February 2020 Newsletter
Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine
to Host Panel Discussion on Coronavirus
Watch the Seminar Live on the Tulane SPHTM Facebook Page
Friday, February 14, 2020 - Noon - 1 p.m. CST
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (SPHTM) will host a moderated panel titled "Understanding and Responding to the Novel Coronavirus" this Friday, February 14th. This seminar will include commentary from a variety of experts and will be moderated by Dr. Ronald Blanton , chair of the Department of Tropical Medicine.

For panelist information and more, click here .
Oklahoma CBT Partners Celebrate Field Placement Awardees
On January 24, 2020, the Oklahoma Public Health Training Center (OPHTC) hosted a pre-award meeting for the 2019-2020 student field placement awardees. Attendees included Kerstin M. Reinschmidt, PhD, MPH; Olawale Dudubo, MS (GRA); and all six 6 awardees. Students and their projects are described below:

  • Terrance Todome, MPH student in Health Promotion Sciences, will be working with the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board to conduct community surveys focused on prescription drugs and behavioral health. 

  • Amanda Llaneza, doctoral student in Biostatistics & Epidemiology, will be working with the Southern Plains Tribal Health Board to analyze data on oral health and youth diabetes outcomes.

  • Caleb Alexander, MPH student in Epidemiology, will conduct a GAP analysis for Dr. Thomas A. Teasdale’s Step Up For Dementia Care. 

  • Tatiana Elonge, MPH student in Health Promotion Sciences, will collaborate with the Wellness Now Community Health Worker (CHW) Work Group to conduct a needs and assets assessment focused on social determinants of health in northeast Oklahoma City. 

  • Kelly Nguyen, Interdisciplinary MPH student, will collaborate with the Wellness Now CHW Work Group to conduct a needs and assets assessment in south Oklahoma City.

  • Kelsey (Kel) Morris, MS student in Health Promotion Sciences, and Dr. Karla Finnell, Health Promotion Sciences faculty, will engaged in a faculty-student project focused on the use of herbicide in Oklahoma City, and their effects on the environment and mental health. 

At the pre-award meeting, students briefly described their projects, and shared some of their field placement expectations. These expectations included engaging with communities to conduct effective research; learning from community members about barriers to health care; working in a supportive environment; and getting helpful feedback. The Oklahoma CBT partners wish each awardee the very best for their new academic adventures. Congratulations awardees! 
Flu Season Is Here! Take 3 Actions to Fight Flu
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has created a helpful i nfographic to keep all informed this flu season. Click here to download this free resource.

Influenza (flu) is a contagious disease that can be serious. Every year, millions of people get sick, hundreds of thousands are hospitalized, and thousands to tens of thousands of people die from flu. CDC urges you to take the following actions to protect yourself and others from the flu.

1. Get Yourself and Your Family Vaccinated
A yearly flu vaccine is the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses. Everyone 6 months or older should get an annual flu vaccine.

2. Stop The Spread
Take everyday preventative actions to help stop the spread of flu viruses! Avoid close contact with sick people, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, cover your coughs and sneezes, wash your hands often (with soap and water).

3. Ask Your Doctor About Flu Antivirals
Take antiviral drugs if your doctor prescribes them! Antiviral drugs can be used to treat flu illness and can make illness milder and shorten the time you are sick.
HRSA now accepting Scholarships for
Disadvantaged Students (SDS) Program Applications
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is accepting applications for the fiscal year 2020 Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) Program . The application cycle closes on March 3, 2020.

The SDS program increases the diversity of the health workforce by funding eligible academic institutions that are training health profession students. The institutions then make scholarships available to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have financial need.

Eligible applicants are accredited schools of allopathic and osteopathic medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, podiatric medicine, optometry, veterinary medicine, public health, chiropractic, and allied health; schools offering a graduate program in behavioral and mental health practice; and programs for physician assistant training. Students should contact their financial aid office to find out if their school participates.

HRSA has $48,200,000 available to make approximately 79 awards in FY 2020. No student may receive SDS funds greater than $40,000 per academic year. For information, please click here .
Mardi Gras Holidays - February 24-25, 2020
The Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center will be closed February 24-25, 2020 in observance of Mardi Gras .

During this time, technical support for the Tulane Learning Management System will be extremely limited. If you require technical assistance, please email trdirect@tulane.edu.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Are you looking to advance your career in Public Health and improve your earning potential?   Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine's online Master's degrees in Public Health and Graduate Certificate program s, focused in Occupational and Environmental health, 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; pursue an online Master of Science in Public Health with a focus in Industrial Hygiene; or 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 Summer and Fall 2020 semesters are currently being accepted.
Course Spotlight:
Tribal Behavioral Health:
Culture is Prevention!

Tribal Behavioral Health 104: Culture is Prevention will inform Tribes, Tribal Serving Organizations and public health professionals about the use of culturally appropriate programs and practices for substance abuse prevention. Examples of success stories from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes’ Tradition Not Addiction Prevention Program will be used to provide valuable examples.

Learning Objectives:

  • Define culturally appropriate programs and practices (Tribal Best Practices)

  • Explain why lack of reliable data for AI/AN is a major barrier to public health interventions

  • Recognize the importance of high quality data to identify AI/AN health and behavioral health disparities

  • Describe the positive response AI/AN have to culturally appropriate messages

  • Identify the real-world strategies, programs and practices that have proven successful in a traditional American Indian Tribe in Central Oklahoma

  • Recognize the need smaller tribes have for epidemiological expertise to help obtain funding and implement relevant programs 

  • Identify the existing capacity that exists in all Native Tribes for using Culture as Prevention

For more information about
this training, please click here.
Featured Course Bundle:
Environmental Health in Disasters

The Environmental Health in Disasters course bundle provides an introduction and the fundamentals to risk assessment and environmental health in disasters. In addition, special topics such environmental health in emergency shelters, environmental sampling and environmental monitoring are presented throughout this program.

Trainings in the Environmental Health in
Disasters course bundle include:

  • Fundamentals of Health Risk Assessment in Public Health
  • Introduction to Human Health Risk Assessment
  • Environmental Health Issues in Disasters
  • Environmental Sampling and Monitoring in a Disaster
  • Environmental Health and Shelters

For more info about the Environmental Health in Disasters 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. 
Email us at   r6-phtc@tulane.edu .
We look forward to your feedback!