Paula Masters, DrPH, is Vice President of Health Programs at Ballad Health, an integrated healthcare system serving 29 counties of Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina and Southeast Kentucky. She recently served as a field placement mentor with the Region IV Public Health Training Center. In this interview, Dr. Masters shares about that experience.
Bethany Daigle, the student you mentored, developed a comprehensive legislative playbook that was used to frame Ballad Health’s policy and advocacy agenda. How did hosting a field placement student benefit your organization?
Having a competent, well vetted student is a tremendous asset to any organization. There are many projects that need to be accomplished, however are many times not given priority due to lack of human resources. This experiential learning platform allows the organization to truly add capacity and optimize works streams.
As a seasoned public health leader, you’ve stated that you are “extremely committed to provision of experiential learning experiences for students”. How does serving in this capacity affect you? What can mentors get out of these relationships?
It allows me to continue to “sharpen my tools” with fresh perspectives and diversity. It forces us as leaders to not be complacent, yet to invite innovation into our vision and strategy. I feel confident that I learn as much, if not more, than the student during our time together.
How did working with you and Ballad Health shape Bethany’s professional growth and trajectory?
Bethany was given projects and tasks that were intended to push and shape her as a leader. Many students come in with a wonderful set of competencies, yet they lack the leadership skills to fully implement. This is where we as mentors must focus our attention to allow them to channel and test so they may gain confidence and expand into a new level of professionalism.
Editor’s note: Following graduation, Bethany was hired full time by Ballad Health as a Program Analyst for the Enterprise Program Management Office.
The Region IV Public Health Training Center has partnered with the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia to offer the Region IV Public Health Leadership Institute (PHLI). The PHLI provides training for individuals from across the eight states that comprise HHS Region IV (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee). There is no fee to participate.
The PHLI is an 8-month experience providing 40 contact hours of interaction. The Institute consists of a virtual orientation, one in-person 3-day retreat, and 6 virtual sessions, lasting 1½ hours each. In addition to these sessions, participants will be asked to complete approximately 2 hours of intersession work between the virtual sessions.
Applicant Criteria
Employed by state, local or tribal public health departments/tribal health organizations
Work in one of the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina Tennessee
Award-winning Georgia Department of Public Health Program Director Tamira Moon has participated in more than 20 R-IV PHTC skills-based workshops and webinars on priority health topics since 2012. In this interview with Tamira, we learn about what keeps her coming back and how she has put what she’s gleaned from these trainings into practice.
First, tell us a little about yourself. What are some highlights of your career in public health? I am a public health philanthropist, with a life purpose to “pay it forward today to make a better tomorrow.” I have an 18-year track record of public health accomplishments that promote healthy lifestyles and chronic disease prevention.
I have been honored by Atlanta Business Chronicle 40 Under 40, Young Government Leaders, and most recently by the Georgia Women’s Legislative Caucus with the Nikki T. Randall Servant Leadership Award as a community leader and top government employee with an impressive track record of achievements that address the second leading cause of death—cancer.
As Program Director for the Georgia Comprehensive Cancer Control Program, I lead initiatives that focus on cancer survivorship, tobacco-use prevention and the message that HPV vaccination is cancer prevention!
You have a lengthy transcript with the Region IV PHTC! What keeps you coming back to the R-IV PHTC for professional learning? The convenience of the high quality professional learning opportunities provided by the Region IV PHTC keeps me coming back! As a public health professional who is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist, it is a requirement. More importantly, I make a professional commitment to stay abreast of current public health trends. The Regional IV PHTC makes it easy and enjoyable to make this a reality. The in-person and online training opportunities are offered at no cost and keep me on top of my public health game. The topics are fresh and innovative. I also get to connect with competent presenters and new networks.
One of the goals of our program is to help members of the governmental public health be more effective on the job. Can you give an example of how you applied something you learned in a R-IV PHTC training to your work at the Georgia Department of Public Health? I was asked to facilitate a coalition’s annual board meeting. I reached in my “public health toolbox” and used a resource from the community engagement workshop [I attended in 2017]. This stakeholder analysis tool was an excellent exercise to help the coalition develop their 12-month goals and work plan.
What advice would you give a new public health professional about investing in their own professional development? Always know you self-worth and continue to invest in your professional growth—even if you have to reach in your own wallet and pay. I select learning opportunities that provide transferable skills that I can add to my “public health toolbox.” I truly appreciate the professional learning opportunities provided by R-IV PHTC and do not take them for granted because not every public health professional has such access. I hope they continue to be offered!
