First published on May 14, 2015 in observance of the COPH’s 30^th anniversary celebration.

Long before the deluge of online learning became a given of modern education replete with a glut of overnight “universities,” USF’s College of Public Health launched a distance-learning presence that was formidable before online classes even existed.

From 1990-93, 45 state health department employees in Tallahassee earned master of public health degrees from USF via the old-fashioned method of distance learning.  Every Tuesday, a COPH professor would journey to Tallahassee to teach a three-hour course that evening, said Dr. Charles Mahan, at that time state health officer, and later COPH dean.

Dr. Charles Mahan

“We gave them Tuesday afternoon off, and they gave up their evening,” Mahan explained.  “One professor would come up for a month and do the whole core segment of epidemiology and biostatistics, and then somebody else would come up and do the whole core of community and family health.

“When people in practice throughout the state at the health departments saw what we were doing up there, they came to the college and said, ‘Please, do that for our staff.’  That’s when we began the distance-learning program.”

Technology offered a more efficient means by 1994, when COPH began beaming public health courses via satellite to 33 host sites at state and local health departments across Florida.

Answering a mandate

“USF College of Public Health had a very good partnership with the Florida Department of Health,” recalled Sandhya Srinivasan, COPH director of educational technology and assessment, “and through this partnership, we were able to deliver public health education while utilizing health department meeting space and satellite equipment that was already part of the Florida Department of Health satellite network.  We were able to piggyback on that and beam our classes to busy health professionals.”

Sandhya Srinivasan, MPH, MEd

WUSF-TV had an uplink facility, Srinivasan explained, which enabled COPH to buy satellite time at the discounted educational rate.  The telecasts were cabled to the uplink facility in Clearwater, then beamed to the satellite from there.

As part of the founding of the college a decade earlier, USF and COPH had a legislative mandate to train public health employees statewide, Srinivasan said.  A needs assessment at the time signaled the need when it found that very few public health workers had had any formal public health training.

“They had come to public health through medicine or nursing or sociology, but they were not trained in public health,” she said, “and so the college had a huge challenge in front of it.”

Two evening courses were initiated to meet that challenge, she said.  Each met once a week for three hours, and each had an on-site technical point person should the satellite or any link in the technology fail.  Technical and material needs were communicated via phone or fax in those days before the advent of personal computers and e-mail.

Given those limitations, early growth was slow, but within a few years, the need for more courses and faster, easier means of delivery coincided well with the PC age.  In 2001, Srinivasan said, technical advances and growing interest in the program sparked its rapid expansion.

“We started incrementally,” she said, “moving our classes from satellite to a blended online-and-satellite format.”

The Department of Education weighed in with a $3-million grant for instruction in technology.  That IIT grant, as it was known (standing for Innovations in Technology and Training), enabled the college to hire instructional designers who brought in multi-media components that completed the transition from satellite-online hybrid to a fully online operation.

From online courses to online degrees

With all classes delivered entirely via Internet, geographic limitations were gone.  Anyone, anywhere could take courses on the World Wide Web, and host sites were things of the past.  It wouldn’t be long before the state’s first public health college conferred the state’s first fully online public health degrees.

According to figures supplied by David Hogeboom, statistical data analyst for COPH, the online degree program has conferred 383 MPH degrees in various concentrations since spring 2001.  The total represents more than one-fifth of all MPH degrees and more than one-eighth of all degrees awarded by COPH in that timeframe.  Srinivasan said nine students graduating on Dec. 13, 1998, from the Public Health Practice program were the first to earn their degrees via satellite.

COPH distance learning’s first nine MPH graduates made headlines in 1998.

“Today, in addition to public health practice, we have five other master’s concentrations online and 11 online graduate certificates,” Srinivasan said.

Unlike other classrooms, the virtual variety requires technical design specifically geared to disseminating educational materials.  Accordingly, full-time instructional designers are a big part of the picture at COPH online.

“Our office consists of six full-time instructional designers and a graphics designer,” Srinivasan said.  “The designers are assigned to particular courses and work hand-in-hand with faculty in preparing course materials and assessments.  They are able to parse down a lesson to bare essentials and match the right technology that can deliver that content efficiently to the students.”

