Community Partnerships

The role of Community Partnerships in the new Dr.PH Leadership Program

The UC Berkeley Dr.PH Leadership Program is envisioned as a national model of an innovative, interdisciplinary and community- focused doctoral level education program to help train the next generation of diverse and committed public health leaders. In addition, however, the program is designed to demonstrate how both academia and communities can benefit when authentic partnerships between schools of public health and the world of practice are made the centerpiece of such a program.

The DrPH Leadership Program emphasizes the bi-directional benefits of these partnerships, with both students and faculty and their community mentors and partners engaged in mutual learning and teaching experiences. As suggested in the examples below, students thus may assist community based organizations (CBO’s) and local health departments by providing assistance in the development of needed theory driven and data based reports; the design, implementation and evaluation of health program interventions; the development of collaborative research projects; and the provision of training in team building, enhancing community capacity, cultural competence, and other areas central to effective public health leadership.

At the same time, the DrPH students benefit substantially by working with local community agencies, and their own community mentors, as they increase their own understanding in these and related areas, and in particular in learning first hand the power of community- academic partnerships.

In the past, a number of our DrPH students have been able to make substantial contributions to local community based organizations and health departments in conjunction with their DrPH training. For example:

Elise Brown took the lead in developing a comprehensive and frequently cited report on health disparities in Alameda County for and with her partners at the county health department.
Saleema Gupta helped develop a cultural competence training with her community mentor at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland and continues to work at the Center’s Institute for Culturally Competent Care, an office headed by another outstanding program graduate, Dr. Nilda Chong
DrPH graduate Tomoyuki Matsumo helped develop and test a new approach to health services planning which he and other local health officers now are using in Japan to promote community involvement in public health decision making.
DrPH graduate Geoffrey Lomax helped both local and state health departments in their efforts to develop lead safe construction work practices and related contacting ordinances.

With the aid of the School’s Center for Public Health Practice and new Dr.PH faculty member Ellie Schindelman, the DrPH leadership program is working in part to make such experiences systematically a part of the doctoral level training of each DrPH students.

All Dr.PH students in the new program are helped to identify an appropriate community mentor as well as an academic mentor. Similarly, all students undertake a summer residency, in which they both make tangible contributions to the local agency or organization and the community it serves, and learn invaluable lessons about community based public health leadership, community-academic partnerships, and cultural competence. In addition to helping students gain discipline- specific knowledge in their particular areas of interest, the residencies also typically provide an ideal site for data collection for the dissertation.

Finally, and in addition to benefiting from the mutual learning involved in their partnerships with individual DrPH students, community partners and mentors also frequently are invited to share their expertise and acquire new skills in the classroom. A number of relevant DrPH seminars and other courses such as the “Dr.PH Leadership Seminar,” the “Dr.PH- In- Action Seminar”and “Community Based Participatory Research,” welcome 2-3 community partners each semester, who both contribute to the learning experience of students and take away new information and skills in their areas of interest.

As suggested above, the School of Public Health already has very strong links with a diversity of community based agencies and organizations through its Center for Public Health Practice (CPHP). The CPHP works closely with DrPH students to link them with opportunities to work on leadership related projects with community partners and on Center initiatives designed to improve practice, such as a health disparities initiative currently being planned. Among the agencies with which Dr.PH students may want to undertake residencies and/or which regularly provide guest lectures, or engage in collaborative research with faculty and students, are:

Alameda County Department of Public Health- where students have interned in numerous areas and are currently working on health disparities and community development initiatives. Dr.PH student Liz Maker is completing her dissertation and residency program at the Department and conducting a detailed evaluation of its innovative Community Action Team approach to neighborhood health improvement.
Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice (formerly Asian Pacific Islanders for Reproductive Health) --where students in “Community Based Participatory Research” and other classes have interned; a former doctoral student undertook her dissertation and has subsequently published with the agency director; and where staff are regularly invited to offer quest lectures in both MPH and Dr.PH classes.
Berkeley City Health Department-many of whose top staff are regularly involved with the School and contribute importantly to its teaching, research and service missions. Department staff worked closely with the Program’s “Dr.PH-in-Action” seminar in Fall 2003, where the class undertook a collective semester long project design to assist the Department with studying and developing recommendations to address a threatened syphilis outbreak in the gay and bisexual community. Dr. PH student Leroy Blea, who is also Director of the Department’s HIV/AIDS Division, serves as a key bridge person between the Dr.PH Program and the Department.
The Community Health Academy (CHA) -an Oakland non profit organization that emerged from the Kellogg Foundation’s Community Based Public Health Initiative and where many students have undertaken internships. Former DrPH student Georg Bauer undertook a doctoral dissertation at CHA working with community and health department members do develop neighborhood health indicators. SPH faculty and staff members Meredith Minkler and Jeff Oxendine are active board members of the Academy, which recently received a Chancellor’s award for outstanding community-academic partnerships.
The Contra Costa County Department of Health Services -where large numbers of students have undertaken residencies and course-related projects in maternal child health, community capacity building, epidemiology and other areas. Dr. Cheri Pies, Director of Maternal Child Health at the Health Department, currently co-leads the DrPH Leadership Seminar and is actively involved in other aspects of the School’s Dr.PH and MCH Programs.
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center of Northern California -where students have interned in the research and evaluation unit, the health promotion unit, and many other areas, and where Dr.PH graduate Nilda Chong now serves as Director of the Institute for Culturally Competent Care.



