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35 Years: A Milestone for the Arnold School of Public Health
G. Thomas Chandler
The year was 1975. The February 1 issue of the American Journal of Public Health featured articles on topics that seem startlingly relevant today – preventive medicine, children’s mental health services, suicide prevention, and payment for healthcare .
An editorial in that issue lamented the lack of attendance by public health professionals at a U.S. Senate meeting to discuss pending legislation that would determine the fate of airbags in automobiles. Another, focused on the growing pressures placed on physicians, stated “fee constraints are the most prominent sources of stress; consumerism serves as a second source.”
And a new book, “Schools of Public Health: Present and Future,” was reviewed in the journal – just months before the College of Public Health and Associated Health Programs at the University of South Carolina opened its doors to a few dozen students and a grand total of seven faculty. The college’s total budget was less than $500,000. Four years later, the College of Public Health at USC became only the 19th school of public health in the nation.
While the year 1975 may seem to be in our far-distant past, the School of Public Health has moved at a fast pace to ensure that we prepare an educated public health workforce that will meet the changing and challenging demands of the 21st century, not only in the Palmetto State but throughout our nation and world. In 1975, our nation and world were a remarkably different place with regard to health. The public health field was not yet shaken by HIV/AIDS, rampant childhood obesity, West Nile virus, H5N1, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob, nor confronted by concerns about “emerging threats” such as nanomaterials, endocrine disruptors and bioterrorism. These new threats are joined by many from the past – cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.
The primary difference today is that the opportunities and resources to address these problems are more available and sophisticated than at any time in human history. The detailed sequencing of the human genome and consequent bioinformatically-based biomarkers of “predisposition to disease” make this the “biomedical” century, and public health needs and applications will lead the way.
For those of you who have reached age 35 and beyond, you probably consider this time period as one of maturity. You’ve moved from youth on to the fulfillment of your dreams and goals, and you appreciate what wisdom you have gained from time and life’s experiences.
The same is true for the Arnold School of Public Health, named for Norman J. Arnold and his wife Gerry Sue, whose generous gifts in 2000 are bearing fruit now and ensuring a bright future for our students and the public’s health.
Today, the Arnold School is a “mature” college at USC, and one of 43 Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accredited schools in the nation. We are the only school of public health in South Carolina, and we have grown and changed dramatically in 35 years.
In 2009, the Arnold School achieved a new extramural research funding record of more than $27 million, with almost half coming from the prestigious National Institutes of Health. Our annual operating budget has grown from $500,000 in 1975 to almost $20 million today. We lead the university’s colleges and schools in extramural funding per tenure-track faculty (more than $450,000 per faculty per year), and we are a major contributor to the University’s recent recognition by the Carnegie Foundation as an institution of “high community service activity” and “high research activity.”
The Arnold School continues its proud tradition of educating the next generation of public health professionals. We presently serve a population of more than 650 graduate and 800 undergraduate students from throughout the nation and world. Two new bachelor’s degree programs in public health have been launched to help alleviate the looming shortage of healthcare providers, including 250,000 public health workers retiring by 2015.
Public health students receive a solid foundation in natural sciences, epidemiology, environmental health, health behaviors, health services, and ethics to equip them for master’s and doctoral degree programs in public health, medicine, pharmacy, environment, kinesiology, physical therapy, and health systems management. Our undergraduate program in exercise science is one of the largest and best recognized at USC. We have a young doctoral program in physical therapy that is rapidly becoming one of the most competitive in the country.
The Arnold School’s Ph.D. program in exercise science is consistently ranked among the top five nationally, and we have three faculty members who are past presidents of the American College of Sports Medicine. We were the first school of public health in the nation to have a department of exercise science – a tribute to the vision of Dean Winona Vernberg and public health faculty who were among the first to recognize the important link between physical activity and health.
We were also one of the first to build a department focused on teaching and research in communication sciences and disorders. That unit today leads the state and region in annual production of high quality speech pathologists, and it is a leading competitor for top tier NIH funding in brain and laryngeal studies related to speech acquisition/production, stroke, and dysphasia. Arnold School faculty in several departments are recognized internationally for their scholarship demonstrating the many positive linkages between physical activity and health, plus the important linkages of nutrition, built environments, environmental quality, and access to healthful lifestyles.
One obvious but vital link missing in the 1975 public health field was the impressive cadre of Arnold School alumni who are serving in key public health positions here and throughout the world. The breadth of their knowledge and the strength of their commitment to create a more healthful world are invaluable in our mission to protect and improve the health of children and adults.
These are challenging but exciting times for our school and university. State assistance to the university has declined almost 35 percent in only two years and additional cuts may come. Few households could remain vibrant with this magnitude of loss to the bottom line; but I am pleased and indeed proud to say that Arnold School faculty, staff and students have met this challenge with an entrepreneurial spirit, intensified efforts (and success!) to find non-state sources of funding, and a “can do” attitude unlike anything I have ever witnessed in my 22 years at USC.
As we celebrate 35 years of public health education, research and outreach, I can tell you that the Arnold School is working at the very heart of health protection and promotion for our citizens as evidenced by the many high profile articles and accolades generated by our faculty and students and the dedication of our valuable staff.
As Dean of the Arnold School 35 years from its humble beginning, I feel very fortunate to lead an amazing group of more than 100 doctoral professionals undeterred by budget cuts and other events from achieving our mission to prevent disease by a focus on communities and the multiple economic, social and environmental determinants of “good health.”
Please send your comments and questions to tchandler@sc.edu
G. Thomas Chandler
Dean, Arnold School of Public Health