Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) and the University Of Puerto Rico School Of Public Health (UPR) partnered in 2007-2008 to organize a series of Networking/Study Tours to various public health agencies and organizations located in Washington, DC and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Students were selected through a competitive selection process based upon proven leadership experience and professionalism, which included an essay submission and an interview with the Career Services staff. Administration from RSPH and UPR were integral to the success of the tour.

The Study Tours were designed to provide students with an applied experience that would reinforce the ASPH Core Competencies for master’s students in public health in a professional environment outside the classroom. Through tailored discussions with public health leaders in a variety of agencies throughout Washington, DC and Puerto Rico, the study tours reinforced the ASPH Discipline-Specific and Interdisciplinary/Cross-Cutting Competencies. Examples of the ways in which the tours emphasized the Interdisciplinary/Cross-Cutting Competencies are as follows:

Systems Thinking: Students from RSPH and UPR were given the opportunity to discuss systems level properties of domestic and international healthcare systems with high level government officials and private industry executives responsible for health systems reform, program management, and research. They identified the characteristics of the U.S. and Puerto Rican healthcare systems and recognized the intended and unintended consequences produced by major health reforms implemented over the last half century. Students were able to analyze the effects of political, social, and economic policies on public health systems at the local, state, national and international levels.

Leadership: Through discussions with public health leaders in agencies in a variety of employment sectors, students learned about the collaborative partnerships needed to achieve organizational and community health goals for the nation and the world. Visits with the senior policy advisor to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ms. Nancy Pelosi, and with the Senate Health Policy Analysts of Senator Charles Grassley allowed participants to gain unique insight into the health policy challenges faced by U.S. leadership and the strategies they implement to reach collaborative solutions.

Public Health Biology: One of the purposes of the study tours was to aid students in understanding how public health biology is often incorporated into public health practice. Through visits to the Food and Drug Administration in Washington, DC and the Port Authority and rain forest in Puerto Rico, participants gained insight into the role of biology in the ecological model of population-based health and how biological principles may be applied to inform public health principles and to develop and implement disease prevention and control programs.

Cultural Diversity: Students were able to interact with both diverse individuals and communities to recognize the need to develop public health programs and strategies responsive to diverse cultural values and traditions. Professors at the UPR provided insight into the roles of history, power, privilege and structural inequality in producing health disparities in Puerto Rico.

Professionalism: Through a series of discussions with health officials and the Puerto Rican pharmaceutical industry, students were able to analyze the potential impacts of legal and regulatory environments on the conduct of ethical public health research and practice. Students were able to analyze the distinction between population and individual ethical considerations in relation to the benefits, costs, and burdens of public health programs.


Puerto Rico: January 2008

The Puerto Rico tour was specifically designed to examine the Puerto Rican health care system, including the impact of health system reform and tobacco control policies. The tour also highlighted career paths offered with agencies and organizations in Puerto Rico. RSPH worked closely with the UPR to organize and coordinate the tour.

The tour enabled 15 students and alumni from RSPH along with 5 students from UPR to interact with potential employers and gain a greater understanding of the challenges faced by Puerto Ricans. Participants had the opportunity to visit Abbott Pharmaceuticals and Triple S, an independent licensee of The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in Puerto Rico. In addition, participants visited the El Yunque rainforest and learned about pressing environmental issues faced by Puerto Rico.

The tour gave participants the opportunity to compare and contrast health care in the United States with health care in Puerto Rico. Through visits to a Puerto Rican Department of Health, the Puerto Rico Medical Center in San Juan, and an HIV/AIDS women’s clinic, students were able to begin to comprehend the complex nature of Puerto Rico’s health system. They also visited the International Airport in Carolina, Puerto Rico and the Port Authority, where they learned about public health preparedness measures taken on the island.

Emory University has an extensive network of alumni in Puerto Rico working in a number of sectors. Study tour participants from both RSPH and UPR along with Administrators from both schools had the opportunity to network and connect with Emory alumni at the Alumni reception held on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at the Condado Plaza and Hotel. The keynote speaker at this event was Dr. Jose Rigau, a former EIS officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA.

The Washington, DC tour was designed to facilitate student insight into the development of national and international health policy directives and to highlight career paths offered with agencies and organizations in the nation’s capital. The tour enabled 21 students from RSPH and 10 students from UPR to attend information sessions with senior management at various government agencies and non-government organizations such as the Government Accountability Office, Food and Drug Administration, World Health Organization, Kaiser Family Foundation and APCO.

In addition, students participated in a tailored discussion with the senior policy advisor to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ms. Nancy Pelosi, visited with SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation), met with the Senate Health Policy Analysts of Senator Charles Grassley and received a “behind the scenes” tour of Capitol Hill.

RSPH and UPR hosted a number of receptions to bring the public health community in Washington, DC together. An alumni reception enabled participating students and alumni to connect and to be welcomed by Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at RSPH. Prospective students accepted to RSPH residing in the DC metro area were invited to mingle with current students and administrators to give them exposure to RSPH and the greater public health community. In addition, participating students and host organizations were invited to a networking reception.

Building upon our experiences:

The Rollins School of Public Health and University of Puerto Rico study tours garnered amazing support and feedback from alumni, students, and organization staff. The program not only established a closer relationship between RSPH and UPR, but provided many opportunities for student and alumni to demonstrate to potential employers their grasp of the ASPH competencies that will make them future leaders in Public Health. RSPH and UPR are dedicated to building upon these relationships in the future to benefit the greater public health community.