Sustaining Community Partnerships as a Foundation for Scholarship Office of Community Health

1. Sustaining Community Partnerships as a Foundation for Scholarship Office of Community Health Scholarly Concentration in Community Health Stanford School of Medicine Community Partner Summit Research Education Background • Scholarly Concentration in Community Health • Core educational program affiliated with OCH • Most popular of twelve medical student “majors” • Students self-select to focus their studies on community health scholarship • Community Partnership Medical Scholars • Since 2002, the CPMS program has provided grants to qualified medical students to pursue scholarly research in community health. Research proposals must: • respond to a community-based organization's information needs • be designed to have a specific and measurable impact on community health policy and practice • meet rigorous methodological standards and advance knowledge • Thirty-three CPMS students have published in national journals and presented at national and international conferences. Examples include: • Soller M, Osterberg L. Missed opportunities for patient education and social worker consultation at The Arbor Free Clinic. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 2004. • Matin M, LeBaron S. Attitudes toward cervical cancer screening among Muslim women: A pilot study. Women And Health, 2004. • Trivedi K, Kiernan M. Prevalence of anemia and low body weight among reproductive-aged urban women of low-socioeconomic status in Ahmedabad, India. Poster presented at the 2nd International Conference on Urban Health, 2003. In Fall 2005, convened representatives from 10 agencies with history of Stanford collaboration. • History of Community Partnerships at Stanford School of Medicine • Long history of community health and public service involvement by School of Medicine students, faculty and staff. • Many programs that share the ideal of meeting community-identified needs through meaningful partnerships. • Partnership Challenges: The Need for Better Coordination at Stanford • Partnerships and partner fundraising not coordinated at an institutional level • Projects often driven more by student interest than by community-defined needs • Many one-time projects that lack sustainability • Limited number of faculty mentors for community-based scholarship SCCH Mission To empower future physicians to improve the health of diverse communities and reduce health inequities through innovative scholarship and community engagement. Medical student Mina Matin (right) presents her Community Partnership Research Project at the Annual Fall Forum on Community Health and Public Service. Khaliah Johnson (left) presented her work with Ethiopian immigrants. • OCH-supported Service-Learning • As part of its effort to support and maintain community partnerships at the School of Medicine, the OCH provides both personnel and financial support to the following courses: • Community Health Assessment & Research Methods Course Series • Two-quarter series of four courses providing students with instruction in community health assessment and methodological skills training. Skills are applied in small-group projects identified by community partners. • Example projects: • Assessing Health Needs of Adolescents in Communities of Color in San Jose • Assessing Indoor Air Quality and Childhood Asthma Rates in East Palo Alto Schools • Practice of Medicine Advocacy Projects • All first year medical students work in small groups to develop and implement advocacy projects in collaboration with community partners. • Example projects: • Developing a Student-Run Hearing and Vision Screening Initiative for Head Start of San Mateo • Increasing Preparedness for a Flu Pandemic at the Stanford Medical Center • Development of a Sexual Education Curriculum for 6th and 7th Graders in East Palo Alto Strategizing with community partners http://med.stanford.edu/chps • Summit Objectives • Review past partnership successes/challenges • Clarify Stanford service-learning structures (courses, fellowship programs) and resources • Define “rules of engagement” for partnerships • Generate list of potential partnership projects Main Feedback from Partners Positive • Many students energetic, committed, productive • Appreciate link to Stanford resources (research support, media, facilities, etc.) • Project work and products often made real contributions to organizational mission • Works best when there is a staff person serving as liaison to student(s) • Challenges • Roles, project goals & objectives not always clear • Students do not always know much about partners • Some students lack maturity, professionalism, accountability, humility • Uneven communication among Stanford faculty, students and partners • Not always clear whom to call with problems • Work often not sustained • Incorporating Partner Feedback • Standardized partnership guidelines and role expectations for students and partners • Hired Community Partnership Coordinator to: • serve as single point of contact for partners • manage integration of partner needs with existing courses and student projects • track project progress • MD-MPH Dual Degree Program with UC Berkeley • An extension of the Scholarly Concentration in Community Health. Shared requirements across programs allow students to: • integrate and apply their public health training & perspective throughout their medical education • complete original community partnership research projects advised by faculty at Stanford & UCB The Office of Community Health • Inaugurated by Dean Philip Pizzo in Fall 2005 • Seed funding from the Dean’s Office and from the Valley Foundation • Staffing includes part-time Faculty Director and Program Director, and full-time Community Partnership Coordinator Developing a Population Health Curriculum In February 2005, the AAMC awarded Stanford with a grant to develop a multi-year population health curriculum for all medical students. In collaboration with local Departments of Public Health and other community partners, the OCH and key Stanford faculty are working to design a new curriculum that will include both didactic instruction and community-based practica. Future Directions OCH Mission To foster and support community-responsive scholarship, advocacy, and public service aimed at improving the health of underserved populations. • Expand and enrich community partnerships • Continue to build faculty mentor network • Increase collaboration across Stanford programs • Develop campus-wide partnership database • Organize workshops on community health and scholarship for partners and Stanford staff • Pursue collaborative fundraising opportunities • http://och.stanford.edu • Key internal Stanford collaborators • Haas Center for Public Service • Center of Excellence in Diversity • Center for Education in Family and Community Medicine • Cardinal Free Clinics • Program in Human Biology Acknowledgments The work done by The Office of Community Health would not be possible without the generous support of the Dean’s Office at the Stanford School of Medicine, The Valley Foundation, The Health Trust, Anne and Gerald Down, and the AAMC.