Public Health Experience

Anthony Billittier, IV, MD, has been an attending emergency physician at SUNY at Buffalo since 1991, and has also served as the Commissioner of Health for Erie County, NY since 2000. Dr. Billittier's dual roles presents a unique opportunity for residents to develop a strong working knowledge of public health, especially as it interfaces with the practice of emergency medicine. Residents have the rare opportunity to interact with local and state health officials and participate in meetings, conferences, planning, drills and exercises as well as actual responses to public health events and emergencies. SUNY at Buffalo EMS Fellows and Emergency Medicine Residents, serving under the Specialized Medical Assistance Response Team (SMART) umbrella, are typically the first response arm of the Erie County Department of Health (www.erie.gov/health).

Residents interested in an even more intense public health experience can select the public health scholarly track to satisfy their research activity requirement. This experience includes rotations in core public health areas, including: infectious disease control, environmental health, medical examiner, and public health administration. Click here to view the public health scholarly track guidelines.

SUNY at Buffalo also has a School of Public Health & Health Professions, which also provides many additional public health opportunities to emergency medicine residents, such as an MPH degree.