WELCOME TO THE
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Division of Epidemiology &
Community Health
Traci Toomey, PhD & Sonya Brady, PhD
School of Public Health
Traci Toomey, PhD
• Courses:
–Community Health Theory & Practice II
–Legislative Advocacy for Public Health
–Skills for Policy Development
–Policy as a Prevention Strategy
• Research:
– Assess and prevent alcohol and tobacco-related problems
–Alcohol & tobacco policy
School of Public Health
Sonya Brady, PhD
• Courses:
– Community Health Theory & Practice I
– Adolescent Health
– Human Behavior II
• Research:
– Health risk & protective behaviors during adolescence and
young adulthood
– Disparities in consequences of risk taking
– Mechanisms linking stressful life circumstances to risk
behavior and factors promoting resilience
School of Public Health
Defining Public Health
PUBLIC HEALTH IS:
•
The science and art of protecting and improving the
health of communities through education, promotion
of healthy lifestyles, and research for the prevention
of disease and injury in local communities and
around the globe.
•
Prevention of illness and injury to populations.
School of Public Health
Public Health VS. Medicine
Medicine
Public Health
•
Prevention of illness
•
Treatment of illness
•
Population-oriented
•
Individual-oriented
•
Public Health model
• a blend of physical and social science.
•
Medical model
• physical science basis
School of Public Health
What Public Health does…
School of Public Health
The 20th Century’s Ten Great
Public Health Achievements
School of Public Health
University of Minnesota
School of Public Health
School of Public Health
WHY MN?
Highly ranked: We are a top-ranked school at a top-ranked university, where
diverse populations build knowledge and public health professionals make a difference.
World-class research: We consistently attract more National Institutes of
Health research funding than most other schools of public health housed at a public
university.
Leadership development: Educating the next generation of public health
leaders is a priority here. Our student-centered philosophy means that academic needs are
listened to and acted upon.
Mentor opportunities: The SPH is home to the largest Mentor Program of any
school of public health in the nation. Co-sponsor: MPHA since 1993.
For these reasons and many more, the School of Public Health at Minnesota is an attractive choice for
students from all walks of life and all corners of the globe.
School of Public Health
The School of Public Health at a glance…
• About 1,200 students
• 130+ faculty
• 50% mid-career professionals; 50% recent graduates
• SPH has moved up in the U.S. News and World Report
school rankings!
 Up from 10th to 8th place among all schools of public health
 Up from 6th to 4th place among all publics.
School of Public Health
SPH Degree Options
• Master of Public Health (M.P.H.)
• Master of Healthcare Administration (M.H. A.)
• Master of Science (M.S.)
• Doctorate (Ph.D.)
sph.umn.edu
School of Public Health
Dual and Joint Degree Programs
Business
Pharmacy
• Healthcare Administration - MBA/MHA
• Public Health Practice - PharmD/MPH
Dentistry
Public Policy
• Public Health Practice - DDS/MPH
• Public Health Practice - MPP/MPH
Law
Social Work
•
•
•
•
•
• Community Health Promotion - MSW/MPH
• Maternal and Child Health - MSW/MPH
Community Health Promotion - JD/MPH
Environmental Health - JD/MPH, JD/MS, JD/PhD
Epidemiology - JD/MPH
Healthcare Administration - JD/MHA
Health Services Research, Policy & Administration
- JD/MS, JD/PhD
• Maternal and Child Health - JD/MPH
• Public Health Administration and Policy - JD/MPH
• Public Health Practice - JD/MPH
Medicine
• Epidemiology - MD/PhD
• Health Services Research, Policy & Administration
- MD/PhD
• Public Health Practice - MD/MPH
School of Public Health
Urban and Regional Planning
• Public Health Practice - MURP/MPH
Veterinary Medicine
• Public Health Practice - DVM/MPH
Divisions
School of Public
Health
Public Health
Practice
Biostatistics
Environmental
Health Sciences
School of Public Health
Epidemiology and
Community Health
Health Policy and
Management
Epidemiology & Community Health
Focus on disease and health in various populations. Faculty and students examine the distribution,
cause and prevention of diseases, and how human behavior affects overall health.
