WMU Public Health Programs

09/19/2025

Always great day to be a Bronco! 💛🤎🐴

07/09/2025

07/03/2025

As you prepare to celebrate the holiday, please remember these firework safety tips, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

07/03/2025

A team from WMU’s Public Health Program have created an anonymous survey to better understand parent’s view points, thoughts, and opinions on different vaccine choices for their children. If you’d like to participate in this research study, please follow the link: https://wmich.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_80O17Mm1oNArJwG

04/26/2025

Congratulations to Master of Public Health students Kara Hasty (first year) and Brianna Wertz (second year) on their outstanding achievement of being inducted into the National Society of Leadership and Success earlier this month!

This prestigious honor recognizes their dedication, leadership, and commitment to excellence in public health. We are incredibly proud of their hard work and the bright futures they are shaping as emerging leaders in the field!

Keep shining and leading the way! 🎉👏🎓

04/26/2025

Meet Dr. Ben Brady, one of our professors for both the Bachelor and Master of Public Health programs!

- What are your areas of specialization within public health? “I use a public health lens to study substance use policy, harm reduction, and treatment services. In my research, I identify and address social, organizational, and workforce factors that increase risk from substance use or limit access to prevention and treatment services. I also use evaluation tools to critique drug policy and reform efforts.”

- Which communities and populations have you worked with throughout your career? “I have worked directly with people who use to***co and drugs, and with health providers and administrators who serve them. I began as an evaluation specialist at the Arizona Smokers’ Helpline. There, I used client data to work with coaches to improve the client-coaching process. I have also worked as a faculty researcher at Arizona’s Center for Rural Health where I collaborated with rural providers and community partners to implement opioid-related services.”

- What has been the most meaningful or impactful aspect of your professional work? “Professionally, I work at the intersection of public health and clinical treatment. This allows me to offer new perspectives and approaches to support clients and providers, and make services more patient centered. Understanding and addressing social and environmental influences has a remarkably positive impact on improving service quality. It is important that public health professionals challenge clinical service approaches that overly medicalize and individualize substance use and treatment experiences.”

- In your view, what distinguishes WMU’s public health program from others? “One of WMU’s public health program’s greatest strengths is the opportunity for students to work directly with faculty in community-based projects and research studies. WMU’s small cohorts and mentored projects provide an extraordinary opportunity for applied learning that prepares students for successful careers in public health.”

04/19/2025

While at the SOPHE conference, WMU’s Eta Sigma Gamma Chapter awarded a Chapter of Excellence Award from the National Eta Sigma Gamma.

Way to go WMU ESG!

04/19/2025

Congratulations to our BSPH director, Dr. Robert Bensley, on receiving an award for his outstanding and significant support and contribution to the health education profession. An award well deserved!

04/19/2025

Oh boy, did we represent! The past couple days at the 75th Annual SOPHE Conference was amazing! How wonderful is it that students and faculty of WMU’s public health programs were able to be at the forefront of this?!

WMU’s presence at SOPHE underscores their commitment to advancing health equity, expanding public health knowledge, and fostering collaborative partnerships to improve population health outcomes. This dynamic participation reflects WMU’s public health programs role as a leader in health education and promotion, inspiring new strategies to address social determinants of health and build resilient communities.

Go Broncos! Your dedication to public health excellence made waves at SOPHE and will continue beyond.

04/19/2025

One days one and two of SOPHE, some of our BSPH senior cohort (and Dr. Robert Bensley, our BSPH Director) gave poster presentations.

All three poster topics received a lot of activity and interest! Our students held meaningful and engaging conversations on their presentation topics with many public health professionals.

Way to go students!!

04/16/2025

🎉 Huge shoutout to five of our amazing BSPH senior students who competed in the SOPHE National Case Study Competition in Health Education today! 🌟

These future public health leaders tackled a real-world challenge, the Chlamydia crisis in Long Beach, CA. Our students were tasked to educate themselves of this crisis, what current rates were, and create an intervention on how the STI rates could be reduced in Long Beach.

We can’t wait to hear where our students place later this week for this competition! Way to go students!!

04/16/2025

A handful of our students and faculty are representing Western Michigan University at the 75th Annual SOPHE Conference this week! Stay tuned for updates on what our brilliant students do while we’re here!