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The University of Utah's School of Medicine established the Department of Preventive Medicine in 1970 to address current and emerging health care needs by educating health care professionals, conducting basic and applied research, and implementing state-of-the-art clinical and community-based health services.

The department is comprised of the following four divisions:

The Division of Family Medicine
The Division of Family Medicine's purpose is to provide excellent training to residents and medical students, and exceptional patient care through our family medicine clinics and inpatient services. The division offers several programs which include Family Medicine Residency, Medical Student Education in Family Medicine, and Clinical Care Management.
The Division of Physician Assistant Studies
The Division of Physician Assistant Studies' purpose is to increase access to health care, with a focus on medically underserved communities, by educating highly qualified physician assistants in the primary care model. The division offers a degree of Master of Physician Studies (MPAS).
The Division of Public Health
The Division of Public Health's purpose is to advance the scholarship of promoting and protecting the health of communities in Utah and around the globe. Not only does the Division of Public Health offer degrees in Masters of Public Health (MPH), Masters of Science in Public Health (MSPH), PhD in Public Health, MSTAT-Biostatistics, but it also offers certificates in Public Health and Global Health and several joint degrees.
The Division of Occupational and Environmental Health
The Division of Occupational and Environmental Health's purpose is dedicated to protecting workers and their environment through interdisciplinary education, research, and service. The division's programs include the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency with several areas of focus including Ergonomics and Safety, Hazardous Substance Academic Training, Industrial Hygiene, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and Occupational Injury Prevention Research Training.

Educational programming in the department includes residencies, fellowships, support for medical student education, and graduate degree programs in biostatistics, occupational health, physician assistant studies, and public health.

Since its beginning, the department has strived to be a world class department that provides care and education to individuals and communities around the globe. As of September 2018, the department has campuses and services clinics around the world including, Salt Lake City, Utah; St. George, Utah; Kpong, Ghana; and Songdo, South Korea.

The Department of Family and Preventive medicine is committed and accountable to promote a culture of inclusiveness, diversity, and respect of all faculty, staff, students, and the communities we serve.

We value and rely upon diversity and inclusion for the development, improvement, and sustainability of exceptional education, research, and healthcare for our diverse, ever changing local, regional, national, and international communities.

We value:

  • Equitable treatment of all within each division and at all levels of the organization
  • Inclusion and diversity as fundamental to the success of the department
  • Diversity and inclusion in race, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, gender and sexuality, academic viewpoints, political perspectives, religious perspectives, and other varieties of human experience
  • A culture and environment that is welcoming, validating, collaborative, and affirming for all students, staff, faculty, and our communities
  • Active integration of the experiences, talents, and abilities of all in order to create educational and scholarly excellence that foster innovation in all departmental areas
  • Fostering an environment that improves the retention and advancement of students, staff, and faculty who have historically been underrepresented.