Public Health Training Center to be Established at Yale

A center to train the public health workforce in Connecticut and Rhode Island will be established at the Yale School of Public Health, thanks to a new $2.6 million federal grant. The center will focus on helping workers learn the best ways to address health disparities, including HIV/AIDS, in underserved communities. The grant will also create a satellite center located at the Brown University Public Health Program in Providence.

The two-state program will significantly augment existing public health workforce training and is expected to reach hundreds of practicing public health professionals in local and state governmental agencies, and community health organizations. Students and faculty from Yale, Southern Connecticut State University, the University of Connecticut, Brown and other academic institutions will be engaged in a broad-based effort to improve community health outcomes. Training will include teaching technological skills, environmental health and public health leadership.

The four-year grant was awarded in late August by the Health Resources and Services Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The training center will be able to draw on varied resources available at the Yale School of Public Health, including faculty expertise. “Building a strong public health workforce is a vital national priority,” said Paul D. Cleary, dean of Yale School of Public Health. “We are extremely confident that the new training center will substantially improve the public health workforces in Connecticut and Rhode Island.”

This round of federal grants supported 10 new Public Health Training Centers at accredited schools of public health and other public or non-profit institutions, bringing the total number of centers to 37 nationwide. By utilizing distance learning and online tutorials, the expanded national educational network is expected to provide training to approximately 500,000 public health and related health care practitioners.

Prior to receiving the grant, Yale participated in the public health training center that serves New England (based at Boston University) and collaborated with the University of Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State University and numerous other academic and practice-based partners to offer a basic public health training program.