HCC Offers Nation's First Public Health Transfer Degree

By Susan Kim, STAFF WRITER

Jeanette Jeffrey, associate professor in international health and nutrition at Howard Community College (HCC), still remembers the day she received a thank-you note from a former student.
"She stated that my enthusiasm and passion for teaching inspired her to travel to Africa to train nurses in initiating IV lines on infants," said Jeffrey. "The thought that I could have played even a small part in healing a child on the other side of the globe made me realize the transforming power, on a global level, of education."
The impact of that moment inspired Jeffrey to begin thinking about a public health program at HCC.
Now, not only is it a reality - it's the first of its kind in the nation.
HCC is the first two-year college in the country to offer an arts and sciences associate of arts transfer degree program in public health, a field that focuses on saving lives on a population level through disease and injury prevention strategies. The program is intended for students planning to transfer to a four-year institution to complete a bachelor's degree in public health.

Health Department
Dr. Peter Beilenson, Howard County health officer, said that he and other county health officials will be meeting with HCC President Dr. Kate Hetherington to discuss ways in which the county health department can support the new degree program.
"We want to be a placement site for students," said Beilenson, who estimated that at least 50 students from various educational institutions rotate annually through the health department, gaining experience in various jobs.
The field of public health includes disciplines such as epidemiology, biostatistics, health services, environmental health, behavioral health, occupational health and public health policy.
Beilenson said that, generally speaking, the number of public health related jobs has remained steady, despite the recession.
Recently, public health organizations have been prominent in the news for their role in surveillance of disease outbreaks, health screenings and risk assessments.
HCC leaders believe that the college's location in the Corridor, with its easy access to global public health organizations, research institutions and schools of public health, positions the community college to offer public health undergraduates a distinctive learning experience.
Prior to HCC's offering, public health programs typically have been based at the graduate level.

From Local to Global
As she was developing the public health program at HCC, Jeffrey said she was envisioning how a local community college could have a profound global impact.
HCC's diversity within its own student population helped steer Jeffrey's decision to move forward. "To give an example of our diverse richness, the 1,092 students of the 2009 HCC graduating class represented 101 nations," she said.
Public health is centered on prevention, surveillance and control of diseases, she added, a need that exists on both local and global levels.
"The need for public health programs has always been there," she said. "As a global community, we are still faced with the challenge of HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, polio and hunger, just to name a few [diseases]. With the recent global concern of a pandemic flu, the public is becoming more aware of the work of and need for trained public health professionals."

Onward and Upward
Expanding educational opportunities related to public health is a sound idea, said Gene Ransom, CEO of MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society.
"With all the public health problems, it's never bad for people to be more educated," he said, adding that the state of Maryland has strong public health institutions. "If it gets more young folks interested in public health, then that's a wonderful thing."
Jeffrey reported that HCC students have already had high interest in the program, which kicks off in the current fall 2009 semester with a new course, "Introduction to Public Health."
Prior to advertising the course, a dozen students had already enrolled, said Jeffrey, who added that she believes growth in HCC's public health program will mirror growth in other public health education programs across the state.
HCC's curriculum has been developed to articulate with the Health Administration and Policy Program public health track at UMBC.
UMBC's public health track bachelor of arts program began in July 2007 with 10 students. As of May 2009, 79 UMBC students declared public health as their major.
"We anticipate HCC's public health program growth to be as successful," said Jeffrey.