4 MPH Programs
Community Health Promotion
gain the skills needed to translate research into practice by designing community based
program and policy interventions that improve the health of diverse communities
Epidemiology
identify trends in health and disease for populations
Maternal & Child Health
improve the health of women, children, youth and families, including socially vulnerable
populations and the environments and policies that affect their wellbeing
Public Health Nutrition
study the link between diet and health; designed for students who want training in health
promotion, disease prevention, program development, and nutrition interventions
School of Public Health
Epidemiology & Community Health
Focus on disease and health in various populations. Faculty and students
examine the distribution, cause and prevention of diseases, and how human
behavior affects overall health.
PhD and MS programs
Epidemiology PhD
offers formal tracks in social/behavioral
epidemiology and clinical/biological
epidemiology for students interested in
research and teaching careers in the
health sciences
School of Public Health
MS in Clinical Research
trains the next generation of clinical and
translational researchers who will advance
our understanding of diseases and their
outcomes and develop and evaluate new
therapies for patients (for physicianscientists and biomedical researchers)
Field and Culminating Experiences
School of Public Health
Public Health Employers
Government
World Health Org.
Hennepin County
MN Dept. of Health
CDC
EPA
City of Mpls.
USAID
US Navy
UNICEF
FDA
USDA
Ramsey Co.
WI Dept. of Health
NIH
Dept. of Education
Non-Profit
Am. Red Cross
United Way
Planned Parenthood
Family Tree Clinic
Mill City Farmers Market
Am. Heart Assoc.
Am. Cancer Society
HeadStart
Wilder Foundation
March of Dimes
MN Aids Project
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Am. Refugee Committee
Children’s Defense Fund
Way to Grow
Private
Medtronic
GE Healthcare
Accenture
Deloitte
ChemRisk
General Mills
Proctor & Gamble
Kellogg
St. Jude Medical
Health Fitness
Abbott
Genetech, Inc.
3M
Merck & Co.
United Health Group
Plus many more…all over the globe
School of Public Health
Hospital/Clinic
Mayo Clinic
Children’s Hospital & Clinics
Kaiser Permanente
Allina Hospitals & Clinics
Stanford University Hospital
Salem Hospital
Mercy Health System
Intermountain Healthcare
HealthEast Care System
U of MN Physicians
Sutter Health
Cleveland Clinic
Sentara
St. Cloud Hospital
Fairview
Application Process - SOPHAS
Centralized application for CEPH accredited schools and
programs of public health
 Statement of Purpose and Objectives
 Résumé or C.V.
 Official U.S. and/or Canadian Transcripts
 3 Letters of Recommendation
 Official GRE scores
 World Education Services (WES) ICAP course-by-course
evaluation of non-U.S/Canadian academic credentials
 Proof of English proficiency
School of Public Health
Application Deadlines
Priority Deadline: December 1
 For first-round SPH scholarship consideration
Final Deadline:
 PhD programs – February 15
 Master’s programs – April 15
Check out the videos on our admissions page for tips on
completing your application.
School of Public Health
Carleton students
• Since 2010, 18 Carleton students have been
admitted to one of the 4 Epidemiology and
Community Health MPH Programs:
– 3 to Epidemiology
– 8 to Community Health Promotion
– 6 to Maternal and Child Health
– 1 to Public Health Nutrition
School of Public Health
Visit Us!
Come to an information session, a fall
preview day, or one of the many graduate
fairs the SPH will be at locally and nationally!
sph.umn.edu/students/prospective/calendar/
School of Public Health
Questions?
School of Public Health
Introduction to
Our Research
School of Public Health
Social Ecological Model
Society / Public Policy
Community
Institutional
Interpersonal
Individual
School of Public Health
Alcohol Epidemiology Program
(AEP)
• Traci Toomey, PhD
• Darin Erickson, PhD
• Toben Nelson, ScD
• Rhonda Jones-Webb,
DrPH
• Plus 12 wonderful
staff members!
