smiling 2023 MD graduates in their gowns

Education

The Wisconsin Partnership Program supports strategic education initiatives as well as investments in public health and leadership training and workforce development to prepare future health professionals to meet the health needs of the people of Wisconsin.

Institutional support and funding from the Wisconsin Partnership Program catalyzed the transformation of the UW School of Medicine into the nation’s first school of medicine and public health. With significant support from the Wisconsin Partnership Program, the School of Medicine and Public Health has established itself as a leader and serves as a national model for its comprehensive educational approach as a fully integrated school of medicine and public health. Graduates are better prepared to play a substantial role in promoting health for patients and populations.

Funded projects and initiatives address the state’s public health and critical workforce needs. Among their many accomplishments, these projects help communities advance local health improvements, enhance medical education and have helped increase the number of physicians practicing in rural areas.

Master of Public Health Program

Originally established in 2004 with a grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program, the Master of Public Health program trains students and practitioners in public health concepts and methods. Graduates are prepared to participate in community-based clinical health services and population-focused research. The Master of Public Health Program’s strengths include an interdisciplinary approach to public health, practice and evidence-based teaching, a focus on meeting the students’ learning needs, and an emphasis on field experience.

Increasing Indigenous Representation in Medicine

The Increasing Indigenous Representation in Medicine through Academics EnGagement and American INovation (IIMAGIN) initiative supports the Native American Center for Health Professions (NACHP) in strengthening its vital work to expand the representation of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI) health professionals in the health sciences fields and within health care delivery settings.  The grant is led by Bret Benally Thompson, MD, assistant professor of medicine and faculty advisor for NACHP, and Danielle Yancey, MS, NACHP director.

Read the IIMAGIN press release

Preventive Medicine Residency Program

The Preventive Medicine Residency Program supports the training of UW School of Medicine and Public Health preventive medicine residents as public health and population medicine leaders, skilled within the field of public health and health care systems.

Transforming Medical Education

Transforming Medical Education, a strategic initiative funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Program, supported the development of the ForWard curriculum, an innovative education model which infuses public health principles and practices into the School of Medicine and Public Health medical curriculum. The result is graduates who are better prepared to think beyond the exam room and consider how social, economic and policy issues influence the health of the patients and populations they serve.

Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM)

Funding from the Wisconsin Partnership Program was instrumental in establishing the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM), an innovative educational program to address the critical need for physicians in rural Wisconsin. WARM is a rural education program within the School of Medicine and Public Health Doctor of Medicine Program curriculum that teaches medical students the skills necessary to practice in a rural setting, with the goal of improving health and health care in rural Wisconsin communities.

Wisconsin Partnership Scholarship Program

This Wisconsin Partnership Scholarship Program provides tuition support to increase the recruitment and retention of medical students at the School of Medicine and Public Health from communities that are disproportionately impacted by health inequities or adverse health outcomes.

Wisconsin Population Health Service Fellowship Program

The Wisconsin Population Health Service Fellowship Program strengthens the public health workforce as it trains public health leaders by placing up to four to six fellows each year with community-based organizations and health departments to address the need for a more highly skilled public health workforce.