OVERVIEW

The New to Public Health Residency Program is an innovative development program designed to build confidence and competency for professionals who are new to public health.

The program is built upon the Foundational Public Health Services Model and develops enhanced knowledge and skills within the foundational areas and capabilities that are essential to public health practice.

The residency program includes an evidence-based practice project, peer networking, mentoring, facilitated reflection and journaling, simulation, and case studies to support the new resident as they transition to practice; while inspiring collaborative, interdisciplinary relationships to promote and protect health at a population level. 

STATEMENT OF NEED AND PURPOSE

The residency program is designed to provide new public health professionals the foundational capabilities that are essential to public health practice. Overarching residency curriculum focuses on leadership, professional development, role-specific formation and competency. A residency program bridges the workforce by integrating the knowledge of experienced public health professionals and the fresh ideas of new staff to positively affect population health.

Integration of public health professionals from across jurisdictions allows the new public health professional to understand how diversity in the workforce strengthens essential services across city and county lines, and allows for enhanced networking and future collaboration.

Residency programs supplement state and local orientation programs and build upon department-specific policy, procedures, and tasks, to allow the resident to see a fuller picture of the field of public health. 

This contemporary program utilizes a comprehensive practice model that supplements existing knowledge of staff and supports the synthesis of new ideas. The program promotes standardized tools for the participant to customize based on their individual practice. 

TARGET AUDIENCE

This residency program is designed to meet the needs of nurses, social workers, sanitarians, health educators, and other public health professionals that are new to their roles.

ELEMENTS OF COMPETENCE

This continuing education (CE) activity is designed to improve learner competence, and focuses on the American Board of Medical Specialties’ areas of interpersonal communication skills, professionalism and systems-based practice, the Institute of Medicine area of employing evidence-based practice, applying quality improvement, and utilizing information, and the Interprofessional and Nursing areas of values/ethics, roles/responsibilities and interprofessional communication.

GLOBAL LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of the residency program, the new public health professional as a member of the interprofessional healthcare team will:

1. Apply learned concepts from the Foundational Public Health Services’ model to their public health professional practice.
2. Increase knowledge, skills, and confidence for competent public health practice.
3. Access tools and resources applicable to public health practice.
4. Apply health equity and social justice concepts to public health practice.
5. Demonstrate enhanced cultural competency knowledge and skills in their individual practice.
6. Research, plan, and present a quality improvement or evidence-based practice project within their local health department or community.

SESSION LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this session, the new public health professional as a member of the interprofessional healthcare team will:

• Explain how public health provides timely, statewide, locally relevant and accurate information to the health care system and community on communicable diseases and their control.
• Identify statewide and local communicable disease control community partners and their capacities.
• Describe how public health receives laboratory reports and other relevant data, conducts disease investigations including contacting tracing and notification, and recognizes, identifies, and responds to communicable disease outbreaks for notifiable conditions in accordance with local, national, and state mandates and guidelines.
• Determine how public health assures the availability of partner notification services for newly diagnosed case of syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV according to CDC guidelines.
• Define how public health assures the appropriate treatment of individuals who have active tuberculosis, including the provision of directly-observed-therapy in accordance with local and state laws and CDC guidelines.
• Explain how public health supports the recognition of outbreaks and other events of public health significance by assuring capacity for the identification and characterization of the causative agents of disease and their origin, including those that are rare and unusual, at the appropriate level.
• Recognize how public health coordinates and integrates categorically-funded communicable disease programs and services.
• Recognize how to access 24/7 laboratory resources capable of providing rapid detection.
• Prioritize and respond to data requests, including vital records, and to translate data into information and reports that are valid, statistically accurate, and accessible to the intended audiences.
• Indicate how a public health organization maintains and procures the hardware and software needed to access electronic health information and to support the department's operations and analysis of health data. 
• Validate the proper systems are in place to keep health and human resources data confidential in a public health organization. 

Reference: https://phnci.org/uploads/resource-files/FPHS-Factsheet-November-2018.pdf

SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION

Residents will view lectures, panel discussions, participate in cased-based and small-group discussions, participation in simulation and skill-based training, and participate in simulation, skill-based training, and gaming activities over a 12 month period of time.

The residency program also includes an evidence-based practice project, peer networking, mentoring, facilitated reflection, journaling to support the new resident as they transition to practice while inspiring collaborative, interdisciplinary relationships to promote and protect health at a population level.