School of Public Health
Goal = Reduce Problems
•Traffic crashes
•Suicides
•Violent crime
•Nuisance crime
•Unplanned
pregnancies
•STI’s
School of Public Health
Excessive Alcohol Use
Economic Costs
•U.S. total: $223.5 billion
•MN total: $3,547,400,000
Includes: lost productivity, healthcare,
criminal justice, property damage, etc.
Sacks et al., 2013, http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/data-stats.htm
School of Public Health
Integrated Theory of Drinking Behavior
Micro/Individual
Level
Macro/Societal
Level
Public Policy
Legal Availability
Biological/
Pharmacological
Formal Social
Controls
Conditioned
Response
Economic
Availability
GeneralBeliefs
/ Perceptions/
Personality
Social
Integration
Institutional
Structures
Physical Availability
Social
Interaction
Alcohol
Cognitions/
Perceptions
Market
Mechanisms
Models of
Drinking
School of Public Health
Social Roles
Drinking
Behavior
Rates and
Policy/
Program
Availability
Patterns of
Consumption
School of Public Health
Alcoholrelated
Problems
AEP Mission & Research
- Identify need for policies/programs
- Identify effective policies/programs
- Improve implementation of
policies/programs
School of Public Health
Examples of AEP
Assessment Studies
School of Public Health
Density of Alcohol Establishments
•Number of establishments per:
–Population
–Roadway mile
–Geographic area (including around
campuses)
•Density important at smaller geographic units
than community or state
School of Public Health
AEP Density Study: Minneapolis
Total Density
School of Public Health
On- & Off-premise Density
AEP Density Project
• Density in
Minneapolis
neighborhoods
• Associated with:
–Violent crime
–Non-violent crime
• Stronger for onpremise vs. offpremise
• No variation by type of
neighborhood
Toomey et al., 2012a,b; Erickson et al., 2015
School of Public Health
Alcohol Service at
Licensed Venues
•Sales to underage
•Over-service of alcohol
•Promotion of heavy drinking
–Drink specials
–Promotion of drinking games
School of Public Health
AEP Assessment of
Alcohol Sales Projects
Pseudo-underage
School of Public Health
Pseudo-intoxicated
What is the sales rate to underage
youth prior to intervention?
50%
52%
47%
On-premise Establishments
Off-premise Establishments
Forster et al., 1995
School of Public Health
What is the sales rate to obviously
intoxicated patrons prior to
intervention?
83%
75%
47%
On-premise Establishments
Off-premise Establishments
Toomey, et al., 2004
School of Public Health
Sales at
Festivals and Stadiums
Underage: 50%
Intoxicated: 89%
Underage: 18%
Intoxicated: 74%
Toomey et al., 2005
Toomey et al., 2005
School of Public Health
How do we create change?
