Public well being suppliers in rural areas face very completely different challenges than these in city areas. Though these professionals have the most effective understanding of the well being challenges going through their very own communities—together with ingrained points with well being care methods, insurance policies, and funding fashions—they lack affect over the insurance policies that have an effect on these communities.
Too few of those professionals are educated and empowered to advance change in coverage on the state and federal ranges. But most public well being grasp’s packages lack programming centered particularly on rural public well being.
Because of this Berkeley Public Well being On-line has launched the Rural Well being Innovation Program. With $10 million in help from the Barr-Campbell Household Basis, the initiative will supply 25 totally paid scholarships per yr to eligible on-line MPH college students. 100 students will obtain their whole funded MPH over the course of 4 years.
“Finding out Well being Coverage and Administration on the College of California’s Berkeley College of Public Well being, I discovered precisely what I wanted to know to have the ability to make a distinction in rural healthcare,” mentioned Lynn Barr, MPH, director of the Barr-Campbell Household Basis and founder and former CEO of Caravan Well being. “As a direct results of my MPH and the extraordinary Cal alumni community, I based Caravan Well being in 2014.”
“My basis’s first main grant is $10 million to advertise an progressive public well being workforce in rural America by totally funding 100 Rural Innovation Students to obtain on-line MPH levels at UC Berkeley College of Public Well being,” mentioned Barr.
These Rural Well being Students will research alongside a bigger cohort of public well being masters college students throughout disciplines in addition to a extra intimate cohort that’s geared up with a specialised rural well being curricula.
Ten Students per yr with knowledgeable give attention to rural well being coverage will probably be chosen as Rural Coverage Fellows and can attend the Nationwide Rural Well being Coverage Institute in Washington, DC, the place they are going to obtain further coaching in coverage and advocacy and meet with key nationwide coverage leaders.
“We look ahead to supporting these rising rural well being leaders on their MPH journey as they study to create, advocate and implement progressive insurance policies on entry, funding, workforce and expertise to enhance the well being and wellbeing of our roughly 46M+ rural Individuals,” mentioned Professor Kimberly MacPherson, MBA, MPH, school director for Well being Coverage and Administration on the UC Berkeley College of Public Well being.
The Rural Well being Innovation Program at UC Berkeley’s College of Public Well being will produce the following era of rural public well being leaders, who will each reshape healthcare insurance policies impacting rural communities and rework and reimagine current healthcare methods to place these coverage adjustments into impact.
“UC Berkeley College of Public Well being has lengthy stood for well being fairness and social justice,” mentioned Dean Michael C. Lu, MD, MPH, MS. “The leaders who take part in our new Rural Well being Innovation program will go on to enhance well being care entry and high quality of care to thousands and thousands of rural Individuals.”
“I’m excited concerning the potential for game-changing affect of this program” mentioned Michael C. Lu, MD, MPH, MS, dean of the UC Berkeley College of Public Well being. “I’ve seen the distinction that one particular person could make; now think about what 100 public well being changemakers like Lynn Barr can do collectively to enhance, innovate, and rework rural well being in America.”