In 2018, Katie Bennett was an MPH candidate at the Western Kentucky University when she served as a Region-IV PHTC Pathways to Practice Scholar with the Syringe Exchange Program (SEP) at Louisville Metro Health and Wellness. Her major undertaking was creating and disseminating health education materials to inform law enforcement officers of the importance of naloxone, a prescription medication used to treat opioid overdoses that must be administered quickly to be effective. With the support of her mentor Matthew LaRocco, the Community Liaison at Louisville Metro Syringe Exchange Program, Katie also facilitated the exchange of safer injection supplies and educated program participants about safer injection and addiction recovery resources.
At the end of her field placement, Katie reflected, “In this experience I have met some of the kindest human beings, who for whatever reason struggle to live day to day. They are traumatized, they are hurting,they are alone, and they are seeking refuge from feelings that they can’t cope with. These people are grateful for our service and hopeful that they no longer will have to reuse dull syringes that leave bruises and track marks. [They are also hopeful] that they no longer have to expose themselves to HIV or Hepatitis C because they are forced to share syringes with their friends because they have no access to fresh syringes.”
Katie plans to use the skills she developed to pursue more opportunities in harm reduction. She graduated in December of 2018 and is currently searching for employment.
In 2015, Tarre Stanley, Jr. was working on his MPH at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University when he served as an R-IV PHTC Pathways to Practice Scholar. He was placed with the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) Office of Primary Care and Rural Health, where he was mentored by Carolyn Bern, who is now the Director of the Office of Community Affairs at the ADPH.
In this role, Tarre worked with the Alabama Community
Health Improvement Plan (ACHIP) Workgroup to identify gaps in access to care and
mental health and substance abuse services in Alabama. He facilitated
conversations with the Alabama Department of Corrections, Alabama Medicaid,
Auburn University and other state agencies about their mental health and substance
abuse resources. After participating in these conversations, Tarre developed
supplemental materials that were distributed to the ACHIP stakeholders.
Tarre shared, “Prior to coming to the Alabama Department of Public Health, I thought I knew about public health, mental health and substance abuse, but I was naïve to the nuances of the these concepts.” Among the most important lessons he learned is that “individuals who have mental health and substance abuse problems need assistance and should not be stigmatized because of their conditions.”
The 2015 State of Alabama Community Health Improvement
Plan, completed as part of the ADPH Public Health Accreditation process, is now
available
online. ADPH achieved accreditation through the Public Health
Accreditation Board in 2017.
Today Tarre is employed as a Health Promotion Specialist at Big Bend AHEC in Tallahassee, Florida.
The Region IV PHTC (R-IV PHTC) is proud to share that R-IV PHTC trainings have reached over 32,000 public health professionals in the past four years. Even more fulfilling is knowing that many of those training participants have used what they learn in these sessions to become better practitioners. Frequent training participant and R-IV PHTC champion Betty Dixon, BSN, DrPH, is living proof.
As Clinical Supervisor of Georgia’s Coastal Health District, Dr. Dixon oversees 11 public health clinics that serve a population of 500,000. In 2011, after attending workshops on evaluation and informatics, she applied what she had learned to improve follow-up protocol for students who fail school-based scoliosis screening. She went on to say, “I’m thrilled with the results and feel [the training] was very worthwhile!”
Not only does Dr. Dixon model lifelong learning by participating in R-IV PHTC trainings (she’s attended six all-day workshops and countless webinars in recent years), she encourages her staff to invest in their own professional development by taking advantage of the PHTC offerings. In 2017, most of the Coastal Health District staff attended the all-day in-person Cultural Competence training. She reports, “They found it to be excellent!”
It’s not uncommon for Dr. Dixon to forward a training announcement with a personal note, such as “I’ve attended several of their on-line trainings and in-person trainings and have found them to be excellent.” or “[The PHTC] never disappoints. The program and trainer were excellent!”
Dr. Dixon recently sent the R-IV PHTC Resources for Public Health Response to Hurricanes and Their Aftermath to all staff. She explains, “This contained valuable information about Hurricanes useful for Public Health and other responders. Many of my staff continue to access this information and have incorporated it into the Hurricane tool kit.”
Tennessee native and University of Alabama at Birmingham graduate student Reneishia Dogan returned home in the summer of 2018 to serve as the Pathways to Practice Scholar for OUTMemphis. As a liaison between resources and the LGBTQ community, OUTMemphis offers programs and services that empower, educate, and advocate for the LGBTQ community of the Mid-South region. With OUTMemphis, Reneishia worked to alleviate health disparities in the LGBTQ community by revising the Trans Best of Memphis survey and resource guide, compiling a comprehensive list of insurance companies that cover costs and surgeries related to transitioning, participating in community outreach, and reviewing literature about HIV criminalization in Tennessee.
