Funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and support from the American Medical Student Asociation assist a unique academic-community partnership in an inner-city neighborhood in Indianapolis. The partnership includes Indiana University health professions students in medicine, nursing and public health, Butler University pharmacy and psychology students, and a group of teens in a program at the Broadway United Methodist Church. One of the purposes of this community-based project has been to demonstrate that the interdisciplinary health professions student team can motivate inner-city youth to become leaders in their community. Of 15 youth eligible to be counselors in the church's summer program last year, ten (66%) did so. Interdisciplinary community-based experiences are essential for students to acquire important public health skills and competencies. Participation in this program carries with it course credit for the five students on this year's team. The graduate public health students fulfill their core community project course requirement, which includes a presentation for faculty and students in the spring seminar series. This presentation has three parts: 1) To understand how to develop an interdisciplinary academic-community partnership, 2) To define the curricular and practice learning needs of public health students, and 3) To identify the challenges of working with teens on a community health issue. Two universities and a faith institution are working together to promote health in an inner-city community through an interdisciplinary teaching and learning partnership. The authors will discuss the challenges and opportunities inherent in this academic-community collaboration.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be able to: 1. Identify key components of successful academic-community partnership. 2. Define key components of a successful practice course for graduate students in public health. 3. Identify challenges of working with teens on a community health issue.
Keywords: Education, Partnerships
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.