Today’s COPH online learning team.  Back row, from left: Thomas Reilly, James Taylor, Andres Abril, Carlos Montoya, Samantha Lopez.  Front row, from left: Ana Vizcaino, Jung Lim, Sandhya Srinivasan, Trudian Trail-Constant.

Srinivasan said one of the concerns the designers address is interaction.

“It is less than ideal to listen to a talking head for three hours, so we use different types of interactive technologies that enable and even encourage student interaction,” she said.

Much of that interaction involves typed responses, she said, but even that is rapidly changing.

“As part of Canvas, the learning management system at USF, we now have access to an interactive virtual tool called Blackboard Collaborate.  Students and instructor log in at a given time and date, and the tools within that virtual classroom allow for interaction.  Students and faculty are able to interact via audio, video and whiteboard tools to do everything they could do in a traditional classroom.”

Alison Oberne, MA, MPH, CPH, an instructor in the USF College of Public Health, narrates a lecture for an undergraduate public health course using the recording space in COPH used for recording content for the lectures and modules of most of the college’s online degree programs.

It doesn’t take an instructional designer to appreciate the brightness of COPH’s online future.

When the college launched its online master’s program, Mahan said, deans at other colleges of public health told him it would never work.  In fact, he said, deans from the older schools of public health at revered institutions like Harvard and Johns Hopkins flat-out swore they would never do it.

“Now, of course, they all do it,” he said.  “Absolutely, we were the first to do it.  We were a couple of years ahead of everybody else in offering the full MPH by distance.”

“The tools from the beginning to now have undergone tremendous change,” Srinivasan said.  “We are committed to remaining on the cutting edge, so the future of our program will be wherever virtual classroom technology will allow us to go.”

Story by David Brothers, College of Public Health.

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The USF College of Public Health’s online master of public health program has been ranked number one on the list of the top 50 best online MPH programs across the country, according to the Master’s Programs Guide.

Master’s Programs Guide, an online guide to helping students discover master’s programs in any specialty, ranked the programs based on school reputation, affordability, program accreditation and accessibility/flexibly.

The USF COPH’s program ranked first place ahead of programs at the University of Nebraska, University of Illinois at Chicago, Michigan State University, University of Florida, Johns Hopkins University, and Emory.

The COPH has been offering distance-based MPH programs for nearly 30 years, according to Dean Donna Petersen, and offers seven distinct specializations, including a DrPH program and 13 online graduate certificates.

“We recognize that our students’ time is valuable and also that we have an obligation to provide the best educational training possible for those interested in public health careers, regardless of the delivery modality,” Petersen said. “Our faculty embraced this technology early on and we’ve built an exceptional team of instructional technology and design professionals. Students in our on-line programs often tell me that they have been able to use what they learned in class immediately in their work settings or that they could never have obtained the MPH degree if an online option weren’t available.”

Students may customize their degree experience by focusing on the following specializations: epidemiology, public health practice, global disaster management, humanitarian relief and homeland security, infection control, social marketing, nutrition and dietetics, and health, safety and environment.

“This recognition affirms what we, our students and our alumni already know–that the USF College of Public Health online MPH programs are a great value and provide an excellent learning experience,” Petersen said.

To learn more about the COPH’s accredited distance-based MPH programs, visit the admissions website.

Story by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

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The USF College of Public Health’s Sandhya Srinivasan, director of the Office of Educational Technology and Assessment (ETA), has been appointed as chair of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health’s (ASPPH) Learning Futures Forum.

ASPPH created the Learning Futures forum, open to faculty and staff from ASPPH-member schools and programs of public health, as a way for those working in public health education to collaborate and discuss trends in the rapidly growing field of online education.

“I think it’s valuable to know what other schools and programs of public health are doing in the field of online learning,” Srinivasan said. “It is important to constantly assess and reassess our practices so we are delivering the best possible education to our students.”

The COPH’s ETA office oversees all aspects of the technology in online courses for programs across the COPH. Since 1996, Srinivasan and her team of seven instructional designers and one graphic designer, have assisted faculty with course development as they transition traditional courses for delivery to an online audience.

Sandhya Srinivasan, MPH, MEd. (Photo by Natalie Preston)

Srinivasan will lead members of the Learning Futures Forum as they respond to and adapt to rapid growth in online learning, as well as changes to CEPH accreditation criteria, according to Emily Burke, manager of data analytics for ASPPH.