During Transgender Awareness week (November 12-17, 2018), the data from her Trans Best of Memphis survey will be highlighted and published in the Trans Best of Memphis Guide. The Guide will include gender transition information that Reneishia organized, including medical steps of transition, financial resources, and personal grants. Reneishia notes learning that “[physical] health is not the only need” for transgender individuals. The Guide also helps connect transgender people with criminal justice legal program, referral services, peer social support, youth homelessness and housing, and senior services.
Reneishia reflects, “OUTMemphis taught me the important lesson of empathy. I am encouraged to dedicate my work on creating, modifying, and assisting with the implementation of healthcare policies that allow for and encourage the inclusion of all minority populations, [including] the LGBT community.” She plans to graduate in Spring 2019 with her Master of Public Health degree in Health Care Organization and Policy from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health.
The Region IV Public Health Training Center is committed to measuring the impact of our training programs on the public health workforce. The infographic below provides an overview of the reach and evaluation findings from trainings held between September 2014 and August 2018.
These trainings on hurricanes and their aftermath have been produced by the Region IV Public Health Training Center or other members of the Public Health Learning Network.
As the Atlantic hurricane season intensifies, public health agencies may be involved in critical preparedness and recovery efforts. The Region IV Public Health Training Center recommends these related resources.
Local Health Departments’ Role in in Hurricane and Flooding Response and Recovery
Post-Hurricane and Flooding
Vector-Control
Mental/Behavioral Health
Food and Water Safety
Risk and Emergency Communications
Volunteering and Donations
Federal Resources and Guidance
A list of hurricane-related trainings from Region IV Public Health Training Center, the Public Health Learning Network and other organizations is also available.
In 2015, Jordan Helms was an MPH candidate at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health when he accepted a field placement with the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH), Office of HIV/AIDS. His major undertaking was primary data collection for a qualitative study exploring barriers to healthcare, specifically HIV prevention, for men who have sex with men (MSM) living in rural Georgia.
Because he hopes to someday become a research professor, Jordan was especially grateful for the opportunity to be an investigator on a research study. He explained, “I think this opportunity early on is giving me the chance to experience what that would be like.”
While completing her MPH at the University of South Carolina in the spring of 2017, Megan Surles joined the Pathways to Practice Field Placement Program hoping to put knowledge she gained at school into practice. Megan was placed at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC) in Columbia, where she was not only able to achieve this goal, but she was also able to broaden her skillset by assisting with the public health accreditation process.
In 2016, SC DHEC began to prepare for public health accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). As SC DHEC developed processes and plans to prepare for accreditation and ensure compliance with PHAB’s quality and performance standards, Megan relied on her classroom experiences to support SC DHEC on their journey to accreditation.
Under the guidance of the SC DHEC Accreditation Coordinator, Megan drafted a subsection of the workforce development plan, highlighting yearly goals, objectives, and recommendations, to describe the agency’s current workforce opportunities. To complete this section, Megan performed a gap analysis review, researched current academic practicum opportunities in which DHEC was involved with, developed an interview guide, and conducted key informant interviews with stakeholders collaborating with DHEC.
Megan said opportunities were “endless” during her field placement. She explained, “The projects I was involved in allowed me to utilize techniques I have learned throughout my years in academia.” Megan concluded that her placement with SC DHEC placement was “nothing short of a success.”
Moose Alperin, Principal Investigator/Project Director
The Region IV Public Health Training Center (PHTC) has been awarded a $4.3 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agency. These funds will be used over the next four years to improve the ability of the public health workforce to meet national, state, and local needs under the direction of Principal Investigator Melissa (Moose) Alperin, EdD, MPH, MCHES.
The new round of funding begins in July 2018 and calls for an increased focus on training in three primary skill areas: systems thinking, change management and persuasive communication. These are three of the strategic skills identified by the National Consortium for Public Health Workforce Development and the de Beaumont Foundation in the report “Building Skills for a More Strategic Public Health Workforce: A Call to Action.” Additionally, trainings will be offered based on state needs and priority health concerns, including mental health, opioid use and childhood obesity. The new funding also increases emphasis on student field placements, which aim to increase the number of skilled public health professionals working in rural and/or underserved communities.
The Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) at Emory University has been funded by HRSA as a public health training center since 2010 — first, as the Emory PHTC and then, in 2014 as the Region IV PHTC. The Region IV PHTC, headquartered at the RSPH, includes seven community-based training centers (CBTs) at partnering institutions (Alabama Public Health Training Network, Alabama Department of Public Health; Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University; University of Louisville; Mississippi Public Health Institute; University of North Carolina Wilmington; Medical University of South Carolina; and East Tennessee State University) and three technical assistance partners (University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Georgia, and the National Network of Public Health Institutes). Together the Region IV PHTC network serves eight southeastern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Nine additional Public Health Training Centers also received funded by HRSA to serve other HHS regions across the U.S.
