Emory University Rollins School of Public Health Region IV Public Health Training Center

The Region IV Public Health Training Center is one of ten regional training centers in the Public Health Learning Network. The center consists of a central office, located at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, and six partner institutions (known as “local performance sites”). Its assigned content area is infectious disease and its geographic area is Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South

Carolina and Tennessee. The center provides public health workforce training, faculty and student collaborative projects, and student field placements and training based on the Council on Linkages’ Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals.

The center’s Pathways to Practice Scholars field placement program provides public health students the opportunity to gain practical experience working with seasoned public health practitioners (mentors) in underserved communities or populations.

Since 2015, almost 60 students have been placed at sites across the region’s eight states, including 19 rural sites and 31 primary care settings. Most of the placements

Emory UniversityRollins School of Public HealthRegion IV Public Health Training Center

were at local health departments (40%), state health departments (22%) and area health education centers (17%).

Most of the center’s competency-based training for public health professionals is free and may offer continuing professional education credits. The training includes webinars (live and on demand), interactive lectures (including satellite, archived and in person) and skill-based training (virtual and in person).

Health Equity in the Face of Change: Tools for a National Campaign Against Racism is one of Region IV’s on-demand webinars and is available online. In this webinar, Dr. Camara Jones helps participants understand the three dimensions of health intervention: providing health services, addressing the social determinants of health (including poverty and neighborhood conditions) and addressing the social determinants of inequity (including racism).

In addition, Dr. Jones discusses defining racism as a system, identifies three impacts of the system, describes three levels of racism, defines health equity and identifies three principles for achieving health equity.

The center also hosts an in-person workshop series called “Public Health Practice Academy.” It offers professional development workshops to provide public health professionals—especially those serving underserved populations and areas—with core skills for use in public health practice.

Communicating Across Cultures: Cultural Competence for Public Health and Health Care Professionals is one of the most in-demand workshops. It provides clinical and non-clinical staff with foundational knowledge and practical tools to improve crosscultural communication. The workshop includes discussions on health disparities, health literacy and social determinants of health status. Participants gain an understanding of the legal, professional and ethical rationales for providing culturally competent services. Participants also receive guidance in assessing and improving their organization’s cultural competence.

For more program information, to request training or to join our mailing list, go to www.r4phtc.org.