Brief Introduction to the School of Public Health, XXMU
(revised in December of 2015)

The origin of the School of Public Health at Xinxiang Medical University (XXMU) can be traced back to 1953, with the establishment of the Public Health Teaching Unit, which took on responsibility for the teaching of public health courses for all majors in the university. In 1962, teaching activities were expanded to include teaching experiments, specifically designed and demonstrated for the benefit of the undergraduates. The Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology was first established in December of 1991. Driven by an expansion of the range of disciplines it covered, the Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology was merged with the Department of Preventive Medicine in February of 1996. In July of 2004, the Department of Public Health was formally inaugurated, which would go on to serve as the immediate precursor to the School of Public Health chartered in 2012.

Currently, the School of Public Health has seven Departments including the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, the Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, the Department of Child and Maternal Health, the Department of Toxicology, the Department of Health Inspection and Quarantine, and the Department of General Medicine. The Departments share a laboratory for both teaching and research purposes. The School also anchors a Research Center for General Medicine Education, the only one of its kind in Henan Province. Presently, the School has 57 faculty members, of which 6 hold the rank of professor, 10 associate professors and 34 lecturers. Fifty four (95%) of the School’s faculty hold advanced academic degrees (Master and/or PhD). Among our faculty, one professor receives special allowances from China Department of State and one was appointed as Distinguished Professor in Henan Province. In addition, two professors serve as PhD advisors, and seven are Specially-Appointed Professors (of which four are designated as Foreign Experts).

In the past few years, the School has established more comprehensive training programs for both graduates and undergraduate students. There is now a training program that leads to the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree, and a joint General and Clinical Medicine postgraduate training program. Newly established undergraduate majors include Preventive Medicine, Clinical Medicine, and Health Inspection and Quarantine. The Preventive Medicine program began admitting students in 2004, with graduates eligible to earn a Bachelor’s degree in medicine in 5 years. The Clinical Medicine program began admitting students in 2010 and trains students in the full range of clinical methodologies and approaches, awarding graduates a Clinical Medicine degree in 5 years. The newest program, Hygiene Inspection and Quarantine, was instituted in 2012 and leads to a Bachelor’s degree in Science in 4 years.

At present, the School of Public Health has been designated a Key Discipline (Occupational and Environmental Health) at the provincial level. In addition, the Xinxiang Municipal Key Laboratory for Air Pollution Effects and Intervention, and the Key Laboratory for Environmental Pollution and Health Assessment at XXMU have been chartered. The newly developed facilities include the laboratories for Environmental Pollution and Health Risk Assessment Lab, Bio-safety (P2) Lab, Translational Medicine, Molecular Biology, Health Inspection, Environment Exposure and Cell Culture, and the IVC Animal Facility, Instrument Room, and the Bioinformatics Center. Since 2012, the School has been awarded 61 research grants and published more than 80 books and articles in peer-reviewed international journals.

Currently, the School has international research collaborations with the universities and institutes in the United States, Australia, and South Korea.

The vision for developing the School of Public Health in the next 5 years include implementation of academic innovation, a drive to elevate the quality of teaching and research activities, a commitment to the recruitment of an outstanding international faculty, and sustaining a strong international collaboration program in teaching and research.