MCH Student eNewsletter

-Congratulations to the Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health faculty Jamie Stang, PhD, MPH, RDN, Zobeida E. Bonilla, PhD, MPH, and MCH faculty member, Ellen W. Demerath, PhD on co-authoring “Training the MCH workforce: The Time for Change is now.” The article focuses on recruitment and retention strategies in the MCH workforce.

-Congratulations to our program chair, Dr. Zobeida Bonilla, who wrote the piece Clipped Wings: Puerto Rico, Colonialism and Public Health in the September issue of the Notes on Antiracism, Justice, and Equity newsletter. The article touches on a possible change in responsive measures in Puerto Rico that could allow for an extreme advantage over natural disasters such as Hurricane Fiona which hit the island on September 18, 2022. Subscribe to view more monthly newsletters from Notes on Antiracism, Justice, and Equity.

#UMNMCH student Summer Reid, she/her/hers (MPH 2023) wrote this reflection on how her deployment with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) working with PRAMS Data helped contribute to her career in Maternal and Child Health (MCH).

Achiri Fon-Achu (he/him/his; MPH 2022) was one of two #UMNMCH students who received the Robert Ten Bensel Scholarship in 2021-2022. The scholarship is a one-time scholarship awarded annually by Epi to students who demonstrate outstanding potential for contributions to the principles of maternal and child health, human equity, and community social justice. In spring 2022, we invited Achiri to answer a few questions about his work as a medical doctor and public health masters student working with MCH communities. Read about his experience here!

Theresa Boyer is the newest author for the latest National MCH Trainee blog post titled “Ethics, Epidemiology, and Big Data” on Competency 3: Ethics. Theresa is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She received her MSPH from the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins in 2022, where she was a recipient of the MCH Training Grant. In her post, Theresa shares her reflections on the ethics of meeting an individual through big data and answers the question “what do we owe to our participants and the public?” “My data may capture this person on one of the best days of their life, such as the birth of a new baby, or one of the absolute worst days of their life, such as being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit after losing too much blood during their delivery.” Continue reading here.

The Diving Into Research series was created by MCH Program alumni Delaine Anderson (MPH 2022), a former MCHIG executive committee member and current medical student at UW-Madison. Delaine's goal with this series was to empower first-year graduate students in gaining confidence to conduct research. Meeting your advisor for the first time can feel scary, but it doesn't have to be! In Building a Strong Relationship with Your Advisor, SPH Professors Dr. Jamie Stang and Dr. Melissa Laska talked about how to create a strong relationship with YOUR advisor. We'll be highlighting these short videos in upcoming newsletters. We're grateful to Delaine for creating this series and to the 2021-2022 MCHIG executive committee for developing the series.

The Center is proud to co-sponsor the following events:

October 6, 2022 | 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM CDT

This Mini-Lab event introduces MCH students and practitioners to qualitative data collection principles and techniques. In this two hour workshop, guest speaker Professor Johnny Saldaña will cover the fundamentals of qualitative coding and specifically explore coding with NVivo.

-Register

October 12, 2022 | 5:30 PM -7:00 PM CDT

Our first MCH Leaders Skills Institute of the 2022-23 academic year will focus on using leadership to develop an anti-racist approach to enhance population health. In this first session, we welcome #UMNMCH alumni Dr. Julia Joseph-Di Caprio, President and Founder of Leap Pediatric and Adolescent Care, and Greg Hanley, VP of Quality Management and Population Health at UCare, as our guest speakers. This Workshop is for Center MCH and PHN students only.

-Join

October 14, 2022 | 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CDT

The past decade has seen a steady and dramatic increase in legislative attacks on abortion access in the United States, often under the perilous guise of “protecting women’s health.” A robust body of evidence has, however, demonstrated that access to abortion is vital to the health and well-being of pregnant people and their families and that restrictions on abortion access threaten public health. With the recent repeal of Roe v Wade, people in more than half of the country will be forced to make decisions regarding traveling for care, navigating self-care options, or not receiving care at all. The tortuous financial, logistical, and legal barriers to abortion that are emerging in a Post-Roe United States will only further exacerbate structural inequities and imperiling the health, lives, freedom, and reproductive well-being of millions of Americans. Dr. Caitlyn Gerdts, Vice President for Research at Ibis Reproductive Health, will be presenting. Sponsored by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health's: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health, and MCH Student Interest Group.

-Register

October 14, 2022 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT

Following the 10:00 AM seminar, The Public Health Imperative of Abortion Access, the MCH Student Interest Group (MCHIG) is hosting a student-led discussion session with the speaker, Dr. Caitlyn Gerdt. All SPH students are welcome to attend!

-Register

October 13, 2022 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CDT | In-Person or Virtual

The Health Equity Work Group (HEWG) will be hosting the 2022 Microgrant Awardees–Dr. Manka Nkimbeng, Allison Lind, and Margaret Tait–for the Fall General Meeting. The meeting is open to all SPH students, staff, and faculty. The event will take place at the Philips-Wagensteen Building Room 3-154; there will also be an online option.

