by 2030. Based on data from the Texas Workforce Commission, community and social service occupations are expected to grow to more than 43,000 in Texas in the next six years.
While the new school is ready to contribute to the growing public health workforce, it’s also prepared to mold its programs and students to fit the field’s continuous evolution.
“The number of public health jobs is increasing, but the content of the public health workforce and the jobs are also diversifying,” Ramachandran says. “When we face a situation where we need to expand the public health workforce, I think we try to be as flexible as possible. Some part of it is through educational programming at the graduate and doctorate levels, also creating a portfolio of skill sets that allows the existing public health workforce to upskill.”
He added, “We need health professionals who aren’t just in public health. We need dental and nursing professionals who are interested in public health and, of course, physicians who are interested in public health.”
Regarding UT San Antonio, Ramachandran states, “I think the possibilities are endless and I am incredibly excited about this merger and how we can work together. We have already been working together before the merger, so I hope we can continue to work together to exponentially increase the range of educational programming, the range of research and diversify our portfolio.”
WATCH: UT San Antonio sits down with the School of Public Health’s Founding Director Vasan Ramachandran.
1 Comment
Great work and so needed at a time when we need “good news” of great things to come