University Public Health and Health Profession's Students Team up to Promote Tobacco Cessation among Middle School Students

Students from a public health graduate program teamed up with health professions students from rehabilitation counseling, medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacy to promote tobacco cessation for middle school students. University students received a full day of training on tobacco cessation as well as methods for teaching middle school students about the harmful effects of tobacco use. The training involved an interdisciplinary approach which required students from various health professions and public health to collaborate within a group environment. One month following the training, groups of 4-5 students went to various local middle schools to teach students about the short and long-term effects of tobacco use. Students implemented a variety of teaching modalities to facilitate the learning process. Evaluations were administered prior to and following the tobacco training to the college students involved in the project to determine the effectiveness of the training program. In addition, middle school teachers responded to an evaluation of the adequacy, quality, and effectiveness of the tobacco cessation program for middle school students. The purpose of this presentation is to present the process by which public health and health professions students obtained tobacco cessation training and implemented knowledge learned to middle school students. Results from evaluations from college students and middle school students will be presented.