•Institutional
•Local
•State
•Federal
School of Public Health
Intervention Approaches
•Training programs
•Lobbying
•Coalition building
•Grassroots community organizing
School of Public Health
AEP Training Projects
School of Public Health
School of Public Health
AEP Community
Organizing Projects
School of Public Health
http://www.aep.umn.edu/
University of Minnesota
School of Public Health
Social Ecological Model
Society / Public Policy
Community
Institutional
Interpersonal
Individual
School of Public Health
National
Prevention
and Health
Promotion
Strategy
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/prio
rities/prevention/strategy/report.pdf
School of Public Health
Risk and Resilience Model
Assets and Resources for Resilience:
Coping Skills of Youth
Social Support from Family, Teachers, Other Caring Adults, Friends
Exposure to
Stressors:
Home
School
Community
Affective
Symptoms:
Depression
Anxiety
Anger
Externalizing
Behaviors:
Incomplete/
Inadequate
Responses by
Professionals
Behavior-Focused
Disciplinary Action:
School
Juvenile Justice
Aggression
Cognitions
Conflicting
with Future
Success:
Low
Academic
Investment
School of Public Health
General
Rule
Breaking
Inattention
to Parents
and
Teachers
Behavior-Focused
Referral, Diagnosis,
and Treatment:
Oppositional Defiant
Disorder
Conduct Disorder
Attention-Deficit /
Hyperactivity
Disorder
Formative Research:
Acknowledgements
• Minnesota Association of • Project Co-Coordinators
–Sonja Ausen-Anifrani, MPH *
Black Psychologists
–William D. Allen, PhD
–Willie B. Garrett, EdD
–Susan Govern, MA
–Monique Lowe, PhD
–Gregory Maxie, MS
–Beverly Propes, MPH
–Willie Winston, PhD
School of Public Health
–Lauren Mammini, MPH *
• Student Volunteers
–Ashley A. Chesmore, MSEd, MPH *
–Calae Dorsett, MBBS, MPH
–Nasra H. Giama, DNP
–Sonia E. Gockley, MPH *
–Tat’Yana Kenigsberg, MPH *
–Sarah Osman-Learmont, BA
–Allison J. Woerpel, MPH *
Formative Research:
Methodology
• Focus Groups
– Purpose was to discuss “the most important issues affecting the wellbeing and future success of young people in the African American
community”
• 2 groups of children aged 8-12 years (n=14, 3 male)
• 2 groups of caregivers (n=16, 3 male)
• Structured Interviews
– One-on-one interviews of 46 African American children aged 8-12
and their caregivers
• 43 caregivers were female (93%)
• 21 children were female (46%)
School of Public Health
How Caregivers Address Discrimination:
Acknowledge Discrimination and Prepare
Children
• Most parents agreed that it was necessary to acknowledge and
prepare their children for potential acts of discrimination
• At the same time, many parents encouraged their children…
–Not to assume that they were being discriminated against
–Not to make it more likely that they would be discriminated
against
School of Public Health
How Caregivers Address Discrimination:
Be Leaders, Not Followers…
• G1, Woman 1: I don’t know how this is going to sound, but this is how it is going to
fly out of my mouth. I think that if the parent, the person at home, whoever that is, is
helping to get that child into the world… if they try to get their kid to not talk slang
and try to get the child to not sag their pants…
• G1, Woman 2: Be leaders and not followers.
• G1, Woman 1: Be leaders and not followers… because if you are ok with your child
going out and talking slang, if you are ok with your child sagging pants, big old
clothes, making people scared of you or not understand you, not speaking the same
language as you, then therefore, that can impact it [the likelihood of being
discriminated against].
• G1, Woman 6: That is also a stereotype.
• G1, Woman 1: Unfortunately that is what it is though.
• G1, Woman 6: Because there are white boys that walk around with sagging pants
and they try to talk cool and all this and ain’t nobody scared of them.
• G1, Woman 1: We are talking about African Americans, that is why I said, I know
this isn’t going to come off right.
School of Public Health
Taking Our Children and
Our Community Back
• G1, Woman 2: You know what I think we have to do as parents…
continue parenting our kids exposing them [to educational
opportunities] and talking to them, but taking our children back,
taking our community back and just having positive leaders and
stuff and people around. We have to do this when they are young.
We can’t wait until they are old because they have gotten used to
that and habit forming. Once you have a habit, it is hard to break it
and we can’t expect our children are just going to stop like that if we
don’t start from when they are young and be consistent with them.
School of Public Health
How are children’s coping strategies
associated with academic outcomes?
Boys
School Progress Report
Standardized Test
Reading
Perf.
Reading
Effort
Math
Perf.
Math
Effort
Reading
Percentile
Math
Percentile
Problem-Focused
.55 *
.68 **
.37 +
.49 *
.50 *
.55 *
Emotion-Focused
.11
.25
.22
.28
.33
.01
Coping Strategies
Girls
School Progress Report
Reading
Perf.