For professionals working in the public health field, leadership skills are essential. Public health leaders provide vision, stability, and innovation to address some of the ongoing and intermittent crises in the field. Leadership in public health includes the willingness to communicate, collaborate, and change to improve the health of a community. Some qualities that a public health leader should have include:
honesty and integrity;
interpersonal communication skills;
problem-solving skills;
decision-making capacity;
willingness to engage in cross-sector partnerships and collaborations; and
commitment, passion, and empowerment.
The Region IV Public Health Training Center (R-IV PHTC) is dedicated to helping public health professionals develop their leadership qualities through a range of on-line and in-person training opportunities. In April 2018, the R-IV PHTC and the Mississippi Public Health Association hosted an all-day Public Health Leadership Symposium in Madison, MS for 36 invited participants identified as emerging leaders. Included in this symposium was the R-IV PHTC workshop “Increasing Leadership Skills through Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence.” This workshop has become one of the PHTC’s most in-demand offerings region-wide.
Mississippi Public Health Leadership Symposium Participants
After Rebecca Hollenbach graduated from Emory University with her MPH in 2016, it only took a couple of months for the Louisville Metro Government to hire her as an Analyst for the Center for Health Equity. Rebecca got her start with the Louisville Metro the previous summer, when she was placed at their Public Health and Wellness Department (LMPHW) by the Region IV Public Health Training Center as a Pathways to Practice scholar.
As a project management intern at LMPHW, Rebecca helped improve data collection and reporting processes for Healthy Start, a federally-funded program aimed at reducing infant mortality. She was also involved with developing a volunteer engagement plan for Louisville’s Medical Reserve Corps and writing a five-year impact report of the Healthy Start Program.
At the end of her 2015 field placement, Rebecca reflected:
As an MPH student, it’s often easy to be immersed in an academic or theoretical perspective of public health without understanding what practical application might look like, especially in regards to cultural competency. I initially started the summer thinking that I would be doing more of my own data analysis and gaining practice with that when completing the impact report. However, I realized that it’s just as important to be able to contextualize and appropriately communicate data that has been collected and analyzed.
I spent a good amount of time building relationships and learning about organizational history to get a better understanding of what has been done (both successfully and unsuccessfully) before. Establishing a rapport and understanding the particular dynamics of Louisville and LMPHW was a priority because I wanted my deliverables and work to be relevant and useful even beyond my time there. Being able to practice cultural competency in a real-world setting was extremely useful because there are only so many things you can learn in a classroom and some you have to learn through experience.
MD/MPH Candidate & Pathways to Practice Scholar Sarah Dupont
In the summer of 2017, Sarah Dupont, a MD/MPH student at Emory University, joined the Pathways to Practice Field Placement Program with a specific goal in mind: to expose herself to communities outside of metro Atlanta in order to learn about healthcare and lifestyles of rural populations. While working for the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center (AHEC), Sarah became a valuable contributor to both the Georgia Farmworker Health Program and the 2017 Pathway to Medical School Program.
The Georgia Farmworker Health Program provides culturally sensitive primary healthcare to migrant farmworkers through medical clinics at the farms where they work. The camps are run by healthcare students from institutions all over Georgia in collaboration with local federally qualified health clinics. The Program serves 21 rural counties in southern Georgia, where there are numerous barriers to primary care access. Sarah worked with Emory Nurse Practitioner students at the program site in Colquitt county where she saw first-hand some of the enormous challenges facing rural healthcare. Using her personal insight and knowledge of local policy, Sarah produced a data-driven program report, which was submitted to the State Office of Rural Health.
The Pathway to Medical School Program is a four-week intensive program for rural pre-medical students that was first started by the AHEC more than a decade ago. This program provides hands-on training and support to medical school applicants from underserved communities. As an MD student with an interest in rural health, this was an ideal field placement for Sarah. By the end of the summer, in addition to serving as a near-peer mentor to program participants, Sarah revised the Pathway to Medical School Research Manual and Participant Handbook, formalized the Pathway to Medical School Research Curriculum, and developed a succinct program report for the major donors.
Sarah says her placement gave her a “clearer understanding of why people leave rural communities and why people stay in them for life.” The Farmworker Health experience and Pathways to Med School program showed her that, while there are substantial healthcare issues in rural areas in the Southeast, there are also networks of dedicated and innovative organizations working to solve them. After Sarah graduates in May 2018, she will begin a family practice residency.
