Public Health Professionals from the Southeast & Midwest of the U.S. and the Caribbean Arrive for Special Training

On Feb. 29th, the classroom inside USF’s College of Public Health was filled with two-dozen professionals representing six states, and the island nation of Saint Lucia. While their hometowns and backgrounds were vastly different, they had atleast one thing in common - a passion for public health. The group of twenty four arrived in Tampa the week of Feb. 25th for an intense 5 days of learning via the Capstone Seminar. It’s part of the college’s Public Health Practice Program. Participants learn everything from research analysis & drafting a proposal for legislative funding, to writing a press release & doing interviews with reporters.

“We want to give these public health professionals all the tools they need to be most effective. Any successful effort will involve a variety of skill sets. Getting them to think outside of their comfort zones and beyond their areas of expertise adds incredible value to the public health initiatives they’re working on back home,” says Deanna Wathington, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor and Director of the Public Health Practice Program.

Each year, the Dean of the College and faculty create a variety of “scenarios” for participants to experience. For some, the intensity is magnified standing in front of a videocamera, lights and microphone during a mock television interview or news conference. Often times, it is their first time ever in an media interview setting.

“Although all aspects of the Seminar prove useful to the students over time, on this particular weekend, the media training held special significance for one of our students. When she returned to work on Sunday afternoon, she was slated to be interviewed by CNN. She stated that while such a request would have made her quite nervous prior to this weekend, she definitely felt prepared after our media training,” noted Dr. Wathington. “During our class, she (the student) had decided on what her message and main points of emphasis would be on Sunday. Prior to the interview, she reviewed her notes and remembered the techniques she learned here.”

Photo taken during one of the mock interviews. Participants were asked to write down the key messages to be delivered during an interview with reporters. The trick: no matter how complex their project, they had only a small card to write on. (Card seen here in yellow.) The exercise helps interviewees zero in on key pieces of information, in a short period of time.

This year’s Capstone students from the U.S. included public health professionals from Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and Nevada. While the majority of participants are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the group also included an emergency physician, veterinarian, nutritionist, member of the U.S. Coast Guard, a Navy flight surgeon, a specialist with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the District Medical Officer for St. Lucia, and several employees from the United States Public Health Service. “Advocacy (whether in communities or at the legislative level or through media) is a responsibility of public health leaders and is a tool that can be used for the greater good. This is one of the key points we try to impress upon our students, ” said Dr. Wathington.

“This course is a capstone in the truest sense of the word,” said Dr. Donna Petersen, Dean of the USF College of Public Health. “Our students have opportunities to put to work all the knowledge and skills they have acquired in their Master’s of Public Health (MPH) programs in an intensive, team-based, real-world format and doing so gives them the confidence to go out and make a difference in the health of their communities, here in Florida and around the world.”

The Public Health Practice (PHP) program provides experienced health professionals with the opportunity to obtain a Master of Public Health (MPH) via two options. Students can enroll in an online, distance learning program or enroll in the Executive Weekend program where they are required to attend classes on campus one weekend a month for sixteen months. The culminating experience for both formats is the Capstone Seminar which is held on the USF Health campus for five days. The MPH with a concentration in Public Health Practice (PHP) is a fully accredited program to develop public health practice leadership skills, learn advanced tools to help protect and improve the health of the greater community and expand knowledge of modern health care organizations. For details on the PHP program at the USF College of Public Health, click here.

Newsbrief by Lissette Campos, USF Health Communications
Photography by Eric Younghans, USF Health Media Center