Reading
Effort
Problem-Focused
.06
Emotion-Focused
.35
Coping Strategies
School of Public Health
Standardized Test
Reading
Percentile
Math
Percentile
Math
Perf.
Math
Effort
.01
-.13
-.28
.06
-.01
.05
-.05
-.02
.19
.16
Current Community Work and Research
• Funding from the National Institute on Minority
Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
• Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
• Communities that Care (CTC) approach to building
coalitions
School of Public Health
Communities Invested in Healthy Life
Trajectories of African American Boys
• Aim: Build community coalitions that will select, refine,
implement, and evaluate a school-linked intervention
for African American, socioeconomically
disadvantaged boys aged 8-14 years and their
caregivers
– St. Paul, MN
• Ms. Capetra Jolly (Coalition Leader)
• Dr. Sonya Brady (University Partner)
– Birmingham, AL
• Mr. Charles Branch (Coalition Leader)
• Dr. Tina Simpson (University Partner)
School of Public Health
Communities Invested in Healthy Life
Trajectories of African American Boys
• Goals
1. Promote family, school, and community
connectedness; academic investment; and
social and emotional well-being
2. Prevent or reduce externalizing symptoms,
risk behavior, receipt of school-based
disciplinary action, and juvenile justice
involvement
School of Public Health
Communities that Care (CTC)
• Communities that Care (CTC) is a step-by-step
coalition-based approach to preventing youth risk
behaviors
–CTC provides…
• A structure for engaging community stakeholders
• A process for establishing a shared community
vision
(Hawkins et al., 2008; Hawkins, Catalano, & Kuklinski, 2011)
School of Public Health
5 Phases of Communities That Care
School of Public Health
Coalition Organization Structure
Key Leaders
Community
Board
Executive Board
•
•
Facilitator/Coordinator
6 Workgroups
•
•
•
•
Community
School of Public Health
Risk & Protective
Factor Assessment
Community Outreach
& Public Relations
Youth Involvement
Resource Assessment
& Evaluation
Funding
Community Board
Maintenance
School of Public Health
The Division of Epidemiology &
Community Health
Program Coordinators
Andrea Kish
Kathryn Schwartz
Shelley Cooksey
Epi PhD and Clinical
Research
Community Health and
MCH
Epi MPH and Pub Health
Nutrition
612-626-9989
612-626-2247
612-626-8803
kish@umn.edu
schwa139@umn.edu
cooks001@umn.edu
School of Public Health
SPH Contact Information
Maggie Aftahi
Director of Admissions and Student Leadership
med@umn.edu
612-624-0601
Sherlonda Clarke
Director for Diversity and Inclusion
sdclarke@umn.edu
612-624-7790
School of Public Health
Tips for Applying
• Getting Strong Recommendations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzGILnnDWWk
• Application Tips: Strong Personal Statements:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nt0ZST7Z4c
• Application Tips: SOPHAS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4pSSKL8Nng
School of Public Health
Financing Your Education
•
•
•
•
•
Tuition and fees
Scholarships
Loans
Graduate/Research/Teaching Assistantships
Living in the Twin Cities
U of MN SPH Financial Information
 sph.umn.edu/students/prospective/finances/
ASPPH Financial Information
 aspph.org/study/financing-your-degree/
School of Public Health
Career Services
The Office of Career Services provides comprehensive career guidance and resources to SPH students,
postdocs and alumni. We’re here to help facilitate the career development process and job search,
and to maximize your career potential. We work to:
●
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Partner with each student to maximize their career potential
Recommend effective approaches to the job search
Encourage and facilitate ongoing professional and leadership development
Stay current on the public health field
Help employers connect with SPH students
Contact us by phone (612-626-3500) or email sphcareers@umn.edu, or stop in with questions about
resumes, networking, job searching, field experience, interviewing or any other career related topic.
For a complete Career Spotlight list: http://sph.umn.edu/careers/students/
sph.umn.edu/careers
Vic - Director
School of Public Health
Darren - Assistant Director