Emily Alford with ETSU faculty members Dr. Nathan Hale and Dr. Paula Masters
As a Collaborative Project Field Placement Scholar, East Tennessee State University (ETSU) MPH student Emily Alford spent the summer of 2017 working with the Sullivan County Regional Health Department and ETSU to conduct a needs assessment on opioid dependence in the Northeast Tennessee region. Since 1999, there has been a nearly 11-fold increase in the rate of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) in Tennessee. Emily’s needs assessment will be used by the Health Department to inform best practices to address the high rates of opioid abuse and NAS.
Emily also examined the predictors of e-cigarette use among high school students in rural Appalachia. Emily and her team found that students’ were more likely to smoke e-cigarettes if they perceived them to be less harmful than conventional cigarettes, if their friends or family smoked e-cigarettes, or if they already smoked conventional cigarettes. These findings were summarized in a poster presented at 2017 APHA Annual Meeting.
These experiences left Emily with a clear sense of purpose for her next career steps. Emily explains, “I feel certain that upon graduation I would like to work in local public health practice, preferably in rural Appalachia.” Dr. Paula Masters, Director of LIFEPATH Public Health Training Center at ETSU, commended Emily’s work: “Emily’s contribution to this project was invaluable. She was able to import relevant public health methods she learned in the classroom and employ them in a real-time project.”
Daniel Buck teaches children about oral hygiene at Safe Haven Summer Camp.
While working for North Carolina’s Columbus County Health Department in the summer 0f 2017, Pathways to Practice Scholar and East Carolina University Public Health Studies student Daniel Buck expected to work with underserved, rural communities. What he didn’t expect, however, was to gain fulfillment by serving a population he had never before worked with – children.
In addition to creating health educational materials like a brochure on Shaken Baby Syndrome, Daniel spent a majority of his placement conducting educational outreach in partnership with Safe Haven Summer Camp in Bolton, North Carolina. At Safe Haven, Daniel taught children aged 5-13 years old in the “Education is the Equalizer” program about nutrition, dental hygiene, and physical activity. By sharing information about healthy behaviors, Daniel was able to teach the children how to reduce their risk for the chronic diseases that affect so many in their community. Though he had never before worked with children, Daniel says that, “to my surprise, working with the children turned out to be the highlight of all my working during this field placement.”
Daniel enjoyed his work this summer so much that after graduation, he accepted a position at the Columbus County Health Department. As a new Health Promotion and Education staff member, Daniel says he is “very excited to continue working with other underserved communities here in Columbus County.”
The opioid epidemic is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time. Opioid abuse – including misuse of prescription and street drugs – is a growing problem in communities across the U.S. It’s part of the reason that drug overdose has become the leading cause of death of Americans under 50. There is an urgent need for a coordinated, multisectoral response, with public health professionals playing a central role.
This is a listing of archived training materials and additional resources on the opioid epidemic.
Pathways to Safer Opioid Use Interactive simulation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
Michigan Public Health Training Center Self-paced modules on Substance Use Disorders as a Public Health Issue; Medication Assisted Treatment: An Evidence-Based Treatment Option; and Holistic Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: MAT and Beyond.
Providers’ Clinical Support System National training and clinical mentoring project developed in response to the opioid use disorder crisis. Offers Medication Assisted Training for clinicians.
As the HIV Testing and Counseling Intern at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) 1917 Clinic, UAB MD/MPH student Samina Karim was part of a team dedicated to providing care for low-income, uninsured and under-insured adults with HIV. The 1917 Clinic provides comprehensive HIV-related health care, including Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), for around 3,500 patients in the Birmingham area. During her time at the Clinic, Samina administered rapid HIV ALERE and ORAQUICK tests, managed testing data, and educated patients and the public about HIV prevention and treatment options. Samina supplemented the typical HIV counseling with extra attention on HIV awareness, healthy relationships, and good decision-making.
Her time at the 1917 Clinic impacted Samina’s views on healthcare. She explains, “Providing [HIV tests] during routine annual visits to patients regardless of risk factors is important for recognizing those with asymptomatic infection. Primary care physicians need to make use of HIV prevention methods to catch infections earlier and prevent progression of disease.” We look forward to seeing how Samina incorporates these lessons into her work as an internal medicine physician.
The June 2017 supplement to Pedagogy in Health Promotion: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learninghighlights the innovative activities of the 10 regional Public Health Training Centers, 40 local performance sites and the National Coordinating Center that comprise the Public Health Learning Network (PHLN). The supplement, titled “U.S. Public Health Learning Network: Innovative Competency-Based Training for the Public Health Workforce,” contains 12 articles, three commentaries, and a guest editorial by Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo, former Acting HHS Assistant Secretary for Health, about the role of the PHLN in implementing the Public Health 3.0 framework. Specific activities described in the supplement include training needs assessment, workforce development training, technical assistance for the the public health workforce, and field placements.
