Health Professions

At a Glance: Anschutz Medical Campus 

Undergraduate Health Profession Programs, Downtown Campus

Graduate Health Profession Programs, Downtown Campus

Health Profession Programs, Anschutz Medical Campus

Unlike most chapters in this catalog that focus on all programs for a particular school, this chapter provides information about programs within the schools and colleges that prepare students for a career in the health professions. On the Downtown Campus, two colleges offer health-related undergraduate programs. Students who complete their prerequisites or undergraduate degrees on this campus may choose to apply to graduate and health professional programs on the Anschutz Medical Campus. Three schools on the Downtown Campus offer health-related graduate programs. Downtown Campus students may choose to stay and complete a master’s or PhD degree on this campus or apply to programs on the Anschutz Medical Campus. The new state-of-the-art clinical and research facilities on the Anschutz Medical Campus offer students unparalleled training in the health professions. Admission to these programs is very selective, and admission to the Downtown Campus does not assure admission to Anschutz Medical Campus programs. All programs on the Anschutz Medical Campus require incoming students to have either a bachelor’s degree or minimum of 60 semester hours of undergraduate work completed before applying.

Undergraduate Programs on the Downtown Campus

Two colleges on the UC Denver Downtown Campus offer health-related programs for undergraduate students seeking careers in the health sciences. Admission to the Downtown Campus, however, does not assure admission to any professional health career program. Admission to those programs is a separate, competitive process open to qualified applicants from any accredited college or university.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of Biology

Contact: Lisa Johansen
Telephone: 303-556-6250
E-mail: Lisa.Johansen@ucdenver.edu
Web site: www.cudenver.edu/biology/

To serve the needs of students who wish to obtain recognition for the acquisition of specialized skills in biology and to better prepare students for graduate school, health careers and jobs in industry, the Department of Biology offers a certificate program in biotechnology  .

Health Careers

Advisor: Charles Ferguson
Telephone: 303-556-4350
Advisor: Denise Leberer
Telephone: 303-556-2868
Advisor: Kent Nofsinger
Telephone: 303-556-6218
Web site: www.cudenver.edu/clas/healthcareers

Health career advisors on the Downtown Campus assist in planning a course of study designed to improve your chances of success in the health career of your choice, including: dentistry and dental hygiene, medicine, medical technology, nursing, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, podiatry or veterinary medicine. A comprehensive list of health career options and additional information to help you mold your academic experience to your specific goals is available on the health careers Web site.

Health and Behavioral Sciences

Contact for minor: Sharry Erzinger
Telephone: 303-556-6793
Web site: www.cudenver.edu/hbsc/

The health and behavioral sciences department offers a minor in community health science that is designed to provide undergraduates with the basic intellectual and methodological tools needed for public health. The minor in community health science supplements graduate degrees in a broad range of fields, including the biomedical sciences, social and behavioral sciences, public health, law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, business administration and health services research. The program is especially appropriate for students intending to pursue careers in public health, as well as the primary care specialties in medicine, nursing or health policy and administration.

While a major is not currently available, students may develop an individually structured major (ISM) that combines course work in community health sciences with that of related fields such as anthropology, biology and psychology. For details see the Individually Structured Major BA  section in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences chapter  of the catalog.

College of Engineering and Applied Science

Contact: Engineering Student Services (advising)
Telephone: 303-556-4768
Web site: ucdenver.edu/engineering

The desirability of obtaining an engineering education prior to undertaking a study of medicine is increasing continually as medicine itself is evolving. A great deal of new equipment, most of it electronic, is being developed to assist the medical practitioner in treatment of patients. Bioengineering, engineering systems analysis, probability and communication theory are highly applicable to medical problems. The College of Engineering and Applied Science offers students a pre-medicine option.

Graduate Programs on the Downtown Campus

Business School

Director: Errol L. Biggs
Telephone: 303-556-5845
E-mail: Errol.Biggs@ucdenver.edu
Web site: www.business.cudenver.edu/Graduate/index.htm

The Business School offers three degree options for those interested in health administration—MBA, MS and an executive MBA. These three degree options are outlined in the Business School  chapter of this catalog.

