Lombard — National University of Health Sciences (NUHS) and the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) are now partnering to offer two new coordinated degree programs for students interested in health sciences and research. Now students may earn a doctor of chiropractic degree (DC) while concurrently earning a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree or a Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Science degree (MS CTS) from UIC.

“These coordinated degree programs take advantage of advanced standing credits in each school, allowing students to finish both degrees in a shorter amount of time than if they took each program separately,” says Victoria Sweeney, Director of Admissions at NUHS. “This also means a potential savings in tuition costs for both programs.”

Finishing a coordinated degree program requires between 12 and 14 trimesters to complete, and students must meet separate and specific admissions requirements for both schools, which include: a minimum 3.25 GPA, a baccalaureate in the biological sciences, experience in health care or and public health, and an expressed desire for a career that includes public health or clinical research.

The program is supported in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NIH NCCAM R25 AT002872. G. Cramer, principal investigator). Students accepted into the coordinated degree during the R25 grant duration may be eligible for scholarship benefits.

“Earning both a first professional degree, such as a DC, in addition to an academic degree in public health or research, can open a wide variety of career options,” explains program manager, Dr. Barbara Sullivan. “An MPH can prepare grads for public health policy development and administration, academics, government and research, as well as a wide spectrum of private and group practices.”

“The MS CTS will prepare grads to participate in clinical research studies and translate clinical research into real-time applicable clinical practice guidelines and standards, advancing complementary and alternative medical professions,” adds Dr. Sullivan.

“To our knowledge this is the first formalized collaborative graduate degree program between a CAM institution (National University of Health Sciences) and a traditional, research intensive institution (the University of Illinois Chicago) in the US,” says Dr. Gregory Cramer, dean of research for National University.

“Educational institutional collaborative efforts such as this benefit students, institutions and society in general,” said Dr. Winterstein, President of National University of Health Sciences, “for through such efforts we grow our pool of learned professionals at a significant cost savings. We are very grateful to the University of Illinois for their commitment to this joint effort.”

For more information, or to begin the application process for one of the above coordinated degree programs, contact NUHS Office of Admissions at 1-800-826-6285, or email [email protected].

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