August 2018 Newsletter
Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center
hosts kickoff meeting
The Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center welcomed new and existing partners to a kickoff meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 8-9, 2018.

During this summit, representatives from Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico met and discussed the goals of the new iteration of the training center. Topics addressed included training priorities, development and dissemination of a needs assessment and student field placement and collaborative projects.

We look forward to working with our partners in the years to come!
Student Highlight: Justin Garoutte, New Mexico
Over the past summer, Justin Garoutte, a second-year master’s in public health student at The University of New Mexico’s College of Population Health , completed his traineeship at the Equality New Mexico Foundation (EQNMF) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. EQNMF is New Mexico’s leading advocacy organization for the sexual and gender minority and questioning (SGMq) community, commonly referred to as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ).

Through this field placement, Justin conducted an audit of anti-bullying policies in all New Mexico school districts and charter schools as a matter of protecting the health of SGMq students. Based on data from the 2017 United States Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, 17.1 percent of heterosexual, 33.0 percent of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students, and 24.3 percent of unsure students reported having been bullied at school. By exploring this topic at the policy level, Justin has been able to support the development of appropriate prevention measures that may reduce health inequities among SGMq youth in New Mexico. Based on his findings, Garoutte recommends the New Mexico Legislature pass and adopt the Safe Schools for All Act to provide statewide, uniform anti-bullying protections for all students, including SGMq students. This act would provide greater protections for all students, at the same time bringing all schools up to the same standards of protection. Currently, only and handful of schools offer explicit protections for gender non-conforming and transgender students through their anti-bullying policies.
Are you looking to advance your career in Public Health and improve your earning potential?  Tulane University's online Master's degrees in public health and Graduate Certificate program s  provide mid-career professionals a crucial level of flexibility, permitting students to maintain their career while completing an accredited Master's degree or Graduate Certificate program. With options to concentrate your Master's in Public Health in Disaster Management, Occupational Health and Safety Management or Occupational and Environmental health; to pursue an online Master of Science in Public Health with a focus in Industrial Hygiene or to secure a Graduate Certificate in any of our offered concentrations,Tulane's programs offer unique opportunities to help you reach your professional and career goals. 
 
Visit  https://caeph.tulane.edu/content/request-info  for information on how to apply. Applications for the Spring 2019 semester are currently being accepted.
Texas partner collaborates on blog entry for
Texas Nurses Association
Texas Nurses Association invited TransFORWARD: Texas Transgender Health, a collaboration between Texas Health Institute and Equality Texas Foundation , to write a blog post based on their experience developing a Transgender Health Learning Series for the Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center.

To read TransFORWARD: Texas Transgender Health's blog entry "Why can’t I just be me?", please click here.
Featured Course Bundle:
Safe Water Program Improvement e-Learning Series (SWPI)

The Safe Water Program Improvement e-Learning Series (SWPI) helps health department programs strengthen services to people that use wells, cisterns, springs, and other private drinking water systems not covered by the Safe Drinking Water Act. Oversight for these systems vary, but core elements of successful, sustainable programs are similar. SWPI walks through the 10 Essential Environmental Public Health Services and the Environmental Public Health Performance Standards, and provides examples of using them to identify and fill program gaps in these types of
drinking water programs.

For more information about
the SWPI course bundle, click here .
Looking for more training on a specific topic in public health? Need additional training on a current public health hot topic? We want to help you address these needs. Please email us and let us know about your current training needs/interests/issues. We will evaluate our current trainings to see if we have something that can address your area of interest. 
Please send us an email at   r6-phtc@tulane.edu   and let us see if we can be of help.