142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

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Engaging Students in Rural Health Disparities Research

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 3:10 PM - 3:30 PM

K. Bryant Smalley, PhD, PsyD , Center of Excellence for Rural and Minority Health, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA
Jacob Warren, Ph.D. , Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities, Mercer University School of Medicine, Macon, GA
Janie Wilson, Ph.D. , Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA
Kathryn Anderson, Ph.D., R.N. , Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA
While the presence and impact of health disparities among rural populations is well known, comparatively little university-based research is conducted into this highly vulnerable and underserved population.  Creating programs that allow students the opportunity to engage in rural health related research directly within rural communities offers unique research and training opportunities that can serve as a powerful tool in increasing the “pipeline” of trainees wishing to focus on rural health research.

The goal of the Disparities Elimination Summer Research Experience (DESRE) is to provide students comprehensive rural health and health disparities training opportunities.  Through NIH Center of Excellence funding, we created a 6-week, full-time research and outreach training summer initiative.  The curriculum consisted of didactic training in research methods, statistics, rural health disparities, and ethics, as well as themed seminars, hands-on experiential research training, community immersion experiences, and several peer mentoring components. Participants in the program reported increased level of competency across several rating areas and higher self-efficacy across all 26 individual learning objectives of the program.

This presentation will focus on the development, implementation, and evaluation of the first two years of the DESRE program (the completed 2013 cohort comprised of local students only, as well as the to be completed Summer 2014 cohort which represents a national cohort of students).  Lessons learned and planned modifications to the structure, curriculum, schedule, and timeline will be discussed.  The individual learning objectives of the program, and the factors that contributed to their attainment, will also be discussed.

Learning Areas:

Advocacy for health and health education
Diversity and culture
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Describe key components of a summer disparities training experience. Discuss ways to evaluate the success of training initiatives.

Keyword(s): Rural Health, Training

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been principal investigator on multiple federally funded grants focused on rural heath disparities, including the grant funding the project being presented.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.