First published on December 9, 2019 in observance of the COPH’s 35^th anniversary celebration.

In 2018, the USF College of Public Health (COPH) resurrected its Public Health Executive Leadership Program, which had been dormant for 10 years.

The program aims to bring rising leaders in the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) together to “collaborate and improve upon their own as well as their agency’s effectiveness,” said Dr. Marissa Levine, a COPH professor and co-director of the program along with Dr. Anthony Masys, an associate professor and director of global disaster management, humanitarian assistance and homeland security. “We revived the program not to teach public health skills, but to bring out leadership skills.”

Last year’s program brought 28 FDOH professionals—everyone from bureau chiefs to doctors and nurses to lab executives—to the USF Tampa campus several times over the course of nine months to attend workshops and presentations. In between the sessions, the group performed online work and discussions.

“The students evaluated their own leadership skill growth at the beginning and end of the program,” explained Levine. “Based on this, we saw a significant increase in self-assessed leadership skills. In addition, each student completed a capstone project relevant to their work at their base of operations. Each project was impactful and some had the potential for state- or national-level effectiveness.”

As an added bonus, many students in the program who did not initially know each other created professional relationships. “That will not only help them personally, but it will also enhance the work and impact of the department,” noted Levine.

Hurricane season pushed back the start of this year’s program, but in November 30 FDOH workers came to campus to open the 2019 program and begin fine-tuning their leadership skills. 

“This is another dynamic group who we will meet again in person four more times between now and May. Next month we will be exploring leadership in a political context and will convene in Tallahassee where we will view committee meetings and learn about all levels of government budget and policy making,” said Levine.

The Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice, the COPH group that puts on the program, has an annual contract with the FDOH. According to Levine, the group is looking to expand its offerings to engage other public health professionals. “We’re disseminating information to our graduates and others interested in leadership so that we can create a robust resource for leaders working to collaboratively improve health and well-being,” said Levine

.Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

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The USF College of Public Health, in collaboration with other university entities—the Morsani College of Medicine, USF Health, the Center for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies and the Global Citizens Project—will co-host the first annual USF Global Health, Diplomacy and National Security Symposium on Feb. 28 at the Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions. A pre-event VIP reception will be held Feb. 27 at the Lifsey House.

The symposium, free to the public, is sponsored by Premier Eye Care, a Tampa-based company that provides managed medical and routine eye care, and WUSF Public Media.

The aim of the symposium, the brainchild of COPH founder Sam Bell and Dr. Anthony Masys, a COPH associate professor and director of global disaster management, humanitarian assistance and homeland security, is to gather world-renowned experts in the fields of infectious disease, defense, immigration and public health to explore the role of diplomacy and public health on national security.

According to Masys, using diplomacy and foreign policy to support public health goals can promote stability and peace. “Anything that happens overseas can affect the United States,” he cautions. “Look at H1N1, H5N1, SARS and Ebola—all of those pandemics can have national security implications. By using diplomacy to manage public health issues, we can help prevent national security problems.”

Masys expects about 250 people, many of them public health officials, government officers and military personnel, to attend the one-day event.

USF President Judy Genshaft will give a welcome address and Dr. Stephen C. Redd, a rear admiral who is director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Center for Preparedness and Response, will deliver the keynote speech.

Other speakers will include Dr. John Sinnott, chairman of internal medicine at the Morsani College of Medicine, Dr. Steve Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the nonprofit Center for Strategic and International Studies and Dr. Jim Stikeleather, a professor at the Muma College of Business and former chief innovation officer at Dell.

Both graduate and undergraduate students are invited to present research posters at the event. Poster topics can range from bioterrorism and biodefense to the economic impact of trans-border health threats. Top-rated posters could be awarded between $50 and $500 in prize money.

One topic of discussion at the symposium will be using diplomacy as a “soft power” to help support countries dealing with public health crises like Ebola. Another topic will be the role of innovation and technology on global health issues. After each speaker, panel discussions will take place.

“The trans-border nature of health threats makes defense at the border alone problematic,” Masys said. “Health threats pose a danger to international stability and security. Focusing on how diplomacy and foreign policy can be used to support global health is an important area of discussion.”

For more information about the symposium or to register for the event, click here.

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

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The USF College of Public Health (COPH) recently hosted 30 up-and-coming Florida Department of Health professionals to the first segment of its Public Health Leadership Institute.

The program, which was held Oct. 1-3 on the USF Tampa campus, is getting a re-boot after a 10-year hiatus.

“The USF COPH has a mission to support the Florida Department of Health—it’s our job,” commented Dr. Marissa Levine, a COPH Practice Pathway professor who is one of the faculty organizers of the program. “And career advancement training is a big need they have identified. The public health workforce is graying, and problems such as Zika and the opioid crisis are representative of how public health issues are becoming more complex. The need to train visionaries who can tackle these problems is extremely important.”

