St. Louis Academic Health Department: The St. Louis Way
The St. Louis Academic Health Department is a coalition between the 老司机福利网 College for Public Health and Social Justice, the St. Louis City Health Department and the St. Louis County Health Department.
The Academic Health Department is a partnership that promotes the health of all St. Louisans through the lens of equity and social justice.
The effort is led by:
- St. Louis City: Craig Schmid, J.D.
- St. Louis County:
- 老司机福利网: Spring Schmidt
Academic Health Department Activities
The Academic Health Department has four main functional areas: teaching, research, workforce development and policy. Within each area, committees and work groups of faculty and staff work toward meeting set goals.
Teaching
- Health department staff members serve as adjunct faculty members at SLU's College for Public Health and Social Justice.
- Health department staff members are regular guest lecturers for SLU's Master of Public Health and undergraduate public health programs.
- Faculty members from the College for Public Health and Social Justice provide workshops/training to the staff at the city and county health departments.
- The AHD monitors the number of service, internship and volunteer opportunities that result from student exposure to health department staff.
- Identified staff at the city and county health departments serve as internship preceptors.
- Students experience a streamlined process for internships at the city and county health departments.
Examples:
- Mapping and analyzing cancer disparities in St. Louis County.
- Analysis of STI and TB data within the City of St. Louis.
Research
Research projects are developed based on a shared research and policy agenda, informed by the Community Health Improvement Plan. The projects will be collaborative efforts between SLU and the city and county health departments.
- SORT is a student-run organization within SLU鈥檚 College for Public Health and Social Justice that trains a cadre of students to assist in outbreak response within the St. Louis area.
- SORT provides educational and professional development opportunities for students interested in emergency preparedness and infectious disease response.
- SORT is currently deployed to both the city and county health departments on an ad hoc basis.
Example: Disease surveillance with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
- PURS are short-term collaborations between SLU faculty researchers and staff of the health departments.
- PURS are designed to provide each organization with additional resources to conduct public health research in St. Louis.
- Faculty, students and health department staff request a squad to help with a research issue.
Examples:
- Maternal Mental Health: Discussing access to mental health care for mothers in St. Louis, specifically looking at access amongst minority groups.
- Measuring Equity: Discussing how to measure equity in a population in the St. Louis area.
Workforce Development
- The training plan is based on previous needs assessments and national data and that addresses Community Health Improvement Plan priorities.
- The plan guides the creation of new and identification of existing training opportunities for health department staff members.
- The city and county health departments provide training sessions for students and faculty related to real-world public health practice.
- SLU's College for Public Health and Social Justice provides continuing education programs based on the workforce development plan for staff at the city and county health departments.
Examples:
- A quality improvement expert held a workshop on quality improvement in a public health department.
- At the beginning of the fall semester, new M.P.H. cohorts visit the city and county health departments to learn about the work a local public health department engages in and potential careers in public health.