She will hold this appointment for two years.

The first forum meeting under Srinivasan’s leadership is scheduled to take place at the 2017 ASPPH Annual Meeting, March 17 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.

“It’s a good exchange of information,” she said. “It’s a way to understand the technology and in this case, understanding how technology impacts the new CEPH criteria, so that we are all on a level playing field; it’s very helpful.”

According to Srinivasan, every accredited school of public health that has membership with ASPPH is asked to send a facilitator or distance learning coordinator to attend these distance learning forums, something she said the COPH’s ETA office has participated in for the past several years.

“I’m hoping with each chair, the forum is reenergized and starts to scope out an agenda that is useful to all schools and programs of public health,” she said. “We’re hoping with the webinars and new criteria this coming year, we will have a good amount of interest in being an active participant of the committee.”

Story by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

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Public health offers seven master’s degrees and 11 graduate certificates in an online or virtual format

How do six instructional designers manage more than 80 online courses in the USF College of Public Health?

“It takes a village and an extraordinary attention to detail,” said Sandhya Srinivasan, MPH, MEd, director of the college’s Office of Educational Technology and Assessment (ETA) and an alumna.

Leading the way in distance-based education, the college offers seven master’s degrees in an online or executive weekend format, as well as 11 graduate certificates.

“We were the first school of public health in the nation to offer a distance-based master’s degree in public health,” said Donna Petersen, ScD, dean of the USF College of Public Health and interim CEO of USF Health. “This is before online-teaching technology was even available and definitely before it was a cool thing to do.”

Providing faculty with the tools and knowledge to effectively use technology in their online courses is the academic charge of ETA. Through a collaborative work environment, a team of eight diverse professionals—6 instructional designers, one graphic designer, and a director—support dozens of faculty and more than 5,000 students to enhance their teaching/learning experience.

Jung Lim, PhD, MS, and Mr. Thomas Reilly, MAT, Med, are the latest inhabitants to join the ETA village.

“There’s a saying that ‘practice makes perfect’,” Dr. Lim said. “However, I believe that the practice must be designed in a way that helps learners to master skills more effectively and efficiently.”

A native of Seoul, Korea, her formal education includes a bachelor’s degree in educational technology, master’s degree in mass communication, and a doctorate in instructional systems.

Prior to joining the college, Dr. Lim taught journalism and educational technology courses at Northwestern State University in Louisiana. She also worked as a web developer and project manager in the private sector.

When she’s not contributing to the learning environment in the college, Dr. Lim spend her off hours with family, watching movies, and reminiscing about Louisiana cuisine.

Thomas Reilly joined ETA in December as a design assistant and was quickly promoted to instructional designer. He holds master’s degrees in instructional technology and teaching, as well as a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

Born in New York, but raised in Savannah, Reilly’s southern drawl is hard to miss. Prior to joining, ETA he taught math to high school students and tutored them privately.

Reilly shared, “Blending technology and innovative learning theories to teach students in the 21^st century,” is what excited him most about joining ETA.

With 35 graduate and 51 undergraduate courses in the college this fall—including 12 that are new or revamped—he’ll have ample opportunities to do just that!

“Online enrollment is up,” Srinivasan said.  “When compared to fall 2012, we have a 21% increase in the number of undergraduate courses and 13% increase in graduate courses offered online.”

Currently, more than 5137 students are enrolled in online courses with the USF College of Public Health.

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September is National Preparedness Month, but the USF College of Public Health embraces preparedness year-round.

War. Public health emergencies. Natural and man-made disasters. Refugee campus with internally displaced persons.

For most individuals, the mere idea of working in the aforementioned conditions is enough to trigger a rapid heartbeat, panic attack, or worse.

No so, for the selfless, dedicated professionals who make public health preparedness their life’s passion.

At the University of South Florida, preparedness is a social responsibility—not just in September for National Preparedness Month, but year-round.  Through online and on-campus academic programs and federally-funded centers, the USF College of Public Health trains students, professionals, and community organizations at home and around the world.

* * *

USF offers the only fully accredited MPH in global disaster management and humanitarian relief in a virtual format

The Department of Global Health is home to four undergraduate and graduate programs that equip students with knowledge and real-world exposure to public health preparedness.  To accommodate students’ busy schedules, three of the programs are completely online.

