Pursing his dream of becoming a physician, Adam Lewkowitz, MD, MPHS, did not let geography get in his way. He began his schooling in Massachusetts, earned his doctorate in New York, and then called California home for his residency. Now, a fellow in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine, Lewkowitz continued his education by earning his Masters of Population Health Sciences (MPHS) in St. Louis.
While becoming a physician was one of Lewkowitz’s goals, he also wanted to provide quality healthcare to all of his patients. Leveling the playing field to increase health equity is a challenging task, so he turned to health services research to help him accomplish this objective. The MPHS program was recommended to Lewkowitz by his department chair, as he did not have formal research training prior to his fellowship.
“The MPHS promises a one-year high-yield program that teaches enrollees concrete skills for physicians interested in public health,” said Lewkowitz. “Formal research training provides you the tools that set you up for success in grants and manuscripts, and I wish I had obtained this degree earlier on.”
As part of his journey to complete the MPHS program, he was given protected time for classes in addition to continuing clinic hours, will have multiple published manuscripts thanks to his new degree, and continues to have access to MPHS resources after graduating. Wherever Lewkowitz ends up next, he knows that the MPHS program will help him successfully find a faculty position upon his fellowship graduation, and the skillset he learned – formal training in conducting randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, and using administrative data for health services research – will help him with his first NIH grant. Thanks to the MPHS program, Lewkowitz also now serves as a research mentor to his colleagues also interested in improving public health policy, but who lack formal research training.
“The MPHS is a win-win opportunity—you can use protected time to take classes that will teach you tangible research skills, but because each elective course will result in at least one publication, you can still demonstrate productivity,” Lewkowitz said. “I am well-aware that the degree has provided me with a firm foundation for a career as a clinician-scientist focused on health equity.”
The MPHS degree program accelerates clinical research expertise and gives physicians, residents, fellows and medical students the foundation to excel in leading, designing, conducting and moving research to applications in clinical settings. The curriculum emphasizes the role of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics in clinical effectiveness and outcomes research. Population health sciences training brings together passion for patient care and uses research to improve health outcomes for patient populations. The MPHS program gives you the opportunity to learn at a top-ranked medical institution, Washington University School of Medicine, known for patient care and population health excellence, in classes customized for clinicians and medical students.