Richard K. Riegelman, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.

Richard K. Riegelman is Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and also holds appointments in Medicine and in Health Policy. He is the Founding Dean of The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

It takes vision and determination to guide a collection of disparate public health and health services programs into a single entity, as Professor Riegelman did in founding GW's School of Public Health and Health Services in 1997. As part of that effort, he expanded training opportunities at the School to include a number of doctoral and joint degree programs, created new research centers and launched initiatives in long-term care, health law and policy, health services research, community-oriented primary care, health information systems, health communications and distance education. He also led the development of the School's undergraduate major in public health, which has been offered since 2003. In recent years Dr. Riegelman has spearheaded the national educated citizen and public health movement which aims to fulfill the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation that “…all undergraduates should have access to education in public health.” He is editor and an author in the Essential Public Health book series which will include over 20 textbooks for introductory course work in public health. Dr. Riegelman began his many years of service at GW as a resident in internal medicine in 1976 and joined the medical school faculty two years later. In the years since, he has dedicated his career to the practice of medicine, to enhancing medical and public health training and to promoting critical evaluation of health research literature. In 2005, Dr. Riegelman won the Duncan Clark award from the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine for his contributions to the field. In 2007, Dr. Riegelman was honored to receive the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH)/Pfizer Award for Teaching Excellence. This prestigious national award recognized Dr. Riegelman for his service and achievements in cultivating the public health leaders of the future.

Doctor of Medicine, University of Wisconsin Medical School, 1973
Master of Public Heath (Epidemiology), Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, 1975
Doctor of Philosophy (Epidemiology), Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, 1982

PubH 6242-Clinical Epidemiology and Decision Analysis, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
PubH 6099 Topics in Clinical Epidemiology and Decision Analysis-Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
PubH 1101-Introduction to Public Health and Health Services, SPHHS
PubH 3131-Epidemiology: Measuring Health and Disease, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, SPHHS
School of Medicine and Health Sciences(first-year medical students)- How to Read the Medical Literature

Dr. Riegelman has more than 70 publications to his credit, including seven books for students and practitioners of medicine and public health. The fifth edition of his book, Studying a Study and Testing a Test: How to Read the Medical Evidence, accompanied by an interactive Web site, is widely used to teach critical evaluation of the health research literature. His most recent book is Public Health 101: Healthy People-Healthy Populations. His recent research also focuses on epidemiological methods, evidence-based preventive medicine and integrating public health and medicine.

Professor Riegelman currently is working with the Association of Schools of Public Health and the Association of American Colleges and Universities to integrate public health studies into undergraduate education. He is also a member of the MR5 the Association of American Medical Colleges’ group which is undertaking a comprehensive review of the MCAT examination. He co-chairs the Healthy People Curriculum Task Force which has played an active role in integrating educational objectives into Healthy People 2020.