MS in Health Communication

Message from Dean Harris Berman

It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Susan S. Gallagher as the new Director of the Tufts MS Program in Health Communication in collaboration with Emerson College. Professor Gallagher will replace James Hyde MSc. who has served as Director since the Program's inception in 1995. Her appointment is effective beginning September 1, 2007.

Professor Gallagher brings to her new role a wealth of experience in a wide range of fields including research, training, practice and policy. During the course of her career she has held positions in academia, non profit organizations, state health agencies, and the US Congressional staff. She is an internationally recognized expert in the field of child and adolescent injury prevention and in building capacity in state and local health agencies. Earlier in her career she worked in chronic disease prevention focusing on diabetes, the study of drug seeking behavior, and at a treatment center for sexual offenders. More recently, as a Robert Wood Johnson Policy Fellow on the staff of Senator Durbin in the U.S. Senate, she worked on a range of global health issues, including HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and road safety. (For a more extensive overview of her career please see Gallagher biosketch).

We are very excited to have Sue join our faculty and look forward to seeing the Health Communication Program continue to grow and flourish under her leadership.

Harris A. Berman, MD
Dean
Public Health and Professional Degree Programs

A Message from Susan S. Gallagher MPH
Director of the Tufts MS Program in Health Communication

At age 15 years, my first summer job was with the health department in the City of Quincy. Along with other teens, I went door-to-door providing information on upcoming immunization clinics, health department services, and health education pamphlets, all of which were in English. Little did I know that public health would someday be my career and that I would find myself at a prestigious university directing a graduate program in health communication.

Health communication has come a long way since the 60's: new technologies and media, social marketing, health literacy, culturally competent materials, audience analysis and segmentation, theory and research-based strategies. All of these developments make for an exciting and challenging field.

I am truly delighted to join the Health Communication Program at Tufts University School of Medicine. The faculty, the alumnae/i and students will play critical roles in the future growth and development of the program. I look forward to working with my colleague Dr. Tim Edgar at Emerson College and all of you to make a contribution to improving the health of the public.

During the fall semester, I plan to meet with many of you on an individual basis. Until I come on board full-time October 1st, please feel free to contact me at sue.gallagher@tufts.edu.

Best wishes,

Sue Gallagher MPH
Director
MS Program in Health Communication

Beyond PHPD

Joanne Barker

Joanne Barker, '98, MS-Health Communications

Director, Editorial and Publishing, Eclypsys Corporation

Even though medical research produces better treatment protocols, it can take years before physicians put those discoveries into practice. Yet with good communication these practices are not often implemented much sooner. That's why health communication is so important, says Joanne Barker, MS, '98. Since graduating, Barker has written copy for secondhand smoke campaigns and cardiac rehabilitation programs; today, she directs the editorial group at Eclypsys Coporation, which designs health information management software. barker believes that, like consumers, clinicians need accurate, accessible information in order to "provide every patient excellent care. When you talk about behavior change, you have to talk about both patients and doctors. Good communication is critical for effecting change in the complex world of health care," Barker says.