Twelfth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

Our nation’s vulnerability and unpreparedness to address public health priorities became glaringly apparent in 2020 with the onset of the novel coronavirus. Despite decades-long warnings of a looming pandemic, predictions of public health workforce shortages, and ongoing recognition of health inequities, the U.S. was blindsided by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, over one million Americans, including a disproportionate number of Black, Indigenous, and Alaska Native people, have died. Graduate school used to be the gold-standard for public health education, however, to meet the health needs of an increasingly at-risk and culturally diverse population, more students must be trained in public health and training must begin earlier in their academic careers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), no time has been better to recruit a diverse pool of potential public health students and to provide them with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to be effective practitioners. The Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Public Health Academy provides first and second-year college students an opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the field by working with public health professionals to address long-standing and stark health disparities in a real-world context, focusing on social determinants of health, health equity, and community-engaged research, and practice.

Presenters

Lesley Green-Rennis
Chair, Professor, Community and Public Health , CUNY-Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, United States

Lisa Grace-Leitch
Deputy Chair, Professor, Health Education, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, United States

Gloria McNamara
Associate Professor, Health Education Department, City University of New York - Borough of Manhattan Community College campus, New York, United States

Sara Crosby
Director, Borough of Manhattan Community College , New York, United States