LI Course
CE Hours: 6 contact hours

Partnership: The skills taught at this workshop would be applicable to anyone, though the primary sponsor of the workshop is the Maternal and Child Health section. The contacts for the MCH section are Debra Jackson (debrajackson@mweb.co.za); Ruth Perou (rzp4@cdc.gov); and Ann Dozier (Ann_Dozier@URMC.Rochester.edu).

Statement of Purpose and Institute Overview: The purpose of this Institute is to help public health practitioners at the state and local-levels turn their work into manuscripts for publication. The course will cover the following sections: why write for publication; what an editor looks for; how to write each section of a manuscript; and tips for submitting to journals. There will be two main presenters: one presenter is the Associate Editor for the American Journal of Preventive Medicine while the other presenter has served on the AJPH and MCHJ editorial boards, and has edited special issues of Pediatrics. Both presenters have published at least 70 articles. They will be assisted by a number of other experienced authors who will work with the class on partially-completed manuscripts that they will be asked to bring to class. Further details on this method of teaching are presented below. This course is proposed because a common complaint has been that there is a dearth of manuscripts from state and local-level health departments on their work. Publishing in peer-reviewed journals is one method for communicating the results of health department programs to a wider audience.

Session Objectives: 1. Describe why publication of state and local-level work is important; 2. List the key points of each section of a scientific paper, how to choose the best journal for submitting their work, and use writing style tips to improve their own scientific writing; 3. Demonstrate that they have taken a partially-completed paper and moved it much closer to completion through working with the instructors and their assistants.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)