doctor listening to the heart and lungs of a patient

Preventive Medicine Residency

This residency is available to physicians at the PGY-2 or higher level. The program integrates both academic and practicum experience and is offered through the Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine's Department of Family Medicine. The academic portion of the training is provided by the Master of Public Health (MPH) program. Residents spend the majority of their time during the two years gaining practicum experience at affiliated public healthcare and community organizations with release time for MPH coursework and other residency-related activities. A two-year, practicum-only program is available to residents who already have an MPH or equivalent degree.

Welcome from the director

Welcome to the Preventive Medicine Residency Program! We are pleased that you are interested in our program offered by the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. We offer a comprehensive two-year training program that prepares physicians with the skills they need to practice high-quality public health and preventive medicine in order to respond to the pressing health issues facing Colorado, the United States and the world. We are located in beautiful, mountainous Colorado and our position in its cosmopolitan capital presents our residents with numerous opportunities for practicum rotations.

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Curriculum

This program offers a wide variety of required and elective rotations, enabling the resident to meet all competencies required for graduation and eligibility to sit for the examination of the American Board of Preventive Medicine. These include practice opportunities in public health agencies, community health clinics, hospitals, community health organizations, research centers, a health maintenance organization, and other public health and preventive medicine-related organizations.

Opportunities for practice in both rural and urban health settings, and at sites serving underserved populations, are available. Throughout the practical rotations, competency-based learning objectives guide the residents and practicum site directors in developing site-specific objectives for the residents. Training requirements, competency objectives, and resident interests guide choice of practice sites.

Required rotations

At least one of the following public health agencies (public health practice):

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE)
Denver Public Health
Jefferson County Public Health
Tri-County Health Department

Veterans Affairs Medical Center (clinical preventive medicine, emergency preparedness, and research)

Clinical rotations:

Concentra Occupational Health Clinic
Denver Public Health Tuberculosis and Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics
Jefferson County Public Health Family Planning/Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinic
Veterans Affairs Medical Center - Tobacco Reduction and Cessation and Skin Clinics, Prevention Consult

Elective rotations:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (Fort Collins, CO)
Clinica Family Health Services (Longmont, CO)
Colorado Foundation for Medical Care
Denver Center for Occupational Safety and Health
Denver Community Health Services
Health District of Northern Larimer County (Fort Collins, CO)
Health Teamworks
Kaiser Permanente Colorado Population and Prevention Services
National Jewish Health Salud Family Health Centers (Fort Lupton, CO)
The Center for Integrative Medicine

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus—education and research programs:

Colorado Area Health Education Centers Program
Comprehensive Cancer Center
High Plains Research Network

Clinical Preventive Medicine
Public Health
Community/Rural Health
Quality Improvement
Cancer Prevention and Control

Residents participate in a variety of activities together, including a comprehensive introduction to preventive medicine and public health activities in the Denver area in the first summer, and weekly seminars throughout the two years.

In partnership with the Denver Prevention Training Center at Denver Public Health, our program offers one residency position per year that focuses on capacity building related to HIV and STI prevention throughout an eight-state region. This 10-month track includes clinical training in STI and HIV diagnosis and treatment, practicum experience providing consultative and training services, and two longitudinal research projects. Additionally, residents will have the opportunity to attend national and regional meetings and an annual STD Prevention Conference. This unique track aims to develop a physician workforce with expertise in the intersection of population health and infectious disease.

Course name	Credits
Core required courses
Foundations in Public Health	2
Applied Biostatistics 1	3
Social and Behavioral Factors and Health	3
Epidemiology	3
Environmental and Occupational Health	3
Health Systems and Management	3
Capstone Preparation	1
Capstone Integration	1
Total	19
Concentration required course
Analytical Epidemiology	3
Applied Biostatistics II	3
Research Methods in Epidemiology	3
Biostatics SAS Lab	1
Total	10
Residency required courses
Cancer Prevention and Control (for Cancer Track Residents)	2
Clinical Preventive Services	1
Total	3
Possible electives (examples only)
Advanced health management course, such as: Public Health Administration Strategic Management in Health Care Management of Nonprofit Organizations	Varies
Advanced environmental health course, such as: Environmental and Occupational Toxicology Environmental Exposures and Health Effects Infectious Diseases, Environmental Contexts	Varies
Other public health electives Applied Global Health Epidemiology Investigation of Disease Outbreaks Injury & Violence Epidemiology & Prevention Public Health Emergency & Disaster Responder Tech-Based Health Promotion Methods in Research & Evaluation	Varies
Total	42

Salary and benefits

Careers

The specialty of Preventive Medicine offers a broad range of challenging career opportunities. The underlying philosophy of preventive medicine physicians is to promote health and wellness of both communities and individuals by the prevention of disease and injury. Preventive medicine physicians devote most or all of their careers to health promotion/disease prevention.

Physicians with graduate training from the General Preventive Medicine Residency program at the University of Colorado Denver Colorado School of Public Health gain the skills necessary to pursue a variety of careers.

Example alumni careers

Medical Epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control
Medical Consultant, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine, Loma Linda University
Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Director of Public Health, Naval Hospital, Camp LeJeune
Primary care physician, San Diego Community Health Center
Medical Director, Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office Detention Facility (Colorado)

Career paths

Preventive medicine physicians work in both public and private clinical settings, focusing on activities such as immunization programs, screening programs, risk identification, and risk reduction. Implementation of health promotion/disease prevention programs in various health care delivery organizations, including direct provision of clinical preventive medicine in the context of primary care, are part of this career option.

Preventive medicine physicians in public health have the opportunity to work at the local, state, or federal level. Public health physicians identify the health needs of the community, set priorities, and develop health programs. Disease surveillance as well as environmental health monitoring are major components of the public health physician's work.

Preventive medicine physicians have the clinical background in addition to the training in epidemiology and health care systems needed to manage a health organization. As managers, they are actively involved in health planning, policy development, cost efficacy, resource allocation, and program evaluation.

Alumni spotlight

Alumni receives Ronald Davis Award from American College of Preventive Medicine

Carolyn Murray, MD, MPH, is an assistant professor of medicine and an assistant professor of community and family medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. She is also an assistant professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and the vice-chair of public health and general preventive medicine for the American Board of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Murray received the Ronald Davis Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to preventive medicine.

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Core faculty and staff

Colorado School of Public Health

CU Anschutz

Fitzsimons Building

13001 East 17th Place

3rd Floor

Mail Stop B119

Aurora, CO 80045

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Preventive Medicine Residency

Welcome from the director

Curriculum

Required rotations

Salary and benefits