APTR has continued to advance its key priority areas in clinical prevention and population health and undergraduate public health education, by holding two educational sessions at the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) 2007 Annual Meeting on November 6, 2007 in Washington, DC.

 

J. Lloyd Michener, MD, Duke University Medical Center and APTR President moderated the first educational session, entitled "Community Engagement in the Clinical Translational Science Awards (CTSAs)". This session focuses on the goals, opportunities and implications for community engagement through the National Institute of Health CTSAs and the importance of involving the community in high quality clinical behavioral, and public health research. Panelists included Nancy Bennett, MD, MS, University of Rochester Medical Center; Andrea Sawczuk, DDS, PhD, National Center for Research Resources, NIH; and Leandris Liburd, PhD, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The panel explored the challenges of mobilizing and organizing individuals to take action as communities become increasingly more ethnically, economically, and politically diverse and the need for community members, researchers and healthcare providers to work together to determine the purpose and goals of the engagement.

 

The second educational session, "Should Undergraduate Public Health Be A Prerequisite For Medical School?" articulated the basis for the Institute of Medicine's recommendation that all undergraduates should have access to education in public health. The session was moderated by Richard Riegelman, MD, PhD, from the George Washington University School of Public Health Services. Panelist included Susan Albertine, PhD, College of New Jersey; Paul Marantz, MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and David Garr, MD, Medical University of South Carolina. The session highlighted a summary of the recommendations from the APTR sponsored Consensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Education that all four-year colleges and universities should offer their students the opportunity to enroll in introductory courses to address the emerging public health challenges that will become evident in their lifetime.

 

 

 

 

 

^top