UCLA Fielding and UCI Wen host national gathering of leaders of public health undergraduate programs

At a time of unprecedented challenges for public health professionals, educators from across the U.S. met in Los Angeles to consider how best to strengthen public health as a discipline at the university level, especially for undergraduates.

The event, held on campus at UCLA, brought together faculty and staff from more than 40 colleges and universities across the U.S., and began with a recorded welcome message from UCLA chancellor Dr. Julio Frenk, a public health expert and member of the faculty at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health (UCLA Fielding).

“You are the ones helping that patient thrive, by educating future leaders, advancing equity, and showing students the power of service,” Frenk said. “You are all part of a dynamic movement that brings health and well-being to our fellow humans.”

The event was organized by Dr. Kyle McJunkin, UCLA Fielding’s assistant dean for academic programs; Dr. Thedore Gideonse, associate dean of undergraduate education at the UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health; and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH).

“This undergraduate network is just a few years old, and the opportunities and challenges of undergraduate public health education make such gatherings critical to the success of our programs,” McJunkin said. “I’m thrilled UCLA Fielding and UCI Wen could co-sponsor the ASPPH conference held at UCLA.”

The attendees, all from colleges and universities with undergraduate public health programs, met for a series of 10 workshops on topics ranging from recruiting and retaining students to working with community colleges to the differing education and career paths of baccalaureate degree students and graduates, in comparison to those in master’s degree-level program.

"It's an extraordinary group of people and we learn so much from each other,” Gideonse said. “We have program directors from very different schools all over the country. But we all have the same mission: To make our communities healthier by giving the future public health and healthcare workforce the best educations possible."

The conference occurred during a challenging time in the field, speakers said.

“Making these connections and strengthening our community is more important than ever,” said Dr. Ron Brookmeyer, dean of UCLA Fielding and a distinguished professor in the school’s Department of Biostatistics, who spoke during the opening session. “It is a time, of unprecedented challenges for universities and schools of public health. We are witnessing widespread policy and funding changes at the national level that impact public health practice, research, and public health education.”

Some of those realities were the subject of the event’s keynote address by Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2009-17, commissioner of the New York City Health Department from 2002-09, and former director of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use. 

Frieden told the attendees that public health successes fighting diseases as disparate as tuberculosis, polio, HIV, measles, and smoking-driven lung disease provide examples to build upon for public health professionals to communicate the importance and reliability of their research, and their policy recommendations. 

“We’ve been in hard times before, but fundamentally, facts are stubborn things,” Frieden said. “Truth is on our side, and our job is to tell the truth.”