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Abstract #151507

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Erin E. Rothney, MPH, Angela J. Beck, MPH, CHES, and Matthew Boulton, MD, MPH. Office of Public Health Practice, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 109 Observatory Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, 734-615-5782, rothney@umich.edu

The Office of Public Health Practice at the University of Michigan School of Public Health (SPH) created the academic-practice summit as a forum for bringing together governmental public health and academia to forge new partnerships and a shared sense of the state and future of public health practice in Michigan. Invitees to the SPH summit primarily included health officers and medical directors in each of Michigan's forty-five local health departments and designated officials from the Michigan Department of Community Health. SPH faculty invitees were identified by each of the five department chairs, based on their involvement and interest in public health practice.

The summit was held in conjunction with the September 2006 board meeting of the Michigan Association for Local Public Health. Summit sessions focused on developing a strategy for building advocacy for public health, demonstrating collaborative practice-based research projects in Michigan, and highlighting the work of SPH and the Office of Public Health Practice, including training programs for both the current and future public health workforces.

The summit provided a unique forum for academics and practitioners to gather to discuss new ideas and potential collaborative projects. Discussions at the summit included suggestions on how to focus the activities of the Office of Public Health Practice and how to develop stronger linkages between SPH and the public health practice community. Participants felt strongly that this event should occur on an annual basis as new opportunities for collaboration arise and pertinent public health issues evolve.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the activities that occurred at the academic-practice summit
• Recognize the importance of offering an event that brings together the practice and academic communities
• Discuss the impact an event like the summit can have on building partnerships within the practice and academic sectors of public health

Keywords: Practice, Partnerships

Related Web page: www.umsphpractice.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Slides (pdf) or Handout