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	Community Partnerships The role of Community Partnerships in the new Dr.PH Leadership Program The UC Berkeley Dr.PH Leadership Program is envisioned as a national model of an innovative, interdisciplinary and community- focused doctoral level education program to help train the next generation of diverse and committed public health leaders. In addition, however, the program is designed to demonstrate how both academia and communities can benefit when authentic partnerships between schools of public health and the world of practice are made the centerpiece of such a program. The DrPH Leadership Program emphasizes the bi-directional benefits of these partnerships, with both students and faculty and their community mentors and partners engaged in mutual learning and teaching experiences. As suggested in the examples below, students thus may assist community based organizations (CBO’s) and local health departments by providing assistance in the development of needed theory driven and data based reports; the design, implementation and evaluation of health program interventions; the development of collaborative research projects; and the provision of training in team building, enhancing community capacity, cultural competence, and other areas central to effective public health leadership. At the same time, the DrPH students benefit substantially by working with local community agencies, and their own community mentors, as they increase their own understanding in these and related areas, and in particular in learning first hand the power of community- academic partnerships. In the past, a number of our DrPH students have been able to make substantial contributions to local community based organizations and health departments in conjunction with their DrPH training. For example: Elise Brown took the lead in developing a comprehensive and frequently cited report on health disparities in Alameda County for and with her partners at the county health department. Saleema Gupta helped develop a cultural competence training with her community mentor at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland and continues to work at the Center’s Institute for Culturally Competent Care, an office headed by another outstanding program graduate, Dr. Nilda Chong DrPH graduate Tomoyuki Matsumo helped develop and test a new approach to health services planning which he and other local health officers now are using in Japan to promote community involvement in public health decision making. DrPH graduate Geoffrey Lomax helped both local and state health departments in their efforts to develop lead safe construction work practices and related contacting ordinances. With the aid of the School’s Center for Public Health Practice and new Dr.PH faculty member Ellie Schindelman, the DrPH leadership program is working in part to make such experiences systematically a part of the doctoral level training of each DrPH students. All Dr.PH students in the new program are helped to identify an appropriate community mentor as well as an academic mentor. Similarly, all students undertake a summer residency, in which they both make tangible contributions to the local agency or organization and the community it serves, and learn invaluable lessons about community based public health leadership, community-academic partnerships, and cultural competence. In addition to helping students gain discipline- specific knowledge in their particular areas of interest, the residencies also typically provide an ideal site for data collection for the dissertation. Finally, and in addition to benefiting from the mutual learning involved in their partnerships with individual DrPH students, community partners and mentors also frequently are invited to share their expertise and acquire new skills in the classroom. A number of relevant DrPH seminars and other courses such as the “Dr.PH Leadership Seminar,” the “Dr.PH- In- Action Seminar”and “Community Based Participatory Research,” welcome 2-3 community partners each semester, who both contribute to the learning experience of students and take away new information and skills in their areas of interest. As suggested above, the School of Public Health already has very strong links with a diversity of community based agencies and organizations through its Center for Public Health Practice (CPHP). The CPHP works closely with DrPH students to link them with opportunities to work on leadership related projects with community partners and on Center initiatives designed to improve practice, such as a health disparities initiative currently being planned. Among the agencies with which Dr.PH students may want to undertake residencies and/or which regularly provide guest lectures, or engage in collaborative research with faculty and students, are: Alameda County Department of Public Health- where students have interned in numerous areas and are currently working on health disparities and community development initiatives. Dr.PH student Liz Maker is completing her dissertation and residency program at the Department and conducting a detailed evaluation of its innovative Community Action Team approach to neighborhood health improvement. Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice (formerly Asian Pacific Islanders for Reproductive Health) --where students in “Community Based Participatory Research” and other classes have interned; a former doctoral student undertook her dissertation and has subsequently published with the agency director; and where staff are regularly invited to offer quest lectures in both MPH and Dr.PH classes. Berkeley City Health Department-many of whose top staff are regularly involved with the School and contribute importantly to its teaching, research and service missions. Department staff worked closely with the Program’s “Dr.PH-in-Action” seminar in Fall 2003, where the class undertook a collective semester long project design to assist the Department with studying and developing recommendations to address a threatened syphilis outbreak in the gay and bisexual community. Dr. PH student Leroy Blea, who is also Director of the Department’s HIV/AIDS Division, serves as a key bridge person between the Dr.PH Program and the Department. The Community Health Academy (CHA) -an Oakland non profit organization that emerged from the Kellogg Foundation’s Community Based Public Health Initiative and where many students have undertaken internships. Former DrPH student Georg Bauer undertook a doctoral dissertation at CHA working with community and health department members do develop neighborhood health indicators. SPH faculty and staff members Meredith Minkler and Jeff Oxendine are active board members of the Academy, which recently received a Chancellor’s award for outstanding community-academic partnerships. The Contra Costa County Department of Health Services -where large numbers of students have undertaken residencies and course-related projects in maternal child health, community capacity building, epidemiology and other areas. Dr. Cheri Pies, Director of Maternal Child Health at the Health Department, currently co-leads the DrPH Leadership Seminar and is actively involved in other aspects of the School’s Dr.PH and MCH Programs. Kaiser Permanente Medical Center of Northern California -where students have interned in the research and evaluation unit, the health promotion unit, and many other areas, and where Dr.PH graduate Nilda Chong now serves as Director of the Institute for Culturally Competent Care.
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