The Division of Health Sciences (DHS) at Montana State University has as its main objective to promote, support and expand the institutional capacity to meet health-related needs for the people of Montana. The goal is to coordinate and enhance the related educational, research and service programs of Montana State University and provide outreach of these programs to the entire community. The Executive Director of Health Sciences is Dr. Jane Shelby.
The DHS is the home of Montana WWAMI, a cooperative program with the University of Washington School of Medicine that admits 20 Montana residents into the program leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The primary goal of the program is to provide quality educational opportunities in medicine for Montana residents while educating physicians who will likely practice in a primary care specialty and in the long-term address the health care needs of the state and region. Montana WWAMI students spend their first year of medical school on the MSU campus and begin their clinical training at teaching sites throughout Montana.
The DHS is also the home of several important outreach organizations, including the Montana Area Health Education Center (AHEC) and the Montana Office of Rural Health (MORH). The AHEC and the MORH with Montana communities help implement collaborative multidisciplinary education and training including programs to involve K-12 students in health care professions, programs that address health issues in rural communities, and programs that work to reduce health disparities in Montana. The arm of the DHS extends into the biomedical research arena by fostering integration of biomedical research activities at MSU, where there are strong programs in biotechnology, genomics, microbiology, neurobiology, and proteomics and genomics, to name just a few.The American Indian research Opportunities (AIRO) Program resides in the DHS, providing Native American Students with an opportunity to excel in the sciences. Health Professions Advising assists students in making decisions about health professions training pathways and application to professional schools.It is this formula of coordinating the education, research and outreach efforts that poises the DHS to best serve the growing health care needs of the people of the state of Montana.
