UC Irvine’s College of Health Sciences is dedicated to preparing the healthcare professionals, biomedical researchers and educators of tomorrow and to expanding the boundaries of knowledge across a broad range of health-related disciplines.
Housed within one of the nation's top research universities, the College of Health Sciences brings together top-tier faculty, clinicians, researchers, health care professionals and students in four fields. It encompasses the School of Medicine, the Program in Nursing Science, the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Program in Public Health.
By joining the emerging programs in nursing, pharmaceutical sciences and public health with the School of Medicine in one college, our goal is to foster significant new opportunities for interdisciplinary graduate programs and both basic and clinical research within the college and across the entire campus.
Indeed, UC Irvine’s health sciences programs have earned a growing national reputation for excellence since the College of Health Sciences was founded in 2004. Research funding in the emerging programs has more than tripled and the number of students and graduate students has grown exponentially.
The School of Medicine, which is ranked as one of the top 50 U.S. medical schools for research by U.S. News & World Report, is by far the largest of college’s four units. It educates more than 400 medical students and trains more than 600 residents and fellows at the UC Irvine Medical Center and affiliated institutions. Its 560 full-time and 1,300 volunteer faculty are involved in teaching, providing medical care and conducting research on the health challenges facing the 21st century.
Since it was established in 2006, the Program in Nursing Science has enrolled more than 120 students in its undergraduate program, which is dedicated to providing a strong research-based and professional curriculum. It won speedy accreditation in May 2009, in time for the graduation of its inaugural class in June. A master’s program in nursing science begins in September 2009.
A doctoral program to be created under a future School of Nursing Science is expected eventually to attract top graduate students and post-doctoral scholars to undertake research in chronic illness, health care quality and cost-effectiveness, disease prevention and palliative care, among other areas.
Pharmaceutical Sciences, which gained department status in 2007, produced its first graduates in 2008 and has launched doctoral programs in medicinal chemistry and pharmacology. The department brings together chemists, molecular biologists, pharmacologists and chemical engineers to train students to work in the rapidly changing arena of drug discovery and development.
The Program in Public Health was formally established in 2003 to bring together existing academic strengths in various sub-disciplines of public health, as well as to facilitate well-grounded training and innovative research. Undergraduate degree programs were launched in 2006, followed in 2007 by the creation of the Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention to advance the collaborative and interdisciplinary mission of public health research and education.
In coming years, the Program in Public Health is expected to become a School of Public Health, offering accredited undergraduate, masters and doctoral programs, as well as a dual medical and public health degrees with the School of Medicine.