-Join

October 18, 2022 | 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM CDT | In-Person or Virtual

HealthPartners Institute is excited to launch a Pregnancy and Child Health Research Center. The Center aims to support and partner on research that addresses the well-being and health of pregnant people, infants, children, and families, including adolescents and young adults. In conjunction with this new Center, staff are inviting you to attend their Pregnancy and Child Health Research Center 2022 Symposium. The keynote address will be given by MCH faculty member Dr. Jaime Slaughter-Acey who will present Racism, Colorism, and Preterm Birth: Putting the puzzle pieces together. The symposium will also highlight recent findings on the safety of vaccines in pregnancy and disparities in adolescent vaccine coverage.

The in-person symposium will be held at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain at the University of Minnesota, 2025 E River Pkwy, Minneapolis, 55414. Lunch will be provided for those who attend in-person.

-Register

October 19, 2022 | 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM CDT

The annual Minnesota Society for Public Health Education Health Education (SOPHE) Summit gathers health education specialists, and public health professionals from around the state to exchange information and create a healthier Minnesota through effective public health education practice. This year's theme is Building Bridges in Health Education: Getting Back to the Work We Love. Presenters will speak on topics of trauma recovery, healthy equity within gender and sexual minority youth, community and school partnerships to health education, career development, a poster session, networking, and more! A $10 registration fee is required for students.

-Register

October 26, 2022 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT

This webinar will provide an overview of what a community health needs assessment (CHNA) can look like from the perspective of a governmental public health practitioner. The event will outline the “what,” “why,” “who,” and “how” of a CHNA, including barriers and lessons learned to prepare attendees to participate in or lead their own CHNA in a strengths-based manner.

-Register

November 10, 2022 | 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM CDT

The workshop will provide a broad overview of the historical, cultural, and community factors that shape young children’s development for the Indigenous population in the U.S. Participants will develop a deeper understanding of both the risks to development from historical and structural inequalities prevalent in many tribal communities and the sources of resilience that derive from the rich cultural beliefs, practices, and extended family relationships. There is a $30 fee for the event but if you are not able to attend during the specific time allotted, a recording will be available to view up to 30 days after the event.

-Register

Each month we highlight MCH Leadership competencies for our students to learn more about. This month we highlight communities and systems. Improving maternal and child health in communites is a complex process as there are many intersecting influences. Systems thinking recognizes complexity and examines the linkages and interactions among components at various levels that influence outcomes.

-Learn more about MCH competencies

This panel discussion from Community-Campus Partnerships for Health highlights ways that research teams can engage authentically with community members to prioritize the participant experience and meet enrollment goals. Community and academic leaders discuss barriers and facilitators toward inclusive participation in research and present new paradigms for community-centered partnerships.

-View

The Bright Futures National Center is pleased to announce new health equity resources for health care professionals. This new compendium of health equity resources includes tips and tools to prepare pediatric health care professionals to address the impact of racism, bias, and discrimination on the health and well-being of their patients and families. These resources are designed to be used together, as a series, or as individual resources, based on the needs of the pediatric health care professional.

-Read

Due: October 10, 2022│10:00 PM CDT

Do you want to stop sexual violence on campus? The LGBTQIA+ Healthy Norms Promotion Grant Program is now accepting applications from interested student groups! Two $2,000 grants will be awarded to student groups who will work to prevent sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence within LGBTQIA+ student communities on campus.

-More information

Due: October 30, 2022│10:59 PM CDT

This year's theme is Evolving Public Health: Learning Today to Transform Tomorrow. Professionals and students are encouraged to submit abstracts focused on current and emerging public health issues. Innovative programs that reach beyond traditional health and environmental circles to collaborate with other disciplines are also welcomed. Relevance to the annual theme is recommended, but is not required.

-Submit

TAG is a virtual trainee work group, designed to foster connections between trainees across MCH Training Programs and to strengthen the link between trainees and MCHB. The TAG is composed of 10 trainee representatives from the Division of Maternal and Child Health Workforce Development’s (DMCHWD) graduate and undergraduate education programs. Ambassadors attend monthly virtual meetings and collaborate to develop trainee-focused products. Please contact Sara Benning (mch@umn.edu) with questions or if you intend to apply.

-2022 TAG Overview and Highlights document

-2023 TAG Application form

-2023 TAG Recommendation form

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The UMN’s Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education provides a free and confidential space for students, faculty, and staff affiliated with the UMN-TC and Augsburg University who are victims/survivors/concerned people of sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, and sexual harassment. Support groups, volunteer opportunities, and free and confidential services, including a 24-hour helpline (​​612-626-9111), are available to you.

-Learn about Domestic Violence Awareness Month (October)

The aims of the Center include providing continuing professional education in maternal and child health (MCH) and support for students in online and in-person MCH graduate programs at the University of Minnesota. Center and MCH Program faculty are involved in research and training in infant and child health, adolescent health, family health, health disparities, reproductive health, and women's health.

The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number T76MC00005 for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health in the amount of $1,725,000. This information or content and conclusions of our outreach products are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.

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