Reflections from a boundary spanner coordinating an academic health department

Functional responsibilities of public health practitioners often are dissimilar to student learning expectations and broader than faculty research. The creation of academic health departments (AHDs), formal partnerships between public health departments and academic institutions, is a prominent approach to bridging this disconnect. The nearly 250 members of the AHD Learning Community reflect increasing interest in developing and enhancing these partnerships. Potential benefits include: expanded organization capacity, better prepared graduates and workforce, joint research, and information/data sharing. However, sustainable implementation is challenged by the inherently differing missions, organizational cultures, governing structures, and resource availability. While the AHD literature describes personnel exchanges such as adjunct appointments, less attention is given to full-time coordination of the AHD. To address this gap in the literature, this presentation will discuss early indications of the importance of investing in a full-time shared AHD coordinator. Findings emerged from 18 months experience of coordinating Tennessee's first AHD between an accredited MPH program and local health department of nearly 250 staff. The AHD formalization (2011) was built on a long history (>40 years) of substantial, mutually beneficial interactions between public health faculty and practitioners, viewed as a key pre-condition to AHD formation. The presentation will describe 1) coordinator's roles and responsibilities; 2) challenges to creating, operationalizing, and sustaining the shared position; and, 3) impacts for academia, practice, and the community. Emulating this model incorporating a shared full-time AHD coordinator who functions as a “boundary spanner” may strengthen existing partnering, cultivate shared vision, and ultimately improve the public's health.