Social Medicine
Making a local and global impact
The Department of Social Medicine is an interdisciplinary department comprised of social scientists, humanities scholars and physicians. We study the dynamic interplay of people, culture, the environment and their impact on health care delivery and health outcomes. Our teaching, research and service inform medical students, health professionals and the public about factors affecting clinical decision making, the social responsibilities of health care providers, the social determinants of health and illness, and health policy and politics.
Chair, Joe Bianco
Email: bianco@ohio.edu
Phone: 740.593.2130
Administrative Specialist, Cassie Tritipo
Email: tritipo@ohio.edu
Phone: 740.593.4694
Our Expertise
Our department has active research and teaching expertise in the following areas:
- Biostatistics
- Clinical prevention and population health
- Cultural competence and health care
- Epidemiology of diabetes and cardiovascular disease
- Evidence-based medicine
- Gerontology and geriatrics
- Global warming, climate change and health
- Health in Appalachia
- Health policy
- International health and medicine
- Maternal and child health
- Medical decision making
- Medical ethics
- Reproductive health
- Stress, nutrition and aging
- Sustainability and urban environments
Our Disciplines
Our faculty's disciplines include:
- Biological anthropology
- Biostatistics
- Epidemiology
- Experimental psychology
- Family studies
- Health psychology
- History of medicine
- Interpersonal communication
- Pediatrics
- Social psychology
Global Health Initiative
Students, faculty and staff experience impactful research, education and outreach activities abroad and in immigrant communities in the U.S. to truly understand global health issues and increase multicultural awareness.
Our Faculty
Discover the diverse research topics and current projects conducted by our faculty.
Social Medicine
From our mission to teaching topics to employment opportunities, youāll find it all here.
Events
Monday, April 21
9:00 AM ā 3:00 PM
Powell's Food Fair 700 E. Main Street Pomeroy, Ohio 45769
Monday, April 21
6:00 PM ā 7:30 PM
Heritage Hall
Tuesday, April 22
11:00 AM ā 1:00 PM
HCOM Cleveland Campus
October 3, 2019
The Heritage College, Dublin, was only 1 year old when the Humanism in Medicine student group was launched there in 2015. Four years later, the group is still celebrating āthe continuity of art and medicine."
September 9, 2019
John Allerding's incurable wanderlust has led the 1985 Heritage College alumnus to places around the world - including two trips (so far) to Antarctica.
April 30, 2019
Mikhail Varshavski, D.O., better known in the social media world as Doctor Mike, spoke to a packed house at the Ohio Osteopathic Symposium about the need for physicians to raise their voices in the media.
April 10, 2019
When Brian Clark moved to Athens, he thought it might be a brief stop. But he stuck around and helped turn OMNI into a powerhouse of research into pain disorders and healthy aging.
April 4, 2019
A first-year medical student and a faculty member discuss lessons learned during a global health experience, where health professions students at 51ĀŅĀ× learned about health care in Cuba.
March 28, 2019
On a winter evening, more than 70 students, faculty and staff gathered in the OMM lab on the college's Athens campus to participate in āBehind the White Coat,ā a storytelling event organized by students and inspired by āThe Mothā Podcast.
March 22, 2019
The Heritage College's innovative new Pathways to Health and Wellness curriculum, launched in the fall of 2018, demonstrates what medical training of the future looks like.
December 17, 2018
How a mouse helped launch a scientific discovery that improved lives and opened pathways for research into obesity, diabetes, cancer and aging.
November 8, 2018
A documentary tries to close the gap between the health care needs of 20 million U.S. veterans and the civilian physicians who often feel unprepared for the unique health-related exposures and risks that military service members encounter.
August 27, 2018
After a summer at St. Jude Childrenās Research Hospital, a second-year medical student gains a fuller appreciation of how he can help translate new research findings into hope for young patients.
July 19, 2018
An expert describes the importance of breastfeeding in developing countries where populations contend with unsanitary water that can be life-threatening to formula-fed infants.
June 23, 2016
Tom Fries, a Democrat from Dayton, was serving his third term in the Ohio House of Representatives when he became lead sponsor of the 1975 legislation that created what is now the 51ĀŅĀ× Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.
May 19, 2016
A graduate of the college's inaugural class of 1980 is thankful for āthe chance to have the most fascinating life I could possibly imagine.ā
May 18, 2016
This discovery revolutionized biomedical research, making national news at a time when gene-splicing was still in its infancy.
April 21, 2016
Ohio's governor and Legislature join in recognizing the collegeās 40th anniversary.
April 1, 2016
At its height, the program reached an estimated hundreds of thousands of listeners in the United States, China, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the American Forces Radio Network.
- 40 Things to Know: Our college was led by the first female African American dean of a medical school
March 17, 2016
The 1993 selection our college's leader, Barbara Ross Lee, D.O., sister of Motown superstar Diana Ross, marked a step forward for diversity in medical education
January 15, 2016
Since the early 1980s, the arrival of this annual event means it's time for students, faculty and staff to brush off the formal wear and join in the Nae Nae.
December 21, 2015
November 23, 2015
Alumni from college's first decade remember janitor Sherman Brooks for always remembering studentsā birthdays and offering a kindly word when they needed one.