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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Nancy A. Myers, PhD, James R. Boex, PhD, and C. William Keck, MD, MPH. Community Health Sciences, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, 4209 State Route 44, Rootstown, OH 44272, 330.325.6185, namyers@neoucom.edu

The Institute of Medicine has set out ambitious educational goals for health professions schools and public health departments in order to protect the nation's health in the 21st century. This organization and others have called for partnerships between academia and public health in order to train the future health services work force in population health perspectives and methods, and to develop and implement evidence-based public health practice. But what is the current level of collaboration in these areas between academia and public health, and how should partnerships be structured in order to serve the interests of both? In 2003, a preliminary survey of academic health centers (AHCs) and public health departments (PHDs) nationwide revealed that a large number of relationships do exist, although they vary greatly in terms of the nature of education, research, and service activities that they include. Further, it appears that, for PHDs, a primary impetus for engaging in partnerships is recent concerns regarding bioterrorism, while the majority of AHCs who engage in partnerships report having done so prior to 9/11/01. NEOUCOM was one of the first community-based medical schools to establish formal affiliations with local PHDs, and actively uses these agencies as required longitudinal placement sites for its medical students in order to teach principles of population health and community medicine. This model is one option for other health professions schools or PHDs which are interested in formalizing their own relationship around population health training, research, and service to advance their community's health.

Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will be able to

• Identify how partnerships between health professions schools and public health departments can contribute toward meeting the health goals of the nation;
• Describe one survey’s findings regarding the nature of current relationships between academic health centers and public health departments;
• Identify specific areas around which partnerships can be forged; and
• Describe a successful partnership model that may be considered for replication.

Keywords: , Professional Training

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered