Community-Academic
Partnerships:
Teaching Medical Students
Public Health
American Public Health Association,
November 2004
Jan K Carney MD MPH
University of Vermont College of Medicine
Why Public Health
Projects?





All physicians will face public health
issues
Multiple determinants of health
Population/community context of
individual patients
Increasing need for disease prevention
Partnerships essential
Multiple Determinants of
Health
health care
behaviors
biology
environment
social/econ
Why public health
projects?

Physicians face a growing list of public health issues
in clinical practice today: examples:
– Preventing childhood obesity
– Emerging infectious diseases
– Preventing and caring for chronic conditions in an aging
population

IOM recommends that “all medical students receive
basic public health training in the population-based
prevention approaches to health.”
Vermont Integrated
Curriculum (VIC)




Implemented at the UVM College of
Medicine fall 2003
Integrates sciences and clinical
medicine
Develops skills for life-long learning
Public health competencies
Public Health Projects
in the Vermont Integrated
Curriculum

MSLG I = first year
– Student groups of 8
– May 2004 = project ranking


MSLG II = Public Health Projects
September through December
– Second year students
– Begin September 2004
– 13 projects per year
Themes and
Competencies




Professional development
Learning
Leadership and Collaboration
Research and Discovery
Goals and Objectives
Public Health Projects:
Educational Goals




Understand the breadth and scope of
public health
Understand current and emerging
public health issues
Understand how public health
interfaces with clinical medicine
Understand and apply public health
research methods
Public Health Projects
Educational Goals



Understand the role of the community
in improving individuals’ health
Learn practical ways to improve the
health of both individuals and
populations
Be creative and have fun!
For each Public Health
Project:



1. must address a public health issue
2. must ask and answer a scientific
question
3. must show a public health benefit
Public Health Framework
Healthy People 2010
Overarching goals


1. increase quality and years of
healthy life
2. eliminate health disparities
Healthy People 2010
Focus Areas














Access to quality health services
Arthritis
Cancer
Chronic Kidney Disease
Diabetes
Disability
Educational programs
Environmental health
Family planning
Food Safety
Health Communication
Heart Disease and Stroke
HIV
Immunization and Infectious
Diseases













Injury and violence prevention
Maternal, infant and child health
Medical Product Safety
Mental health
Nutrition and overweight
Occupational health
Oral health
Physical activity
Public Health Infrastructure
Respiratory Diseases
Substance abuse
Tobacco
Vision and Hearing
Community-Academic
Partnerships





Students asked for better way to make
a difference
Previous project design reversed:
“Community First”!
Community agencies asked to identify
public health needs
Projects designed to meet communityidentified needs
Community-Academic
Partnerships






Link with community agencies
United Way of Chittenden County
Invited proposals – January 2004
Protocols developed to match HP2010
focus areas and educational goals
May 2004 – student rank and match
IRB process/IRB tutorial
Evaluation


Field notes – for peers (COMET)
Written report –
– About 10 pages
– Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions
– For mentors and agencies

Poster presentation –
–
–
–
–
Visually appealing summary
Professional quality
Suitable for submission to national meeting
January poster presentation at COM
Evaluation (cont’)





Grading = Pass/Fail
Student self-assessment
Agency assessment
Faculty mentor assessment
Midpoint and final
– Individual contribution and group work
– Competency based
Project Examples: 2004
Public Health Project
Titles: 2004




1. Navigating a 15 minute doctor visit:
Helping patients communicate with their
physicians
2. Public Health for Refugees in Vermont:
Public Health in the Home
3. Healthy Choice for Teens: the path to
well-being through diet and exercise
(Woodside)
4. The Built Environment and Health:
Promoting healthy and active Vermont
communities (VDH)
Projects – 2004 (cont’)




5. Helping patients to help themselves:
educational methods to improve access to
health care – Lund family center
6. Teaching young children about nutrition
and physical activity: Improving nutrition
and physical fitness in YMCA families
7. Improving health care quality and
reducing errors (VNA)
8. Assessing psychiatry needs at a
community mental health center (Howard)
Projects 2004- (cont’)



9. Immunizations are for adults, too:
reducing the risk of influenza and
pneumococcal disease in a nursing home
10. Diabetic-friendly food donations:
nutritional options for the homebound
senior (CCEFS)
11. Improving the health of the community:
educational strategies at the Community
Health Center
Projects – 2004 (cont’)


12. Improving the health of Puerto
Cabezas, Nicaragua, Burlington’s Sister
City
13. Complementary and Alternative
Medicine: Physician beliefs and
patient/doctor communication
Public Health Projects –
Healthy People 2010 areas







Access to Quality Health Services
Health Communication
Environmental Health
Diabetes
Immunizations and infectious disease
Nutrition/Physical Activity
Mental Health
Jan K Carney, MD MPH,
Associate Dean for Public
Health,
University of Vermont
College of Medicine
371 Pearl St, Burlington VT 05401
(802) 847-8268
Jan.Carney@uvm.edu