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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Gillian Silver, MPH, Association of Schools of Public Health, 1101 15th Street, NW, Suite 910, washington, DC 20005, 202-296-1099, gsilver@gmail.com

An historic meeting took place January 30-31, 2006: the first gathering of underrepresented minority public health faculty. With funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, seventy-five faculty from 36 accredited schools of public health and 8 public health programs participated, discussing challenges and barriers to minority faculty recruitment and retention. The discussion was framed in the context of civil rights, with racial and ethnic health disparities as a key civil rights issue of the 21st century. The faculty generated recommendations in the areas of teaching, research, service, career development, mentoring and time management, and institutional environment. These recommendations were incorporated into the broader recommendations and benchmarks developed by the Kellogg/ASPH Taskforce on Engaging Schools of Public Health in the Elimination of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. This distinguished 17-person taskforce was convened specifically to develop benchmarks in the areas of faculty recruitment and retention, student recruitment and retention, policy and advocacy, community outreach and partnerships, curriculum and research. In developing these benchmarks, taskforce members considered four areas of disparities: health, wealth, education, and criminal justice, and how disparities in each of these areas build on each other, and the importance of working across the four disparity groups.

The measurable benchmarks were then adopted by the Associate Deans and Deans of the schools of public health, and are now being implemented.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Discuss career challenges unique to minority public health faculty.
• 2. Describe the potential impact of increasing the number of minority public health faculty on the schools’ of public health abilities to work towards the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities.
• 3. Articulate the benchmarks to contribute towards the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities that public health schools (and possibly programs) have adopted.

Keywords: Health Disparities, Minority Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation