Graduate Opportunities in Aging
One of the major public health objectives of the United States
is to enhance and maintain the health, vitality, and independence
of its aging population. To meet this challenge, the School of
Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley has
increased its commitment to the field of aging, including the
development of special courses, field placements, and research
opportunities.
Admission
Students interested in pursuing course work and/or research
in aging should apply to an appropriate degree program (M.P.H.,
Dr.PH., or Ph.D.) in one of the regular academic programs of the
School of Public Health. Upon admission, the student's advisor
will help him or her develop a program of study that includes
elective courses in aging and, as appropriate, field work and
research opportunities in health and aging.
Specialty in Aging
Students may designate aging as a specialty area. In addition
to completing requirements for a specific academic program, e.g.,
health education or epidemiology, students may complete a 9-unit
series of courses in aging. This series consists of a 3-unit core
course, Aging and Public Health, and 6 units of elective courses
in aging offered through the School of Public Health and/or other
academic units on campus.
Internship Opportunities
Students in many fields within the School of Public Health
participate in three to six month field placements or internships
as part of their degree programs. Opportunities for such placements
within agencies or programs concerned with aging include:
- Alzheimer's Unit, California Department of Health Services
- California Pacific Medical Center Senior Services
- Family Caregiver Alliance
- Health Care Financing Administration
- Hillhaven Corporation
- Medicare Advocacy Project
- Northern California Alzheimer's Disease Center
- On Lok
- Over 60 Health Center
- San Francisco Commission on Aging
- San Francisco Veterans Administration
- Tenderloin Senior Organizing Project (TSOP)
- The Guardian Foundation
- U.S. Senate Select Committee on Aging
School of Public Health Faculty with Teaching and/or Research
Interests in Aging
- Paul J. Gertler, Ph.D., Professor of Economics and Finance,
Health Policy & Management,Recipient, NIA Leadership Award--the
role of regulation and finance in health care markets; the internal
organization of health care in stitutions; social health insurance
in developing countries; financing and allocating public health
care resources in developing countries; the economics of population
and reproductive health.
- Teh-wei Hu, Ph.D., Professor, Health Policy & Management--economics
of health and aging; management of incontinence in nursing homes;
comparison of costs of institutional vs. non-institutional care.
- Guy Micco, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Joint Medical
Program, Division of Health & Medical Sciences & Acting
Director, Resource Center on Aging--medicine & aging; death
& dying, interface of medicine and the humanities; the doctor-patient
relationship; virtue and narrative ethics.
- Meredith Minkler, Dr.P.H., Professor, Health Education and
Behavioral Sciences--social support and health of the elderly;
the political economy of aging; intergenerational issues.
- Thomas Rundall, Ph.D., Professor, Health Policy & Management--the
effects of social structure on the health and health behavior
of the elderly; health services utilization; health care reimbursement
for the elderly and the poor.
- William Satariano, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Dean for Public
Health Practice and Professor of Epidemiology--epidemiology of
aging and cancer; aging and disability; aging and physical activity.
- Richard Scheffler, Ph.D., Professor, Health Policy &
Management--medigap insurance and the elderly; implications of
an aging population for health care costs, reimbursement, and
service delivery strategies.
- Helen Schauffler, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Health Policy
& Management--disease prevention and aging; reimbursement
for preventive services under Medicare; organization and financing
of long-term care services for the elderly.
- Ira B. Tager, M.D., Professor, Epidemiology--pulmonary disease,
infectious and chronic disease in the elderly, age-related changes
in physical functioning.
- Constantine Tempelis, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Immunology--Aging
its influence on immune regulation.
Special Training Programs
The School of Public Health currently offers a training program
in the Economics of Aging and Health Services.
Courses in Aging *
The following courses on aging are offered through the School
of Public Health:
- Aging: Value and Social Policy Issues
- Health Promotion and the Elderly
- Topics in Long Term Care Administration
- Nutrition and Aging
- Ethical Issues in Aging and Health
- Aging Health & Functioning
- Aging and Public Health
- Epidemiology of Aging
- Advances in Aging: Different topics each semester (offered
jointly with Molecular and Cell Biology )
* Not all courses are offered every academic year.
Further Information
For further information about graduate work in aging at the
School of Public Health, please contact one of the following:
- Dr. Meredith Minkler, Professor
Health & Medical Sciences
140 Warren Hall-7360
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720
- Dr. William Satariano, Associate Dean for Public Health Practice
School of Public Health
140 Warren Hall-7360
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720
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