R-IV PHTC Director of Operations Moose Alperin, EdD, MPH, MCHES, served as a guest editor. Pedagogy in Health Promotion is a publication of the Society for Public Health Education. The entire supplement is accessible online at no charge for one year, and some articles are approved for CHES or MCHES continuing education credits.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is interested in helping organizations know more about its programs, priorities, and funding opportunities. The HRSA Atlanta Office of Regional Operations (ORO) is hosting a no-cost, interactive webinar on how to apply for HRSA grants.
After attending the webinar you will know:
How to Apply for a HRSA Grant
How to Assess Organizational Readiness
How to Write a Strong Application
Common Mistakes and Important Tips
Technical Assistance (TA) Resources
Speakers:
The Public Health Analysts, HRSA, Region 4, Office of Regional Operations: Rosie Mangual, Chiquita Francis, Tony Volrath, and Judy Trawick
Joining the HRSA staff are HRSA Grantees that will share their experience and answer questions from the audience.
If you have questions about the upcoming webinar or are interested in receiving one-on-one technical assistance on how to apply for HRSA funding, please contact Rosie Mangual, Public Health Analyst, in the Atlanta Office of Regional Operations at (404) 562-7979 or rmangual@hrsa.gov.
After earning his MPH, Neil Horsley began the Rural Physician Leadership Program at the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine.
Neil Horsley was pursuing his Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the University of Kentucky when he joined the state health department’s Immunization Program as a Pathways to Practice Scholar. During his time at the health department, Neil worked on several projects in infectious disease and epidemiology. One of the most substantial projects Neil completed was a comprehensive literature review and data analysis of area influenza deaths and the potential correlation between spikes in influenza mortality and extremely cold ambient temperatures. To investigate this potential correlation, Neil compiled and analyzed data from the National Climatic Data Center and the Kentucky Mortality Data Management System. The findings of his report can be used to further the mission of the Program and may even by applied to policy that aims to improve health outcomes in the region. When reflecting on the project, Neil said that the, “freedom to dive as deeply into the data as possible…reaffirmed my passion for public health.”
Neil continued his research into respiratory disease mortality for his Graduate Capstone Project. His capstone, “Dusty Occupations and Pulmonary Obstruction in Kentucky: A Proportionate Mortality Analysis,” utilized death certificate data provided by the Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics to conduct a regression analysis on the relationship between having worked in a “dusty” occupation (i.e. one in which there is considerable airborne particulate exposure) and increased mortality rates from pulmonary diseases. The findings of his research were presented at the 2017 Southern Occupational Network Regional Conference in April of 2017.
Since completing his field placement, Neil has earned his MPH and is now attending the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine. Neil notes that his field experience fueled his “desire to utilize public health when practicing as a physician.” At the College of Medicine, Neil is in the Rural Physician Leadership Program, which emphasizes rural and community medicine in underserved populations. In 2018, he was awarded a research fellowship from the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science to study the epidemiology of Alzheimer’s Disease in rural Kentucky.
As a public health professional, you may be wondering if advocacy has a role in your life. The answer is YES! Here’s what you can do.
Understand your professional responsibility. Public health professionals have a duty to use their expertise and influence to advocate for public health. Advocating for policies and programs that improve health is a fundamental function and core competency of public health professionals. — Stay informed. Policy and budget proposals are changing every day. Follow the news and these national public health organizations to know when your help is critically needed.
— Don’t assume all advocacy activities are off limits. Advocacy is taking action to build support for an issue or cause. Many advocacy activities are compatible with employers’ policies, in particular educating policymakers and constituents. Lobbying is a type of advocacy that involves contacting policymakers by phone, email, in-person or otherwise to try to influence their position on specific legislation. — Know your agency. Some organizations prohibit employees from lobbying (not advocacy) altogether. Others have a process in place for approving lobbying activities. Check with your organization’s human resources or public affairs department to clarify. — Act as a concerned citizen. As a private citizen, you generally are free to contact elected officials on your own time, using your own resources to share your personal views. When acting as an individual, you may use your credentials (MPH, RN, MD, etc.), but not your organizational affiliation. Research suggests that in-person visits and individualized emails/letters are more influential phone calls and form emails. When reaching out about a public health matter, consider contacting your Senator or Representative’s Health Legislative Assistant.
The Region IV Public Health Training Center is committed to measuring the impact of our training programs on the public health workforce. The infographic below provides an overview of the evaluation findings from our most recent trainings (July 2016-April 2017).
