Content area
Full Text
ABSTRACT
The University of Michigan School of Public Health provided community-based research (CBR) opportunities to masters-level students through week-long field experiences in two communities in Mississippi through interdisciplinary collaboration with Delta State University. This article examines the learning outcomes of those field experiences in the context of CBR and the value that those experiences added to their public health proficiency. Quantitative and qualitative data from post-deployment evaluations were examined to determine strengths and weaknesses of this approach to the public health learning process. Overall, students found this approach to provide a rich context for research, help put a face to the numbers, and broaden their perspective of how research is of value to communities and community organizations.
Field experience is an important part of any professional degree program, as it allows students to learn a set of skills and have the opportunity to apply those skills in a variety of contexts. For the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree, awarded by the University of Michigan's School of Public Health (SPH), such hands on experience is crucial to preparing students to enter the workforce. According to the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), "public health is the science and art of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention" ( 2012). Because the field of public health specifically strives to improve the health of communities, a logical area of application for academically-acquired skills is community-based research.
Schools of Public Health (SPH) are accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). One criterion for CEPH accreditation is to provide opportunities for students to work with faculty in providing service to the community (CEPH 2005). One way in which many SPHs provide this type of opportunity is through organized student response teams (CPHP 2005; Montgomery et al. 2010). During the summer of 2005, the University of Michigan School of Public Health (UM SPH) Office of Public Health Practice (Practice Office) established the Public Health Action Support Team (PHAST) to provide local and state health departments with a surge capacity team. If there is a public health emergency, PHAST members are available to be deployed to a local health agency to increase the...