Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Irene N. Paulavicius, MA, Life Sciences Division, Palmer College of Chiropractic, 1000 Brady Street, Davenport, IA 52803, 563-884-5424, paulavicius@palmer.edu

I have found that a large number of students foster negative perceptions toward topics like microbiology and public health, since these topics are viewed as being in opposition to chiropractic philosophy. When presented with these topics, students tend to become disengaged. Student disengagement became quite apparent to me when lecture attendance dropped to levels near twenty to thirty percent of the class. I feel that the key to engaging students is to foster active involvement of students in their own learning.

To remedy the situation, my course has been restructured to a small group experience. Through assigned readings and discussion, I encourage the student to develop the conclusion that patient wellness, which is central to chiropractic philosophy, is also the primary focus of public health. Through discussion, students identify and distinguish public health and prevention strategies from curative strategies for prevalent health problems.

By incorporating the concepts from Healthy People 2010 and exploring how environmental, socio-demographic and organizational factors interact to affect the occurrence of a specific health problem in a population, the students develop an awareness of the factors and obstacles impeding further progress in improving public health, and an appreciation of the importance of disease prevention and health promotion in society.

I will share the strategies that have resulted in full student participation in my public health course.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize that chiropractic students tend to associate public health with allopathic medicine.
• Articulate the chiropractic concepts of patient wellness to public health practice.
• Identify external reinforcement methods to encourage learning in students lacking intrinsic motivation.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation