The Nairobi Centre on 21st November 2019 hosted Columbia University’s Dr. Julie Kornfeld for an information session pertaining on joining Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Julie Kornfeld is the Vice Dean for Education and Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Dr. Murugi Ndirangu , Director of Columbia Global Centers| Nairobi in her opening remarks gave an introduction of Columbia Global Centers Network and welcomed the participants to the information session.
Prof. Julie Kornfeld in her introductory remarks noted that Public Health is a vitally important field for the 21st Century for it impacts health by the millions. She defined public health as a science that aims to understand what causes health/ ill health and also creates new interventions that improve the health of an entire community and individuals. This is through the values and principles of public health of which include: Equity and social justice, protecting the vulnerable and collective action. The Mailman School of Public Health’s mission as pointed out by Prof. Julie Kornfeld is ‘Improving Health for all.’ At the Mailman school, what they mostly do is: perform scientific research to generate new knowledge, train the next generation of public health leaders and translate science for impact.
As part of the information session, Prof. Julie Kornfeld gave a snapshot of the Mailman School of academics. The school currently educates an approximate number of 1500 students across 6 departments. These six departments include: Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, Health Policy and Management, Population and Family Health and Sociomedical Sciences. The most common course offered according to the professor is the Masters in Public Health (MPH) that takes quite a number of students, the other courses include: Masters of Health Administration (MHA), Masters of Science (MS), Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) and Ph.D. Programs.
For those who would like to join the Mailman School of Public Health, the admission requirements include:
- Completion of a SOPHAS application that includes all postsecondary school transcripts, three letters of recommendation, resume, statement of purpose and test scores
- Your test scores of either GRE for local students and TOEFL for international students are acceptable.
- Work experience, although this is variant according to the department.
- Filing applications before the set deadlines.
Thereafter, Prof Julie Kornfeld highlighted on the financial aid for international students pointing out that they do not qualify for US federal aid but are considered for other sources of aid. These sources of aid include:
- Institutional Aid merit scholarships- based on high academic achievement.
- Institutional Aid non-merit scholarships- this is mostly need-based, for the needy applicants.
- Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA’s) and Teaching Assistantships (TA’s) of which are awarded by the different departments.
- Private loans of which do not require a U.S co-signer.
Prof. Julie Kornfeld also touched on the issue of housing stating that on-campus housing is in most cases offered for international students as they are considered the first priority in such cases. The houses are 1-4 bedroomed apartments fully furnished, located close to the institute and a meal plan is available for those residing in the houses.
For more information on the Mailman School of Public Health programs, visit:
https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/become-student/degrees/degree-programs-department
For help in application please visit the school site:
https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/