Kisa Harris was working on her MPH from University of Alabama at Birmingham when she returned to the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) at Tugaloo College in Mississippi as an R-IV PHTC Field Scholar. She previously had been involved as both a high-achieving high school student and while pursuing her undergraduate degree at Tugaloo College. A community-based cohort study of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among African Americans living in the Jackson, Mississippi area, the JHS aims to explore the reasons for disparities in cardiovascular disease and uncover new approaches to reduce them.
Her previous experience with JHS enabled Kisa to take a lead role as “Co-Principal Investigator in Training” with the Know Your Numbers (KYN) program. The KYN program assesses teens’ knowledge of CVD risk factors, provides them with culturally- and age- appropriate health education on CVD risk factors, and trains them to measure CVD risk factors.
Kisa describes her experience as career changing: “I believe that my future career decisions will be strongly rooted in the principles of community-based participatory research. This experience has also strengthened my desire to work with the African American population.”
Evidence-based practices improve health outcomes, maximize limited resources, and enhance workforce productivity.
This image, from CDC’s Understanding Evidence, highlights three distinct sources of evidence that influence decision making in public health. While research evidence is extremely important and should not be overlooked, it is not the only kind.
When public health programs lack evidence of effectiveness, we may use other explanations to defend our work: We’ve always done it that way or People love it. However, in order to protect the integrity of the public health profession, we should uphold science and evidence-based public health practice. Trained public health practitioners rely on the best available knowledge about what works–and what doesn’t–when making decisions about public health programs and policies. They rely on scientific research to inform their priorities and select strategies with demonstrated benefits.
In the summer of 2016, Florida A&M MPH candidate Artaveya Ingram completed her internship at the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center (SOWEGA-AHEC) in Albany, Georgia. At SOWEGA-AHEC, Artaveya was involved with Pathway to Med School, a program designed to encourage pre-med students to pursue a medical career in primary care and return to rural areas as providers. She also worked on the Migrant & Farmworker Family Health Program, which brings interprofessional teams of health care providers from cities into rural communities to provide health care to underserved migrant and seasonal farm workers and their families.
Atraveya explained in her field placement application that she would be an ideal fit for the SOWEGA-AHEC position because she has a “proven ability to build a bond with individuals from all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.” One of Atraveya’s goals for the field placement was to strengthen her communication skills, and by the end of the field placement, Artaveya reported she felt very confident facilitating communication among individuals, groups and organizations. She explains, “I was able to speak professionally to the other interns about public health issues going on throughout the world and have very profound conversations. Interning for the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center has impacted my personal development a lot.”
Atraveya has since graduated from Florida A & M, and today she works as a Research Scientist at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in upstate New York.
After studying abroad in Durban, Republic of South Africa and finishing a Chemistry degree at University of Pennsylvania, Tim Nielsen sought further study in global epidemiology stemming from his passion for preventing unintended pregnancies and improving birth outcomes. He was selected as a “Pathways to Practice Scholar” of the Region IV Public Health Training Center largely due to his shared passion of maternal and child with his mentor, John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH, FACOEM – Commissioner of Health for the State of Tennessee.
Timothy Nielsen with his mentor, John Dreyzehner, MD, MPH, FACOEM, the Commissioner of Health for the State of Tennessee
His internship was focused on prevention of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a collection of withdrawal symptoms affecting newborns exposed to certain substances in utero, particularly opioids and benzodiazepines. Tennessee is experiencing a NAS epidemic, with an eleven-fold increase in the NAS hospitalization rate between 1999 and 2011. Timothy conducted structured interviews with key informants from various state agencies and healthcare providers in order to make policy recommendations. His recommendations included expanding education to providers concerning risks of opioid prescription, connecting mothers to resources, standardizing follow up, and increasing funds for substance abuse treatment programs, particularly with a family centered approach.
Timothy shared, “I appreciated the opportunity to address the problems affecting Appalachian people, a population that I am passionate about as a native Kentuckian…Commissioner Dreyzehner did a fantastic job of making sure I had the opportunity to see as much of the department as possible and interact with individuals at the state, regional, and local level. Over the course of the internship, I learned three important lessons about the practice of public health:
A health department should be nonpartisan, but does not exist outside of politics.…when you leave management up to someone else you lose control of setting priorities…
Primary prevention should be a guiding principle in health policy.…I got to see firsthand how funding is skewed towards healthcare rather than health promotion…
Community engagement is key to improving health.
The biggest takeaway from my internship, was the effect that a community has on an individual’s health….One of the more striking moments of the summer was speaking with a substance abuse counselor who somberly explained how a community will rally around a member with a physical illness, but will scatter from a member suffering from a mental illness like addiction.