“The virtual format is particularly attractive to US Public Health Service Officers, military personnel, and other out-of-state students,” said Wayne Westhoff, PhD, associate professor of global health and director of the disaster management and humanitarian assistance programs. “Plus, some out-of-state and international students are eligible for a reduced tuition waiver, which is an added bonus.”

The graduate certificate in disaster management addresses the management, preparedness, response, and recovery from natural and man-made disasters.  By focusing on humanitarian foundations and principles, the graduate certificate in humanitarian assistance teaches students leadership and management skills needed to work with special populations, particularly international refugees, displaced persons (IDPs), and those affected by emergencies.

Disaster management and humanitarian assistance graduate certificates arrived on the scene in 2002 and 2006, respectively. Since then, more than 268 students enrolled in the programs.  According to Kathy Barnes, an academic services administrator in University College, “Disaster management ranks #10 and humanitarian assistance #46 out of USF’s 115 graduate certificates.”

Can’t decide between the two graduate certificates?

In 2011, USF began offering the only fully accredited master of public health degree in global disaster management and humanitarian relief. The program is completely online and includes courses in homeland security. To date, 14 students earned the degree and more than 40 are currently enrolled.

“About one-third of our graduate students are in the US Public Health Service Corp, one-third work full-time in preparedness, and one-third are completely new to the field,” Dr. Westhoff said. “This combination of students often generates rich discussions with real life, real time examples that you just can’t get from a book!”

Hunter Zager, MPH represents a cadre of selfless, dedicated professionals who earned a degree from the college and make public health preparedness their life’s passion.

Ms. Zager is one of seven regional emergency response advisors for the Florida Department of Health. She is assigned to the Tampa Bay Region.

As a regional advisor, Zager collaborates with eight county health departments on preparedness and response.  She is responsible for covering a wide range of events including hurricanes and natural disasters, anthrax threats, and other emergencies like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  Special events such as the Super Bowl and Republican National Convention (RNC) also fall within her jurisdiction.

Last year, Zager contributed to a year plus of planning to prepare the local health and medical system for expected and potential impacts from the RNC. Primarily charged with patient movement, “I led a team of field personnel charged with monitoring deployed health and medical assets, assisting with logistical needs, and troubleshooting field-level health and medical issues,” Zager said.

Additionally, she wrote the Aerial Point of Embarkation Plan which entailed relocating large numbers of patients by air. If activation had been necessary, she would have managed the set-up and operation.

“Thankfully, the plan was not activated and the RNC was mostly uneventful from a preparedness standpoint.”

Interested undergraduates can earn a minor in community engaged home land security and emergency management. In July, a group participated in the college’s first International Public Health Field School in Belize. Focused on emergency management, they spent two weeks examining the country’s public health framework, exploring under-served villages, and interacting with individuals charged with protecting Belizean communities in the event of a disaster.

Public Health student Savannah Moffett (background) observed Captain Ramirez (foreground) share how the Belize Defense Force responds to the evacuation of more than 5,000 residents from Belize City to the San Ignacio area. The undergrads were invited to participate in a disaster table-top exercise sponsored by the District Emergency Management Organization. In the meeting, public health preparedness officials evaluated the district response in the event a Category 3 hurricane made landfall in Belize.

To learn more about USF College of Public Health degree and certificate programs in public health preparedness, visit the Department of Global Health and Office of Undergraduate Studies.

* * *

USF’s Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center develops and strengthens Florida’s public health workforce

The College of Public Health is home to the Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center (PERLC), one of 14 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded centers across the U.S.  The Center trains state, local, and tribal public health authorities and meets partners’ unique workforce development needs in the area of public health preparedness and response, as well as specialized training, education, and consultation.

In the event of a disaster, volunteers and staff at emergency organizations often join first responders in aiding victims. By facilitating trainings on topics such as situational awareness, local health interventions, and crisis leadership, the PERLC helps individuals improve skills necessary during disaster response.

Additionally, the Center teaches teams how to build, strengthen, or coordinate coalitions in their community and offers follow-up support on topics such as sustaining coalitions, a coalition’s role in disaster recovery, and measuring resiliency.

