Public Health & Preventive Medicine
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The Cook County Health & Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine – Public Health & Preventive Medicine Program at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County is committed to training primary care and/or public health–oriented physicians in the principles and practices of population-based health care and in the care of underserved populations.
The two-year, ACGME–accredited residency has concurrent academic and practicum phases.
The program is focused on preparing physicians with skills to improve the organization and delivery of preventive and chronic care services in a population framework, with a focus on strategies to reduce health disparities. The educational goal of the program is anchored by an ethic of service, recognition of the dignity of our patients, respect for human diversity, and commitment to human rights.
Our trainees benefit from a diverse training experience created through collaboration and partnerships between Stroger Hospital and Northwestern Medicine (the aligned academic medical center formed by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (NU-FSM) and Northwestern Medicine), other academic institutions on Chicago’s west side Medical Center campus, and with public health agencies in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Juleigh Nowinski Konchak, MD, MPH, FASAM, Program Director
Juleigh is an Addiction Medicine and Preventive Medicine physician at Cook County Health (CCH) in Chicago. She is Program Director for the Public Health/General Preventive Medicine Residency Program with CCH and Northwestern University; provides oversight for CCH’s substance use disorder (SUD) program; and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Juleigh completed a K12 Scholars program with Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Northwestern University, focusing on a regional learning health system to improve access to evidence-based SUD care for individuals involved in the criminal-legal system.
Prior to this role, Juleigh served in public health positions in the U.S. Senate, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Chicago Department of Public Health. Juleigh received her medical degree from University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, and her Master of Public Health and Certificate in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety from Northwestern University.
Educational Objectives
The overall educational objectives of the program are:
- To develop behavioral and technical clinical skills necessary for the delivery of preventive medicine services for reduction of morbidity and mortality from adult chronic diseases
- To plan, implement, and evaluate population-based initiatives in the setting of health care organizations and/or departments of public health
- To develop critical assessment, methodological, and analytic skills with respect to evidence based public health research, with a particular emphasis on links between epidemiology, behavioral medicine, and prevention
- To develop communication skills in the context of multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary clinical and public health settings as well as academic and organizational/administrative settings
Application
Applicant Requirements:
- Possession of MD or DO degree from an ACGME accredited or dual accredited institution
- Completion of an ACGME accredited residency program in a primary care specialty (internal medicine, family practice, or other specialty) is preferred. Physicians with career interests in public health who will have successfully completed a PGY-1 year and completed Step III of the USMLE by the time of entry into the program can also be considered. Documentation that a clinical PGY-1 year in an ACGME accredited program (internal medicine or family practice preferred) will be completed prior to initiating the Preventive Medicine program is an absolute requirement.
CCH participates in the ERAS system for resident applications. Applications in ERAS open in September, and review begins at that time. More information on ERAS here: https://students-residents.aamc.org/eras-tools-and-worksheets-residency-applicants/2025-eras-residency-timeline. Our program also participates in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) through the American Board of Preventive Medicine, with offers made in March for a July 1st start. More information on NRMP here: https://www.nrmp.org/match-calendars/programs-institutions/.
CCH will host two virtual information sessions for interested applicants for the 2025 application cycle on Thursday, September 19, 2024, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. CST and Tuesday, October 29, 2024, from 5:00-6:00 p.m. CST. To receive a link for one or both sessions, please email [email protected].
Those selected for the residency program will also be required to complete the application process for the MPH program at Northwestern and will be provided with those instructions at the appropriate time.
Curriculum
This program is accredited by the ACGME to accept and train two residents each year.
All residents spend 24 months in the full-time program during which academic and practicum phases are done concurrently. Download the attached Curriculum Overview document to review the curriculum. Click here to download the sample curriculum for the Public Health Department Rotation & Outbreak Investigation.
The curriculum is tailored to the skills, interests, and career goals of individual residents, with a rich variety of clinical and project activities. The overall goal of the practicum is to learn the practice of evidence-based, population-focused medicine, with application of skills to address health disparities.
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