From an academic perspective, there are many reasons to develop relationships with your local health departments. Public health, medicine, nursing, health education and other professional degrees often require a practicum or field experience to maintain accreditation. Health departments are sources of jobs for graduates. Opportunities for funding are expanded; for example, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation public health practice-based research network proposals require networks of practice partners. Finally, there are non-tangible benefits—programs have access to the expertise of an experienced professional and are able to inject a practice perspective into the classroom. Ultimately, the community’s health hopefully benefits from an academia-practice collaboration.

 

How does an academic health department evolve? Generally, there is a natural progression in the early stages. An academic program needs student placements for internships or field experiences, so local agencies are contacted. As faculty and program administrators get to know staff at local health departments, informal collaborations, such as consultations, committee member solicitations, and teaching opportunities may emerge.

 

More formal agreements may follow. These include projects or grants that provide funding to the academic institution and/or the health department. Arrangements for workforce development training or community assessments are other examples. More advanced formal agreements include providing faculty appointments to health department personnel, joint appointments, and affiliation agreements. In such an agreement, a health department becomes an “affiliated” health department, much like a relationship a hospital may have with a medical school. Finally, business arrangements may emerge. For example, a health department may contract with the academic institution for permanent space or even a permanent location.

 

There are cross-cutting considerations that need to be in place for the progression to continue from the initial stages to the advanced formal arrangements. These considerations are also important to maintain a beneficial partnership. First, a champion needs to be present at both the academic institution and the health department to introduce the idea and retain interest in the concept. Agreements take time and patience. The champion may need to “sell” the benefits of the relationship to others at their respective organizations. Next, there should be collaborative buy-in from both parties. The academic institution and the health department need to understand that they both should share in the responsibilities of the partnership. One partner should not exclusively collect all of the benefits while the other carries the entire burden. Finally, there should also be an understanding of each other’s culture. Each organization has its own way of operation. For example, a health department may have an immediate need for information, while the academic institution may want to study the problem over time.

 

In summary, developing long-term relationships between academia and practice requires committed partners, understanding, and patience. With proper maintenance, the academic health department can be a win-win-win concept. Faculty and students benefit, the health department benefits, and hopefully, the community benefits from the networks, research, project outcomes, and integrated education of our future leaders.