“Through coalition training, we strive to enhance the ability of Florida’s 67 counties to be resilient and recover from disasters,” said Dave Rogoff MHA, BSIE, director of the Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice.  “This is done by assisting the counties in assembling new Community-Based Disaster Coalitions (CBDC) in their respective areas or strengthening existing coalitions.”

Christine C. Griffith, Division Director at the Sarasota Health Department and member of the Sarasota COAD, facilitating a group exercise at the Community-Based Disaster Coalitions training.

As of August, the Center successfully trained teams from 33 Florida counties in the development of CBDCs. Participants included community groups, county public health departments, emergency management, as well as faith-based and non-profit organizations.

“More than 13.5 million people—close to three-fourths of the state’s total population—are represented in the 33 counties trained by the PERLC,” Mr. Rogoff said.

“The post-disaster resiliency of Florida is significantly improved, due in large part to the Center’s effective training and commitment to serve as an agent of collaboration.”

To learn more about Community-Based Disaster Coalitions and other preparedness training offered through USF’s Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center, click here.

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Theresa A. Scorcia Wilson, PhD, MPH, is 14-year veteran of the Michigan Department of Community Health, the state’s health department. She is assigned to the Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Unit and manages the Cardiovascular Health, Physical Activity, and Nutrition Section.  Additionally, Teri is a part-time faculty member for Central Michigan University’s Global Campus. In this capacity, she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in public health.

“I’ve enjoyed working with public health at the state level in Michigan,” Dr. Scorcia Wilson said. “However, my ultimate professional goal is to obtain a full-time position in academia. The ability to focus on teaching and conducting research to further practice-based evidence and programming in maternal and family health would be a dream come true!”

Dr. Scorcia Wilson earned a master of public health and doctorate from the USF College of Public Health in Tampa. She concentrated in maternal and child health and the Department of Community and Family Health served as her academic home.  Although she was not in an online degree program, with the support of her committee members Robert McDermott, PhD, Karen Perrin, PhD, MPH, and Ellen Daley, PhD, Teri completed her dissertation on a long distance basis, while living and working full time in Michigan.

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Student demand for distance learning to complement classroom teaching climbs

With three new online degrees, a resource expo, and a celebrity guest, USF’s College of Public Health kicked off the 2013-14 academic year.

Jane Lundh welcomed Brennan Hodge to the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. The college provided all new students with a sport bag to promote their practice, their passion in public health.

USF Bulls mascot Rocky D. Bull welcomed hundreds of coeds to campus as they descended on the college for new student orientation. The annual event began on Thursday, August 22, and included two days of information sessions, expos, and interactive activities.

“As the state’s first accredited college of public health, it’s our mandate to ensure the workforce is applying the most current skills,” said Donna J. Petersen, ScD, dean of the USF COPH and interim senior vice president of USF Health. “To my knowledge, we are the only school or college of public health in the nation that was created by a legislative mandate.”

This fall, students seeking a master of public health (MPH) degree in a virtual format can chose from six different concentrations, including epidemiology, infection control, and health, safety & environment which launched in 2013. Likewise, 11 of the college’s 25 graduate certificates are completely online.

By expanding the college’s academic offerings through online degrees, executive weekend programs, graduate and undergraduate certificates, short-courses, webinars, and other professional development opportunities, students’ busy professional and personal schedules are easily accommodated.

In the College of Public Health, “nearly two-thirds of our courses are fully on–line or blended—involving some virtual components in order to maximize face-to-face teaching time,” Dr. Petersen said.

Of the 85 online courses offered this fall, 34 are graduate level, 51 are undergraduate level, and 11 are either new or being revamped.

Odia Isoken, dual concentration student in epidemiology and biostatistics.

“Online enrollment is up from last fall and registration continues until August 30,” said Sandhya Srinivasan, MPH, MEd, director of the college’s Office of Educational Technology and Assessment.  “When compared to fall 2012, we have a 21 percent increase in the number of undergraduate courses and 13 percent increase in graduate courses offered online.”

More than 4,312 students are enrolled in USF public health online courses.

In addition, demand for the college’s online public health degree programs has exploded — with enrollment more than doubling since the middle of the last decade.

