MD Program

Graduate Certificate Programs

Vanderbilt MD students can pursue graduate certificates in Biomedical Ethics, Community and Population Health, LGBTQ Health, and Global Health to gain specialized expertise and leadership skills.

How to Enroll in a Certificate Progams

Each program has its own admission and completion requirements. MD students must submit an “Intent to Enroll” form to document their intention to pursue a certificate, as well as other documentation as required. Permission of the degree program director and the certificate program director are needed to pursue a certificate.

Certificate Program Options for MD Students

  • Biomedical Ethics

    The Medical Student Certificate in Biomedical Ethics comprises three components that build upon the core curricular offerings in ethics provided in Foundations of Medical Knowledge and Foundations of Clinical Care:

    1. Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar, Ethics in Healthcare (IDIS 7222)
    2. Research Clerkship, focused on the student’s special research interests within ethics. Projects may combine empirical and conceptual work with mentorship provided by designated mentors within the Ethics, Education, Policy and Society area of the Medical Student Research Clerkship at VSOM. Students can expect to gain a degree of mastery in the research methods of ethics, and gain competence in addressing the ethical issues of medical research and practice, including health policy questions. The ideal time for the Clerkship is during a 4-to-6 month period that includes August-November.
    3. Apprenticeship with the Clinical Ethics Consult Service, which is offered as an Immersion Course. The Ethics Consult Service of the Center for Biomedical Ethics & Society provides formal consults to Vanderbilt University Medical Center Hospitals and conducts educational programs in ethics.

    Contact Program Director Keith G. Meador for more information.

  • Community and Population Health

    If society is to make progress toward achieving health care for all, a cadre of physician leaders must be cultivated that understands these factors and forces, and possesses skills to intervene at the individual, system, and/or community level to impact meaningful change. The VUSM Certificate in Community Health is offered to Doctor of Medicine (MD) students who wish to deepen their knowledge and expertise in order to embark on leadership careers in this area.

    Curriculum

    The Certificate in Community Health requires the following course work (all required courses are offered through the School of Medicine):

    1. Foundations in Community Health I & II
      • FCH I: Two-week course covering foundational concepts and skills offered twice each year during the second year of medical school.
      • FCH II: Monthly evening sessions during Immersion Phase during which students work with faculty facilitators to apply foundational concepts in discussing patients they encounter in health care settings.
    2. Complete at least two additional courses in community health and related disciplines. The following courses count toward this requirement:
      • ACE: Shade Tree Elective Clinical Services Learning
      • ACE: Spanish Language Peds Clinic
      • ACE: Primary Care if taken at community-based locations (i.e., Siloam, Matthew Walker)
      • ISC: Community Healthcare – Patients, Populations, and Systems of Care
      • ISC: Global Health
      • ISC: The National Opioid Crisis
      • AE: Global Health
      • IDIS: Ecology and Health: Climate, Food, and Justice
      • ISC: Disability Competent Care
      • ISC: LGBTQ+ Health
      • ISC: Sexual Medicine and Reproduction
    3. Immersion Experience in Community Health (minimum two months in length):
      • Mentored experience with individualized learning goals
      • May be related to clinical care, research, public health, or community health
      • Students may use required research immersion blocks to satisfy this requirement
      • Projects can be used to satisfy Foundations of Healthcare Delivery (FHD) Quality Improvement requirement (requires FHD course director approval)

    Contacts

    For additional information on the Graduate Certificate in Community Health, please contact:

    Consuelo H. Wilkins, MD, MSCI
    Senior Associate Dean for Community Health and Engagement
    Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    Professor of Medicine
    Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

    Lourdes Estrada, PhD
    Assistant Dean for Community Health Education
    Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
    Professor of Biochemistry
    Associate Director, Academic Programs & Operations for the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP)

    Elisa Corinne Friedman, MS
    Assistant Vice President, Community and Population Health
    Vanderbilt University Medical Center

    529 Light Hall
    2215 Garland Avenue
    Nashville, TN 37232-0147
    (615) 322-3200

  • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Health

    LGBTQ patients experience disparities in access to and quality of care, leading to preventable, adverse health outcomes including elevated risk for specific chronic diseases and increased rates of suicide and depression. The Certificate in LGBTQ Health is designed to teach M.D. students how to address these disparities, improve the health of LGBTQ patients, support education around LGBTQ health, and foster research on the optimal ways to care for LGBTQ patients and families.

    The Certificate in LGBTQ Health for Vanderbilt professional students comprises three elements:

    1. Research Immersion in LGBTQ Health. Students will select a research topic within the realm of LGBTQ health. This may include selecting a topic within a clinical specialty, for example, adolescent medicine, infectious disease, psychiatry, or surgery. Projects may combine empirical and conceptual work with mentorship provided by designated mentors.
    2. ISC: LGBTQ Health or ISC: Sexual Medicine and Reproduction. Students choose from one of two interdisciplinary courses focusing on sexual health in the general population and the specific health care needs of sexual and gender minorities. In addition to the basic sciences underlying the pathophysiology of health in these populations (e.g., HPV infection, HPA dysregulation with chronic stress), clinical specialties highlighted in the course include pediatrics and adolescent medicine, OB/GYN, psychiatry, and internal medicine with content threads from ethics, medico-legal health care, human development, and chronic care.
    3. Capstone Project. Each student will complete a capstone project related to LGBTQ health. This may include development of patient education materials, providing a community or staff training, or implementation of a quality improvement project. The capstone is expected to enable students to demonstrate proficiency and acquired knowledge in the area of LGBTQ health.

    Completion of the Certificate in LGBTQ Health requires successful completion of all three elements.

    Contact Program Director Chris Terndrup for more information.

Graduate Certificate Options for All VUSM Students

  • Global Health

    Global health is not limited to clinical health professionals. Practitioners from various fields, including business, education, and engineering, are vital to global health work. This interdisciplinary graduate-level certificate program promotes joint training opportunities in global health between various departments and schools at Vanderbilt. Students earning this certificate learn basic knowledge and skills that will help them make positive contributions in global health. Any Vanderbilt professional or graduate student who fulfills all requirements will be granted the certificate when they receive their graduate degrees.

    Objectives of the Certificate

    • To equip students with analytic and problem-solving skills that can be applied to current and emerging global health challenges.
    • To prepare students for internationally-focused careers in academia, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, immigrant
      health agencies, philanthropic foundations, and industry.
    • To help students assess public health challenges within international cultural and socioeconomic contexts.
    • To instruct students in the fundamental principles of research, planning, and management methodology in resource-constrained settings.
      To facilitate student synthesis and analysis of global health data from existing and de novo sources.
    • To ensure student acquisition of core competencies in global health care and prevention, including the mastery of a basic vocabulary in these disciplines.

    Please visit the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health website for more information.

    Contact

    For additional information on the Graduate Certificate in Global Health, please contact:

    Marie H. Martin, Ph.D., M.Ed.
    Elizabeth S. Rose, Ed. D., M.P.H.
    Program Co-Directors
    2525 West End Avenue, Suite 725
    Nashville, TN 37203-1738
    (615) 322-9374