Public health professionals from around the state gathered with COPH Dean Donna Petersen, Anthony Masys, PhD, and Marissa Levine, MD, MPH, for the first segment of the USF COPH Public Health Leadership Institute. (Photo by Anna Mayor)

Event speakers included COPH Dean Donna Petersen, Surgeon General and Secretary of the Florida Department of Health Celeste Philip and Karen DeSalvo, a professor of population health at Dell Medical School and former acting assistant secretary for health.

A range of topics, including self-knowledge, “emotional intelligence” and “authentic leadership,” were covered. The latter two involve identifying and assessing one’s management style and its impact on others.

“In order to provide authentic leadership, you have to know yourself and how to regulate your emotions,” Levine explained.

Associate Professor Dr. Anthony Masys explains the concept of authentic leadership. (Photo by Anna Mayor)

“The words we use and convey affect everyone,” added Dr. Anthony Masys, a COPH associate professor and director of global disaster management, humanitarian assistance and homeland security who is also involved in the institute’s resurrection. “We can focus on the negative and create what is known as a deficit model, or we can change the vocabulary and focus on what is going right and create a more positive vision and environment.”

Ana Barrera Goold, program administrator-records registration section for the Florida Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics in Jacksonville, said the session was “informative, insightful and relevant.”

“Learning about ourselves and ways to deal with others was very helpful,” Goold said. “I learned how strengths and weaknesses can impact the team/organization and that trust is vital among leaders and staff.”

The other learning modules, five in all that will be spread over a nine-month period, will deal with topics such as organizational management, relationship building and managing complexity. At the last module, participants will present a project taken directly from their work at their health department work sites.

Levine and Masys say the program can be expanded, in both size and scope. “We can involve more people by staggering the cohorts,” Masys said. “And we can use the program anywhere around the country or the world where leadership skills need to be upgraded.”

The next meeting with take place in Tampa in December. For more information about the program, contact Dr. Levine at mjlevine@health.usf.edu.

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

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September is National Preparedness Month

Americans are a tolerant bunch. At least when it comes to natural disasters and the risks they pose.

Most of us—about 60 percent says the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—don’t have an emergency plan in place should something like a hurricane, tornado or wildfire hit. And the reason why, says Dr. Anthony Masys, a USF College of Public Health associate professor and director of global disaster management, humanitarian assistance and homeland security, is our skewed perception of risk and our tolerance for its potential consequences.

Anthony Masys, PhD, associate professor and director of global disaster management, humanitarian assistance and homeland security. (Photo courtesy of Masys)

First, perception.

Many non-meteorologist types view hurricanes as mostly a wind and rain event. Escape the fallen trees and downed power lines and you may think you’re safe.

But many catastrophic hurricanes (think Katrina, Sandy and Maria) produce devastating storm surge. During Hurricane Katrina, for example, 1,500 people lost their lives—many of them due directly or indirectly to storm surge, reported the National Hurricane Center.

Massive hurricane on a collision course with the Florida coast. (Photo source Google Images)

“People contextualize disasters from different perspectives,” Masys noted, “and that can hide some risks. Hurricanes, to some, might be a high wind and rain event. That’s their mental model. But, in a natural disaster, you have to use scenario planning and explore the possibilities of what may take place and then develop a plan.”

Ask yourself where all that rain will go. Will there be a flooding risk? How does that affect the infrastructure? Will electricity be cut off? If so, will water get contaminated and be shut off? How will that affect you?

“Think of the unintended consequences that can loop back and impact you,” Masys cautioned.

Risk tolerance is another factor in our lack of disaster preparedness.

“Murphy’s Law says that anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” Masys explained. “Well, the opposite of that can be true as well. If we’re told a hurricane is coming and it’s a bad one and then it doesn’t hit or it doesn’t produce much damage, we start getting comfortable. We start thinking, ‘Yeah, they said that last time and I stayed and I was fine.’ We start building up a tolerance to the risk.”

Parking lot overwhelmed by storm surge during Hurricane Katrina. (Photo source Google Images)

The key to better disaster preparedness, Masys says, is better risk communication.

“When the government or an agency puts up a disaster warning, it’s important to articulate all the what-if scenarios and help people put them in context,” commented Masys. “If a disaster hits our region, here is what could occur [flooding, power outages, etc.], here is what we are doing to prepare and here is what individuals need to do to prepare. Run through the scenarios and have preparedness discussions. As has been said before, ‘Things that have never happened before happen all the time.’ Perspective is key.”

Setting up a disaster preparedness plan:

• Know escape/evacuation routes.
• Develop a plan for communicating with family/friends (e.g. via text, social media, third party, etc.).
• Have some cash available.
• Store important documents (birth certificates, property deed, etc.) in safe place away from home (for example, a bank safe deposit box).
• Keep neighbors and coworkers apprised of your disaster plans.
• Fill your car with gas; gas pumps do not operate in a power outage.
• Assemble a grab-and-go disaster kit. Some things to include are shelf-stable food, water (one gallon per person, per day), batteries, flashlight, prescription medicines, first-aid kit, battery-powered radio and phone charger.
Source: FEMA

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

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