College of Engineering and Applied Science

Contact: Lynn E. Johnson
Telephone: 303-556-2372
E-mail: MEngGIS@ucdenver.edu

There are numerous ways in which geographic information systems (GIS) are used throughout health care and public health, including environmental health and epidemiology, disease surveillance and health services research. The College of Engineering and Applied Science offers a master of engineering degree with a GIS option, which emphasizes quantitative methods in the development and application of GIS technologies to a spectrum of discipline-specific settings having significant spatial dimensions.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Department of Anthropology

Graduate Director: John Brett
Telephone: 303-556-8497
Fax: 303-556-8501
Web site: www.cudenver.edu/anthropology

Students may earn an MA with a research concentration in medical anthropology or pursue an integrated MA/PhD in health and behavioral sciences. Details of these programs are included in the Department of Anthropology  section in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences chapter  of this catalog.

Health and Behavioral Sciences

Program Director: Richard Miech
Telephone: 303-556-4300
E-mail: Richard.Miech@ucdenver.edu
Web site: www.cudenver.edu/hbsc/

The interdisciplinary PhD program in health and behavioral sciences provides an overarching framework integrating social and behavioral science perspectives on health and health care, while allowing the student to select and fully develop a particular research interest and professional career. This program has become a leader regionally in the application of GIS to health-related research.

Depending upon a student’s chosen area of concentration, the successful graduate will gain expert knowledge of:

• research design and methods
• the determinants of health and disease
• the structure and organization of health care systems
• behavioral choices and how to use them to enhance wellness
• the contribution of individual, social and cultural factors to health behavior
• how guided change in health care systems may enhance quality, efficacy and access

The significance of these skills in addressing our current health care crisis will insure that graduates will be in demand in a number of employment sectors, ranging from community and public health organizations to nonprofit research organizations and private health care settings.

Programs on the Anschutz Medical Campus

Information about Anschutz Medical Campus programs are in this chapter is for reference only. Contact individual schools and program directors for details.

Graduate School

Contact: Office of the Dean
Telephone: 303-724-2915
Web site: www.uchsc.edu/gs
Degree Programs: Master of science programs in: biostatistics; biophysics and genetics—genetic counseling; clinical science; nursing—nurse midwifery, nurse practitioner (women’s health care, family, adult, geriatric and pediatric), adult clinical nurse specialist, health care informatics, nursing leadership; pediatric special needs

Doctor of philosophy in: biochemistry and molecular genetics; biomedical sciences program; biostatistics; biomolecular structure, cancer biology; cell biology, stem cells and development; clinical science; computational bioscience; epidemiology; health services research; human medical genetics; immunology; microbiology; molecular biology; neuroscience; nursing; pharmacology; pharmaceutical sciences; physiology and biophysics; reproductive sciences; toxicology

At the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus Graduate School, students learn to push the frontiers of human health and disease in more than a dozen basic science, clinical and nursing disciplines. In conjunction with the UC Denver School of Medicine, the Graduate School offers a joint MD/PhD in the medical scientist training program which develops investigators with a broadly-based knowledge of both basic and clinical biomedical sciences. The school’s personal mentor-student emphasis provides a distinctive learning experience.

Health Sciences Programs  

School of Dental Medicine

Contact: Office of Admissions and Student Affairs
Telephone: 303-724-7120
Web site: www.uchsc.edu/sod
Degree Programs: doctor of dental surgery, international student program, orthodontics, periodontics and general practice residency programs

In this nationally recognized, award-winning program, students graduate with the ability to offer a broad range of dental services. It is the most selective dental school in the United States with more than 1,500 applicants annually for only 52 positions in the freshman class. In a program unique in the country, the 202 dental students, as a graduation requirement, also provide an academic year’s dental clinical care to underserved populations throughout Colorado. In addition to the dental students, 45 students are enrolled in the international student program, eight in the general practice residency, nine in the periodontics graduate program and 31 in the orthodontic graduate program. Home to the region’s only university-based dental implant center, the school pioneers research in oral cancer, salivary gland disease, neurobiology and pain control.

School of Medicine

Contact: Office of Admissions
Telephone: 303-724-8025
Web site: www.uchsc.edu/som/admissions
Degree Program: Doctor of medicine

The University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine is nationally and internationally respected for its education, research, patient care and community service programs. Faculty members teach and care for patients at University of Colorado Hospital, The Children’s Hospital, Denver Health, National Jewish Health and the Denver V.A. Medical Center, working side by side with nearly 1,000 graduate doctors in training in medical specialties and generalist care at the university. In addition to providing exceptional patient care and education, the medical school’s greatest achievement has been the ability to attract gifted faculty and students. The school’s physicians and research scientists have pioneered medical breakthroughs that have become national and world models.

Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant

Contact: Office of Admissions
Telephone: 303-724-7963
E-mail: chapa-info@ucdenver.edu
Web site: www.uchsc.edu/chapa
Degree Program: Master of physician assistant studies (MPAS)

Ranked eighth in the nation, the child health associate/physician assistant (CHA/PA) is a primary care PA with specialized training in the care of infants, children and adolescents as well as training in the care of adult patients. Program graduates are prepared to provide comprehensive medical care to patients of all ages and practice under state and national guidelines established for all PAs. Graduates are employed in many settings including managed care organizations, community health centers, physician’s offices, public health agencies, hospitals, school-based adolescent clinics, emergency departments and rural and inner city health care delivery sites.

Physical Therapy

Contact: Physical Therapy Program
Telephone: 303-724-9144
E-Mail: betti.krapfl@ucdenver.edu
Web site: www.uchsc.edu/pt
Degree Program: Doctor of physical therapy (DPT)

The University of Colorado Denver physical therapy program offers a three-year, post-baccalaureate professional education program of didactic learning and extensive clinical experiences culminating in a doctor of physical therapy degree. Graduates are prepared to excel in the physical therapy profession and adapt to the ever-evolving health care environment. As part of the School of Medicine, our entry-level program has been continuously accredited for 60 years. Foundational elements of our curriculum include movement science, evidence-based practice, patient-centered care and the delivery of interprofessional health care services as doctors of physical therapy.

Graduate Medical Education (Residency and Fellowship Programs)

Telephone: 303-724-6031
Web site: www.uchsc.edu/gme

The University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and affiliated hospitals provide graduate medical education (training of residents and fellows) in more than 60 specialties and subspecialties. The Graduate Medical Education Manual provides details about these opportunities on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

Continuing Medical Education

Telephone: 303-724-3552
Web site: www.uchsc.edu/cme/

The School of Medicine provides continuing education opportunities for physicians and other health care professionals worldwide. The mission is to enhance the knowledge, skills and performance of physicians and other health care professionals and, in the process, to improve the health care of the populations they serve.

College of Nursing

Contact: Office of Student Affairs and Diversity
Telephone: 303-724-1812
Web site: www.nursing.ucdenver.edu
Degree Programs: BS in nursing, MS in nursing, doctor of nursing practice (DNP), PhD in nursing

In 2008, the College of Nursing celebrated 110 years of contributions to nursing education, practice and research. The college offers four degrees: BS, MS, DNP and PhD, and is one of 15 U.S. nursing schools selected to pilot a program advancing quality and safety education in nursing (QSEN). The college’s BS graduates consistently place well above the state and national average on the nursing licensure examination. The college annually ranks in the top schools of nursing in the country for the quality of its graduate programs. The College of Nursing is a leading educator of doctorally prepared nurses, internationally recognized for the quality of its graduates as nurse scientists, educators and clinical leaders.

School of Pharmacy

Contact: Office of Student Services
Director: Beverly Brunson
PharmD Telephone: 303-724-2882
PhD Telephone: 303-315-0565
Fax: 303-724-7330
Web site: www.uchsc.edu/sop
Degree Programs: Doctor of pharmacy (PharmD), PhD in toxicology, PhD in pharmaceutical sciences

As drug products become more potent, more complex and more numerous, the need for pharmacists to assume a more active role in consultation and patient counseling has increased remarkably. The University of Colorado Denver School of Pharmacy is one of the nation’s top-ranked pharmacy schools and is committed to pharmaceutical education, research and patient care. The school’s more than 500 professional and graduate students learn about the chemical and physical properties of medicinal agents, the biology of disease and the actions of drugs on the human body, while pursuing either a doctor of pharmacy or PhD degree. The school also provides continuing education programs to pharmacists and other health practitioners throughout the state.

Colorado School of Public Health

Contact: Colorado School of Public Health
Telephone: 303-724-4613
Web site: http://publichealth.ucdenver.edu
Degree Programs: Master of public health (MPH) professional degree; master of science (MS) in biostatistics; doctor of philosophy (PhD) in analytical health sciences—biostatistics, epidemiology, health services research

The Colorado School of Public Health is the first and only school of public health in the Rocky Mountain region. Collaboratively formed by University of Colorado Denver, Colorado State University and University of Northern Colorado, the school supports students, practitioners and communities, with access to educational programs, innovative research and community services.

The new school offers professional, graduate, residency and certificate programs. Each program provides the training that students need to succeed in general and specialized public health careers. Programs of study focus on a variety of professional interests including epidemiological and health services research; biostatistics and medical informatics; community needs assessment; environmental and occupational health; health policy; health promotion; and administration of public health programs. Students entering the public health programs have access to the collective resources and expertise offered by the collaborating universities and multiple community and government partnerships.