The college’s advances in distance learning have been featured in The Nation’s Health and noted in the Guide to Online Schools, which uses data compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics to rank colleges with the best quality and most affordable online programs. Three of the college’s online master’s degree programs—public health administration, global disaster management and humanitarian relief, and public health practice—were noted in the guide’s annual index along with 19 other USF programs.

  * * *

For the first time in the college’s history, new students attended an orientation expo connecting them with key resources at the college, USF Health, and main campus. Participating organizations included USF’s bookstore, athletics, campus recreation and wellness, as well as COPH student organizations, field experience, research, career development, and international programs.

Meghan Lane, assistant director of international services with USF World, advised new students during the orientation expo.

Those who dared tested their knowledge of giving at USF with a trivia game called “Donors & Dollars.”  Participants dropped a coin onto a board and depending on where the coin landed they answered questions pertaining to dollars, donors, people or programs.

Patricia Shirley, senior director with USF Health Development and Alumni Relations, led attendees in a game of Donors & Dollars.

Examples of some donor questions are below, with answers provided at the end of this story.

1. The Greg Alexander Fund for Young Scholars in Maternal and Child Health was named in memory of:
a. A researcher in the field of perinatal epidemiology
b. A professor of public health
c. Husband of Public Health Dean Donna Petersen
d. All of the above

2. USF President Judy Genshaft gives primarily to support:
a. Health research
b. Faculty recruitment
c. Passport scholarships

3. This USF Health college has received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation:
a. College of Nursing
b. College of Public Health
c. School of Physical Therapy
d. College of Pharmacy

Another orientation first was an appearance by Rocky D. Bull. After much negotiation with Rocky’s agent, he agreed to spend Thursday morning with the COPH.

“I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t know much about public health before the expo,” Rocky said. “Now I understand how your practice, your passion improves my quality of life and health.”

“Public health rocks, and I promise to come back often!”

Melania Macip-Billbe, Incoming MPH/MSW students Morgan Dean, Christine Rollins struck a bullish pose with Rocky.

 * * *

In her welcome address, Dr. Petersen highlighted some of the top 20 public health achievements of the 20^th century. “Collectively, these achievements contributed to a 20-year increase in life expectancy.  In contrast, advances in health care led to a five-year increase.”

• Immunizations
• Motor vehicle safety
• Workplace safety
• Control of infectious diseases
• Declines in deaths from heart disease and stroke
• Safer and healthier foods
• Healthier mothers and babies
• Family planning
• Fluoridation of drinking water
• Tobacco as a health hazard

“What’s great about public health is that many questions remain to be answered, and there is much work to do,” Dr. Petersen said.

“All of this equates to job security for you.”

By selecting public health as their profession and the college as their academic home, more than 700 admitted students join a diverse cadre of practitioners who promise to:

… Use our transformational research and interdisciplinary approach to passionately solve problems and create conditions that allow every person the universal right to health and well-being.—USF COPH Brand Promise

In closing, Dr. Petersen encouraged and challenged attendees, “Public health is your health and your chance to make a difference in your world.  Talk to us about your dreams and how we can help you achieve them.”

* * *

Incoming class stats:

• 735 admitted students—254 undergraduates, 404 graduate and 38 doctoral students
• Graduate students represent 41 states, plus the District of Columbia, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. They hail from 18 countries, including India, Nigeria, China, Japan, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and the United States
• 76% women and 24% men (graduate)

Source:  USF College of Public Health, Office of Academic and Student Affairs

Donors & Dollars trivia answers: 1.d.All the above; 2.c. Passport scholarships; 3.b. College of Public Health

Noreen Luetteke asked Susanna Perez-Field how the Affordable Care Act impacts her as a student. Ms. Perez-Field is a program coordinator in the Student Insurance Office of USF’s Student Health Services.

 

Randy Polo, JD, access services librarian, showed many students how to navigate online resources at the Shimberg Health Sciences Library.

 

Community and Family Health student Layla Aysheh and Environmental and Occupational Health student Kamilah Hang shared a break during the COPH orientation expo.

 

Story and photos by Natalie D. Preston, USF College of Public Health.

Reposted from USF Health News

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Biostatistician Henian Chen, MD, PhD is co-author on a publication entitled “Impact of early adolescent anxiety disorders on self-esteem development from adolescence to young adulthood.”

