The University of New Mexico Preventive Medicine Residency trains the next generation of physicians, who will lead health improvement through health promotion and disease prevention. Our graduates are prepared for careers in health care, health agencies, and community organizations. Learn more.  

Prevention is the Next Frontier in Public Health 

Preventive medicine bridges the unhelpful gap between public health and clinical medicine. Our residents are trained to be changemakers. Our program combines knowledge and skills from clinical medicine with population health to address a broad range of issues affecting populations.  

Our residents gain skills and competencies in: 

• Health promotion and wellness 
• Environmental and occupational health 
• Prevention in clinical medicine 
• Health care organization management 
• Epidemiology as applied to prevention 
• Biostatistics and the ability to synthesize data 
• Health advocacy and policy 
• Research on prevention of injury and disease in specific populations  

Is Your Calling in Preventive Medicine? 

Public health and preventive medicine specialists have expertise in unique areas in medicine. Our residents are given diverse opportunities to gain clinical and public health skills within our curriculum. 

Residents at UNM receive a solid academic foundation in the core areas of public health, apply their skills in a variety of practicum rotations, and develop the ability to perform research through mentored projects and the completion of a degree.

Why UNM for Preventive Medicine?

The UNM Preventive Medicine Residency offers opportunities you won’t find elsewhere, including: 
 Extensive training by New Mexico Department of Health staff on public health practice activities 

• Work with diverse populations in New Mexico including Hispanic and American Indian groups in the Southwest 
• Experience with community-based prevention activities through our CDC-funded Prevention Research Center 
• Development of skills for working with adolescents through our School-based Health Clinics as a part of the Albuquerque Public Schools 
• Development of clinical skills to address addiction through our work at the UNM Addiction and Substance Abuse Program 
• Translation of clinical science and epidemiology into preventive medicine practice with the UNM Clinical and Translational Sciences Center 
• Opportunities to work with UNM telehealth projects with Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) 
• Mentored resident research experience tailored to each resident’s unique interests. 
• Opportunities to take part in local and national professional meetings 

We offer two years of training that includes coursework leading to a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree. The program provides residents with full tuition to complete the MPH degree. Residents also gain experience in public health and clinical practice through a wide variety of experiential learning opportunities.

Public Health and General Preventive Medicine Curriculum

UNM Preventive Medicine residents can tailor their education plan to meet their own interests in Preventive Medicine. This may include content areas such as occupational medicine, addiction medicine, or infectious diseases.  

Preventive Medicine Curriculum Basics

Master of Science Public Health (MPH)

A master of Public Health (MPH) is required and completed over two years concurrently with residency training.

• Year 1  includes foundational core courses that includes Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

• Year 2 moves to more independent course work.  Additional information is available from the College of Population Health MPH website. The residency program will cover required tuition fees for required courses.  

Residency Program Rounds 

Residency Program Rounds includes journal club and didactic series in such topics as: 

• Environmental Health 

• Clinical Preventive Services 

• Behavioral Aspects of Health 

• Health Services Management and Administration 

• Risk/Hazard Control and Communication

Longitudinal Clinical Preventive Medicine 

Longitudinal Clinical Preventive Medicine, with residents completing a minimum of ½ day of clinic per week. Residents spend time in occupational medicine clinics, addiction and substance abuse clinics, NM Department of Health (NM DOH) clinics, and other clinics focused on their own interest. 

Cornerstone Projects 

These are resident-initiated and focused in any area of preventive medicine. They are unique in the flexibility to accommodate unanticipated educational opportunities.  Residents projects have included: 

• Participating in a NM Department of Health outbreak investigation 

• Assisting in the development of the first Refugee Intake Clinic with the NMDOH Refugee Health Program 

• Implementing a hospital newborn sleep sack program 

• Developing a proposal to facilitate access to preventive services for American Indian students at a community college. 

 Practicum Rotations

• New Mexico Department of Health, where residents gain insight into public health activities at the federal, state, tribal, and local level.  
• Addiction Medicine, where residents engage in substance abuse clinics, obtain certification for prescribing buprenorphine, participate in harm reduction activities, and telehealth clinics in Integrated Addiction and Psychiatry 
• Center for Life and Integrative Medicine, with residents experiencing an integrative medicine clinic that includes Botanicals, Acupuncture, and Lifestyle Medicine.  

• Center for Occupational and Environmental Health Promotion, with residents learning clinical occupational medicine, doing environmental exposure assessments, and experiencing a NM OSHA site visitation  
• UNM Prevention Research Center, where residents gain an understanding of community-based participatory research and community outreach as they engage in one of the ongoing PRC projects such as Eat Smart Play Hard that utilizes social marketing techniques to help rural, underserved families on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program improve their nutritional choices and physical activity to prevent obesity.  
• School-Based Health Centers, where residents work with center staff to provide primary care, mental health, referral and prevention services in Albuquerque high schools. Residents projects included student education on reducing adolescent obesity; sex education counseling; and substance abuse prevention education. 
• Toxicology and Occupational Diseases, where residents experience private practice in toxicology that includes expert medical testimony in legal cases.