My experience has reaffirmed my desire to work with and on behalf of underserved populations. I sought out my current fellowship program working with a state health department because of the positive experiences I had during the program. I strongly believe that I want to pursue a career in public service, most likely at the state or local level.”
Timothy is currently an Applied Epidemiology Fellow of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) at the Maternal Child Health at Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
To ensure the nation’s 500,000 public health professionals can respond rapidly to critical and ever-evolving needs, theRegion IV Public Health Training Center (Region IV PHTC) – comprised of a central office at Emory University and six associated local performance sites (LPSs) – have partnered with the nation’s nine additional Regional Public Health Training Centers (RPHTCs), their LPSs and the National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training (NCCPHT) to develop a unified, national training network—the Public Health Learning Network (PHLN).
Funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the PHLN is the nation’s most comprehensive system of public health educators, experts, and thought leaders. The growing network aims to:
Offer high quality, free, adaptable, and easy-to-access training tools available online and in-person.
Advance public health practice by enabling the sharing of best practices among Public Health Training Centers across the U.S.
Improve population health in the United States through skills-based trainings in communities across the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and U.S. territories.
“The Region IV PHTC is acutely aware of the training needs of the public health workforce in the eight states that comprise our region and we are working on meeting these priority needs” said Kathleen R. Miner, PhD, MPH, MEd, MCHES, Principal Investigator of the Region IV PHTC. “As a member of the PHLN, we are able to extend the reach of our own trainings and also direct public health professionals to additional trainings and resources provided by our colleagues, within the network, who share our vision of providing timely, quality training.”
What is distinct about the PHLN is its long-standing relationship with learners and partner organizations within communities, coupled with a national presence that offers cohesive and rigorous development and delivery of education and knowledge sharing across the country. For more information, visit nnphi.org/phln or the Region IV PHTC’s website at www.sph.emory.edu/r4phtc.
The Region IV Public Health Training Center is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP27875-02-01, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Public Health Training Centers. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
CDC is excited to announce the launch of the newly designed CDC Learning Connection – your source for information on public health training opportunities developed by CDC, CDC partners, and other federal agencies. Visit the new site, access thousands of free courses, and sign up for monthly email updates.
This is a listing of archived training materials for public health professionals on the Zika virus, including recorded webinars and live presentations sponsored by the Region IV Public Health Training Center.
Zika Virus Symposium: Zika: Z to A: What We Know, What We Don’t, and How to Prepare
This event was sponsored on June 10, 2016 by MUSC’s South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research (SCTR) Institute, Johns Hopkins University, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), MUSC Center for Global Health, Johns Hopkins Project Restore and MUSC’s Department of Public Health Sciences.
This document provides Zika virus disease resources and an overview of public health and healthcare system considerations and implications that are applicable to professionals in those systems, emergency management stakeholders, and other audiences.
The Region IV Public Health Training Center sponsored a webinar, “Protecting the Public from Mosquito-borne Illnesses: Zika” with Beth P. Bell, MD, MPH.
The Region IV Public Health Training Center sponsored a webinar, “The Zika Virus: What It Is and How to Protect Against It” with Cherie Drenzek, DVM, MS, State Epidemiologist, Georgia Department of Public Health.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health sponsored the Zika Virus Challenge 2016 Training on February 15, 2016. This recorded video of a live presentation will provide general background on the Zika virus and mosquito vectors and discuss responses to similar outbreaks.
The Outbreaks: Protecting Americans from Infectious Diseases report found that more than half (28) of states scored a five or lower out of 10 key indicators related to preventing, detecting, diagnosing and responding to outbreaks. Five states—Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, New York and Virginia—tied for the top score, achieving eight out of 10 indicators. Seven states—Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah—tied for the lowest score at three out of 10.
The report, from TFAH and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), concluded that the United States must redouble efforts to better protect the country from new infectious disease threats, such as MERS-CoV and antibiotic-resistant superbugs, and resurging illnesses like whooping cough, tuberculosis and gonorrhea.
While completing her MPH at the University of South Carolina in the spring of 2017, Megan Surles joined the Pathways to Practice Field Placement Program hoping to put knowledge she gained at school into practice. Megan was placed at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC) in Columbia, where she was not only able to achieve this goal, but she was also able to broaden her skillset by assisting with the public health accreditation process.
The opioid epidemic is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time. Opioid abuse – including misuse of prescription and street drugs – is a growing problem in communities across the U.S. It’s part of the reason that drug overdose has become the leading cause of death of Americans under 50. There is an urgent need for a coordinated, multisectoral response, with public health professionals playing a central role.