Dr. Chen is an associate professor in the USF College of Public Health and director of the Biostatistics Core for the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute at the Morsani College of Medicine. His academic home is the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.  The department offers concentrations in biostatistics that lead to MPH, MSPH, and PhD degrees, as well as an online graduate certificate in applied biostatistics.

* * *

J Adolesc Health. 2013 Aug;53(2):287-92. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.02.025. Epub 2013 May 3.

Impact of early adolescent anxiety disorders on self-esteem development from adolescence to young adulthood.

Maldonado L, Huang Y, Chen R, Kasen S, Cohen P, Chen H.

Source

Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

To examine the association between early adolescent anxiety disorders and self-esteem development from early adolescence through young adulthood.

METHODS:

Self-esteem was measured at mean ages 13, 16, and 22 for 821 participants from the Children in the Community Study, a population-based longitudinal cohort. Anxiety disorders were measured at mean age 13 years. Multilevel growth models were employed to analyze the change in self-esteem from early adolescence to young adulthood and to evaluate whether adolescent anxiety disorders predict both average and slope of self-esteem development.

RESULTS:

Self-esteem increased during adolescence and continued to increase in young adulthood. Girls had lower average self-esteem than boys, but this difference disappeared when examining the effect of anxiety. Adolescents with anxiety disorder had lower self-esteem, on average, compared with healthy adolescents (effect size [ES] = -.35, p < .01). Social phobia was found to have the greatest relative impact on average self-esteem (ES = -.30, p < .01), followed by overanxious disorder (ES = -.17, p < .05), and simple phobia (ES = -.17, p < .05). Obsessive compulsive-disorder (OCD) predicted a significant decline in self-esteem from adolescence to young adulthood (β = -.1, p < .05). Separation anxiety disorder was not found to have any significant impact on self-esteem development.

CONCLUSIONS:

All but one of the assessed adolescent anxiety disorders were related to lower self-esteem, with social phobia having the greatest impact. OCD predicted a decline in self-esteem trajectory with age. The importance of raising self-esteem in adolescents with anxiety and other mental disorders is discussed.

Copyright © 2013 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:

Adolescence, Anxiety disorder, Longitudinal study, Multilevel growth modeling, Self-esteem development

PMID:

23648133

[PubMed – in process]

PMCID:

PMC3725205

[Available on 2014/8/1]

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Ms. Thometta Cozart Brooks knows busy, like Bo knows football.

Communications guru.  Master of all things professional development.  Online MPH alumna.

Thometta Cozart Brooks, MPH, MS, CPH, CGMP

Thometta blew into the USF College of Public Health in 2009 and has steadily gained strength. An average day for her entailed disseminating training, professional, and funding opportunities to the public health community; working as a cross core research administrator with the Center for Equal Health at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute; and, assisting with for plans the 64^th Annual Meeting of the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) in Orlando.

Whew!

The online format of the college’s master’s degree in public health practice allowed Thometta to study in her ‘down time’ and actively pursue her practice, her passion—health education.

In the end, matriculating at USF proved to be beneficial for Thometta and the State of Florida.

First, she contributed to a team who successfully re-established the Florida Chapter of SOPHE and serves as treasurer of the organization.

(l,r) USF COPH alumna Khaliah Fleming, MPH, LaShonda Coulbertson, MPH, and Thometta Cozart Brooks, MPH, MS, CPH, CGMP, pictured with a certificate reactivating the Florida Chapter of SOPHE. Ms. Coulbertson is president of the chapter, Fleming is president-elect/VP, and Brooks serves as treasurer.

Second, the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association presented Thometta with the Image Award of Distinction. The honor recognized her successful launch of an educational campaign around the Affordable Care Act.

Finally, she earned a master of public health degree from the University of South Florida.

Although Thometta’s tenure in the college may be complete, her work is far from over. This fall, she begins a one-year health equity fellowship with the Ohio Commission on Minority Health in Columbus.

Written by Natalie D. Preston, USF College of Public Health

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The USF College of Public Health admitted nearly 700 students this fall—a record according to Todd Williams, MEd, academic services administrator in the college’s Office of Academic and Student Affairs. The new class includes 254 undergraduates, 404 graduate and 38 doctoral students.

