News Release

Michigan Public Health Training Center announces fall online courses.

August 4, 2004 press release from the University of Michigan School of Public Health

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— The Michigan Public Health Training Center (MPHTC) is offering mentored, online continuing education courses this fall. These courses represent a partnership learning approach through collaborative training of employees of state and local health departments, community-based organizations, health delivery systems and health plans, and those studying public health.

All courses offer continuing education credits for a variety of health professionals, and a MPHTC certificate for successful completion identifying core competencies relevant to population-based health practice. The registration fee is $135 per course per person. Limited scholarship support is available to those working in Michigan.

Online mentored courses offered by the MPHTC provide guidance from distinguished faculty for the duration of the course and incorporate video and PowerPoint presentations, online discussions with the instructor and classmates, readings, and supplementary exercises to provide a learning experience comparable to traditional face-to-face courses.

Conducting Useful Program Evaluations
Course Description: Assessing the effectiveness of programs as a guide to their improvement, a collegial setting for students to think, talk, and conduct program evaluations will be provided.
Instructors: Sue Ann Savas, MSW, is an adjunct professor at the University Of Michigan School Of Social Work and an evaluator of several community-based projects, and DeWitt Webster, PhD, is a W.K. Kellogg Community Health Scholar in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
More Information: Please visit the course information page on our website (after August 10):
https://www.sph.umich.edu/iscr/mphtc/courses/one-online-course.cfm?id=79

Demystifying Data: Accessing, Interpreting, and Using Health Data

Course Description: Highlighting an evidence-based approach to decision making, participants will learn how to identify, interpret, and present appropriate data to describe an issue quantitatively and develop data-based program or policy options.
Instructor: Corinne Miller, PhD, directs the Epidemiology Services Division at the Michigan Department of Community Health.
More Information: Please visit the course information page on our website (after August 10):
https://www.sph.umich.edu/iscr/mphtc/courses/one-online-course.cfm?id=53

Beyond Numbers: Qualitative Research Methods, Application, and Analysis
Course Description: Participants will be introduced to commonly utilized health behavior models and research methodology designed to enhance program planning, monitoring, and evaluation.
Instructor: Rebecca Malouin, PhD, is an epidemiologist in the Epidemiology Services Division at the Michigan Department of Community Health.
Additional Notes: Course readings will be assigned from select journal articles and the text, Qualitative Research Methods: A Health Focus, by Pranee Liamputtong Rice and Douglas Ezzy, 2000 (ISBN 0195506103). This book is currently featured on the homepage of Ulrich's Bookstore (http://www.ulrichs.com) and may be ordered online or by phone (1-800-288-5497). The cost of the book is $34.50 and is not included in the registration fee or scholarship award.
More Information: Please visit the course information page on our website (after August 10):
https://www.sph.umich.edu/iscr/mphtc/courses/one-online-course.cfm?id=76

To register for any of these courses, go to https://www.sph.umich.edu/iscr/mphtc/courses/. For more information: e-mail us at mphtc@umich.edu or call us at (734) 615-9439.

In less than two years, MPHTC has provided course-based training to more than 800 members of Michigan's workforce representing 42 local health departments, 48 community-based organizations, 19 health systems, and organizations serving the Native American, African American, Arab, Catholic, Jewish, and Latino populations.

The courses offered by the MPHTC have been made possible through funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Professions.
The MPHTC received a five-year grant from HRSA to develop a state-wide training center, and the Michigan Department of Community Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has provided additional funding. The MPHTC strives to improve the competence of the current and future public health workforce to improve the public's health.

Testimonials
“The Michigan Public Health Training Center offers a partnership approach toward improving the public’s health through mutual training of employees from diverse health and community settings,” says Diana Kerr, deputy director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at Henry Ford Health System.

"Michigan public health professionals are truly fortunate to have the Michigan Public Health Training Center in our midst," says Richard J. Thoune, director of the Dickinson-Iron District Health Department. "Existing skills of our staff will surely be enhanced and new and important ones will be added as we move forward to address the myriad public health issues facing us in our complex world today. I look forward to the further development of the center's capabilities in distance learning courses and workshops to the more remote and rural areas of our state."

"I have always believed that only very brainy people understood data and statistics," remarks Gwen Imes, public health consultant at the Michigan Department of Community Health. "As such, I was initially reluctant to take the data course. However, I am thrilled I took the course because the instructor ensured that every student, regardless of their exposure to data, was able to understand the concepts presented. I have already begun using my newly acquired skills."

Contact: Jeanette Kunnath
Phone: 734-615-9439
E-mail: kunnathj@umich.edu