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Project Name: Public Health Scholarship Program (T52)
Applicant Title: RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, THE
Abstract Text: 310 Kimball Tower, Buffalo, NY 14214 Gregory Homish, PhD xxx-xxx-xxxx xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx Website: publichealth.buffalo.edu/home/mph-program Disadvantaged, Underrepresented and MUA Funding Preference Requested UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions (SPHHP) graduates 95% of public health students and places 100% of job-seeking graduates, rates which demonstrate our success in training public health professionals. Even so, the Western New York (WNY) region suffers from a severe shortage of public health workers. WNY’s urban and rural areas have some of the worst health outcomes in the state of New York. Ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse communities have disproportionately worse outcomes compounded by lower education and income levels, and less access to healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the workforce shortage and health disparities in WNY. SPHHP will implement PH PRACTICE: Prepare, Respond And Collaborate To address Inequities, COVID and other Emergencies. Goals are to increase capacity in public health systems to meet core public health functions and Ten Essential Public Health Services and decrease health inequities and disparities. We will use a Recruit, Train and Employ strategy. We will recruit students and working professionals from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds into MPH training; build skills to address SDOH, health inequities, and emergency and pandemic preparedness and response; and prepare trainees for employment or advancement with health departments and community-based organizations (CBOs) in Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs). Funding from HRSA’s PHSP will support training the current and future public health workforce in MUAs and ensure that health departments and CBOs have skilled staff to reduce disparities and lead COVID response. To diversify the workforce and provide more equitable access to training, we will prioritize recruiting trainees from economically or educationally disadvantaged, or racially and ethnically underrepresented backgrounds. We have extensive partner support from the WNY Public Health Alliance representing the region’s eight county health departments and the New York State Department of Health, and CBOs serving the region’s MUAs. Our partners commit to mentor trainees in a 6-month field experience and employ graduates, ensuring the program’s success. Measurable objectives: To address workforce needs and accomplish PHSP goals, we will Recruit, Train and Employ 86 trainees over 3 years: Recruit trainees to the MPH. We will recruit and enroll 86 trainees from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds into an MPH degree, dual MPH (with urban planning or social work) or Public Health Certificate-to-MPH degree which predominantly enrolls individuals from our partners’ workforce. Train students in the MPH, building skills in foundational public health concepts and SDOH, and completing more intensive training to address health inequities and emergency and pandemic preparedness and response. Through the MPH, trainees complete a 6-month field experience, with a health department or CBO in an MUA, and will demonstrate competency through rigorous assessment of skill attainment. Employ trainees with health department and CBO partners in MUAs. Trainees will gain skills needed for employment or career advancement, receiving one-on-one career mentorship from field training mentors and others at the training site, and intensive career preparation and guidance from faculty and staff. The project will be led by PI Gregory Homish, PhD, Co-I’s Kim Krytus, PhD, MPH/MSW, Heather Orom, PhD, and Sarahmona Przybyla, PhD, MPH. Training will be delivered by SPHHP faculty. All 8 county health departments and the state health department, and other CBOs and clinics serving urban and rural MUAs (see attachment 7), commit to mentor trainees in field experiences and employ graduates in qualifying positions, ensuring the program’s success.