An increase in demand for online courses is one driving force behind the rising enrollment.

The August issue of The Nation’s Health recently featured the college’s online programs in an article titled, “Online public health education growing in popularity in U.S.: More students forgoing classrooms.”

“At the University of South Florida College of Public Health, enrollment in online public health degree programs has more than doubled since the middle of the last decade. The university was one of the first to offer distance-based public health education,” said Deanna Wathington, MD, MPH, associate dean for academic and student affairs at the College of Public Health.

Of the 75 online courses offered this fall, 33 are graduate level, 42 are undergraduate level, and seven of them are new.

Additionally, nine of the college’s 23 graduate certificates are completely online and students can earn a master of public health degree in epidemiology, global disaster management and humanitarian assistance, health administration, or public health practice in a virtual format.

“Online enrollment is up 15% from last fall and registration doesn’t close until August 31,” said Sandhya Srinivasan, MPH, MEd, director of the Office of Educational Technology and Assessment.  “When compared to fall 2011, we have a 50% increase in the number of undergraduate courses and 17% increase in graduate courses offered online.”

Currently, more than 3700 students are enrolled in online courses.

* * *

Fall orientation for new students was held on August 20 and 21. For the first time, the event expanded to include two days of workshops, information sessions, and a keynote speaker.

Retired Lt. Gen. Martin Steele dedicated his life to the US Marine Corps.  Currently, he serves as associate vice-president for Veterans Research and executive director of Military Partnerships at USF.  However, on Monday, August 20, Gen. Steele had one task in mind—impressing upon students that “If we aren’t involved in the health of our community, then we aren’t citizens of the world.”

For thirty minutes, the audience was completely silent. Captivated by his story—born in Philadelphia, raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas, witness to the pains of integration, holding his mother’s hand as she took her final breath, and 34-year combat veteran.

“As a Marine, I helped people who had no clean water and no sewage treatment. I helped them understand why their infants were dying because of their lack of resources,” said Steele.

“You are so important to the world right now. That’s why we have to learn to stop killing each other and learn to care for each other instead … that’s what public health is about—loving one another.”

In his closing remarks, Gen. Steele issued four marching orders to students.

Seize the day. You can’t bring back yesterday and can’t predict tomorrow. What will you do to make the most of every day?

Bloom where you are planted. You need to bloom while you’re a student and learn everything you can.

Suboridinate yourself to the task at hand. Let go of your ego. Don’t let it (or anything) get in the way of learning.

Finally, seize each other’s strengths rather than each other’s weaknesses. We are all human with failures.

Gen. Steele asked for undergraduates to raise their hands, then graduate students, followed by graduate students who earned a bachelor’s degree from USF. “Look to your left and your right. Use their strengths to help you navigate the college and USF.”

In closing, Steele reminded students that “Learning to love and sustain each other is the first alternative, rather than learning to kill each other.”

“You’re the ones who will make a difference.”

* * *

The start of a new academic year would not be complete without new faculty.

This fall, the Departments of Community and Family Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Global Health, and Health Policy and Management welcomed six new faculty members to the college. They include Sheri Eisert, PhD, associate professor; Lianne Estefan, PhD, assistant professor; Ismael Hoare, PhD, assistant professor; Preston Mercer, PhD, professor; Jill Roberts, PhD assistant professor; and Lauri Wright, PhD, assistant professor.

Sheri Eisert, PhD	Lianne Estefan, PhD	Ismael Hoare, PhD
Preston Mercer, PhD	Jill Roberts, PhD	Lauri Wright, PhD

Likewise, the Department of Global Health begins the year with a new academic chair, Thomas Unnasch, PhD. He joined the college as a State of Florida World Class Scholar in 2008 and his research interests include river blindness, filariasis, and arbovirus ecology in Florida. Unnasch serves as a scientific advisor for the World Health Organization, the Carter Center, and the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program in the Americas to name a few.

Incoming class stats:

• 700 admitted students—254 undergraduates, 404 graduate and 38 doctoral students
• 76% women and 24% men
• Students represent 39 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and eight countries (Canada, China, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Panama, Taiwan and the United States)

Source: USF College of Public Health Office of Academic and Student Affairs

Story by Natalie D. Preston, College of Public Health. For a related story, visit USF Health News.

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