The proposed Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program responds to the continuing strong need for individuals who combine understanding of psychiatric disturbances with expert knowledge of epidemiology. The program is located in the Department of Mental Health of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which has epidemiology as its orienting framework. The Program draws core faculty from the Department of Mental Health and Department of Epidemiology, in the School of Public Health, and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine. Core faculty are recognized leaders in the field of psychiatric epidemiology, have proven ability as mentors, and are engaged in a range of cutting edge research which provides learning and apprenticeship possibilities for trainees. Ten international leaders in this field are affiliate faculty who can provide advice, networks, and data to trainees. The Department of Mental Health provides extensive physical, organizational, intellectual, and financial support to the Training Program. The Department of Mental Health recently revised its doctoral curriculum, broadening its disciplinary base, consistent with the NIH Roadmap, and adding new requirements to strengthen the quality of the graduates. Doctoral trainees take at least six quarters of epidemiology, seven quarters of biostatistics, and nine quarters in Mental Health, usually completing their comprehensive written exam during the latter part of the second year of study. Papers based on analyses of public use datasets in psychiatric epidemiology are required in the first year of study. Experiences in teaching, public presentation, and publication of scientific papers within and outside the dissertation topic are a required part of the curriculum. Postdoctoral fellows, of whom about half are psychiatrists, design a program of epidemiologic research in concert with their advisor. High quality applications originate from around the country and heavily outnumber available positions. The program has become increasingly selective over the past five years. Graduates of the program publish widely, obtain research grants, and have historically provided national and international leadership in the field of psychiatric epidemiology. Recent graduates have chosen excellent positions from a range of opportunities in government, the health care industry, and academia.
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