748: Physician Scholarships Promote Health Equity, Learn about the FPHS Framework

SUMMER JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, September 12, 2024.

I'm Summer Johnson. Now today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

JAMES MCDONALD: 

You know the commitment this year is $4.89 million in New York State. It's an increase of a quarter million dollars compared to last year.

JOHNSON: 

The state of New York continues its investment in physician diversity, with new money for a program that uses scholarships to address health inequities. This is health commissioner and ASTHO member, Dr. James McDonald.

MCDONALD: 

And so really, what the Diversity in Medicine Program is about is making sure that when people in New York go see the physician, they see someone who might understand their culture a little better.

JOHNSON: 

McDonald says the program might help pay for classes needed to get into medical school, or tuition to help a student get through medical school.

MCDONALD: 

Another way the program helps is by actually encouraging people, who maybe aren't even in college yet, to be interested in medicine, giving them exposure to what being a physician is all about.

JOHNSON: 

More than 700 physicians have remained in New York thanks to the program improving equity across the Empire State.

MCDONALD: 

What it does is give us situations across New York, which is a really big state, where the people who are seeing the doctor actually seeing someone who really understands where they came from, understands their neighborhood, understands their culture, speaks their language fluently, and really attends the needs of that community in particular.

JOHNSON: 

Read more about New York's Diversity in Medicine Programs by clicking the link in the show notes.

Also remember to connect with ASTHO on social media. We're on LinkedIn, Facebook and X.

Washington State Secretary of Health and ASTHO member, Dr Umair Shah is talking about the relationship between public health and healthcare providers and their communities. He recently appeared on a podcast called Reimagining Government for the Digital Age.

UMAIR SHAH: 

When we say to people, trust us as part of public health or clinical medicine, and we're not part of community, they don't trust us, right? Because they don't see you. They see you with your white coat. They see with your stethoscope, with your credentials, the badges and all those things, and they think that person doesn't know what I'm going through. That person doesn't see my family for what it is.

JOHNSON: 

You can listen to the complete conversation right now. There's a link to the podcast episode in the show notes.

Also today, public health is focused on the Foundational Public Health Services framework, or FPHS. But do you know what the framework is or how it works? ASTHO and the Public Health Foundation have developed an eLearning training to introduce the concept. Marie Flake is with PHF.

MARIE FLAKE: 

It describes a process for using the framework. It highlights strategies for adopting the process in the framework. It describes different ways the framework can be used, and it provides links to additional tools and resources.

JOHNSON: 

Flake explains the online training includes three modules and an evaluation survey.

FLAKE: 

In module two, a sample process is described that includes those most directly affected by the challenge of chronic underfunding in public health. That would be state, local, and tribal public health agencies. It describes how they took a systems approach and work together to learn, define the problem they wanted to address, co-create the solution and implement it.

JOHNSON: 

She adds the FPHS framework helps agency teams achieve positive outcomes.

FLAKE: 

There's no magic in the FPHS framework itself. The magic, or transformative power, is in the process a group of people working together to design and own their future together.

JOHNSON: 

You can access the online training using the link in the show notes.

Tomorrow, a long time ASTHO executive prepares for a new chapter in her career.

TOMORROWS SURPRISE GUEST:

What surprised me was how such an established organization like ASTHO could feel so dynamic and fast paced. I often joked over the years that it felt like working in an 80-year-old startup organization.

JOHNSON: 

We'll tell you who it is and what she's talking about on tomorrow's newscast. Follow the show right now, and you'll have it on your mobile device at 5am.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information.

I'm Summer Johnson. You’re listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition.

Have a great day.