The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison recognizes that in order to address the evolving health care needs of the residents of Wisconsin and beyond, an integrated approach that unites medicine and public health will be required.

Our approach also embraces the Wisconsin Idea, the principle that education should influence and improve people's lives beyond the university classroom. The Wisconsin Idea can be felt in many of the UW School and Medicine and Public Health's education, research and community outreach programs. Among these are:

• The Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM), an emphasis within the MD curriculum that addresses the shortage of physicians in rural areas
• Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH), a new focus within the MD curriculum geared toward medical students who are committed to providing health care for urban populations and to reducing health disparities
• The Survey of the Health of Wisconsin, the first statewide research survey of its kind to measure information on critical health conditions in Wisconsin
• The Wisconsin Partnership Program, an initiative that addresses Wisconsin's most important health issues by joining with local, regional and statewide groups
• UW Health's Pediatric Fitness Clinic, which offers a program a program to help children develop healthy habits of exercise and good nutrition. The clinic is part of a broader initiative known as the Wisconsin Prevention of Obesity and Diabetes, or WiPOD. The group brings together people from across UW-Madison, including such diverse departments as soil sciences, urban planning and engineering, along with the medical community to address the issue of childhood obesity.
• The Statewide Education and Outreach Programs at the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI), which works with clinicians at UW and across the state to help patients quit, putting the latest research results into everyday practice

A Revolutionary Model of Medicine and Public Health

In 2005, the University of Wisconsin Medical School sought and received approval from the UW Board of Regents to change its name to the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

The goal of the name change and the transformation that began in 2008 is clear: to bridge the disciplines of biomedical and population health sciences and to integrate public health into the school's core missions.

By doing this, we will develop a revolutionary new model that unites traditional medicine and public health. The overarching vision is extremely important, and admittedly ambitious:

We will build a new and better infrastructure for the promotion of health and the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease for the people of Wisconsin, which will then serve the nation as the leading model for improving the health of the public.

Learn More About Our Transformation