The Department of Community Health is a complex department with a number of distinct goals. Three divisions within the department are research oriented, including research involving community outreach (the Lifespan Health Research Center, the Center for Interventions, Treatment and Addictions Research, and the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, which operates Premiere Community Health, formerly known as the Cancer Prevention Institute.)

Another major division is engaged in the education of resident physicians in aerospace medicine and in research in that field (the Division of Aerospace Medicine). The Center for Healthy Communities is a community-academic partnership committed to improving the health and well-being of the community, educating its health professionals and serving as a force for change.

The Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy focuses on the system of health care. A $2.5 million endowment from local philanthropist, Oscar Boonshoft, established the position of chair. The Center addresses issues of cost and demands for quality and access to health care. It provides consulting services to health care providers, performs research in related areas and supports Dayton business leaders in advancing initiatives for quality, cost effective health care.

The Division of Medical Humanities serves to integrate the arts and humanities into the undergraduate curriculum and extracurricular activities at Boonshoft School of Medicine. The division offers courses in medical ethics and humanities, including a required first-year course, "Social and Ethical Issues in Medicine," case conferences in the clinical clerkships, and electives for first and fourth year students on various topics including Women and Medicine, Health Care in Developing Countries, Community Medicine, and Literature and Medicine. In addition, the Division co-sponsors extracurricular activities such as the Humanism Honor Society and the "Healer as Artist" exhibit, and has hosted an exhibit of photography from Afghanistan and a medical residency for a piano trio at Children's Medical Center.

Reach Out of Montgomery County is a 501(c)3 volunteer healthcare organization founded in 1994 by three medical leaders in the Miami Valley area: Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Public Health – Dayton and Montgomery County, and the Montgomery County Medical Society. Reach Out’s mission is to provide access to healthcare services for the underserved/uninsured population in Montgomery County.

The mission of the department is to pursue excellence in teaching, research and service consistent with the overall mission of Boonshoft School of Medicine. The primary goal of that part of the department's activities not encompassed in the missions of the divisions described separately is the education of undergraduate medical students in social, ethical and legal dimensions of medical practice. The department consists of more than 36 faculty, 102 staff, and 106 voluntary faculty. We work closely with faculty in other clinical departments in the teaching program.

For more information about the Department of Community Health, please contact:
Arthur Pickoff, M.D.
Department of Community Health
Boonshoft School of Medicine
3155 Research Boulevard, Suite 103
Kettering, Ohio 45420

Phone: (937) 775-1312
Fax: (937) 775-1313