The Academic Health Department (AHD) Learning Community is a national community of practice centered around the AHD concept. This community is composed of public health professionals engaged in knowledge sharing and collaboration to support use of the AHD model.
Academic Health Departments
An academic health department represents a formal affiliation between an academic health professions institution and a state or local health department. This relationship is the public health equivalent of the “teaching hospital” affiliation found between medical schools and hospitals. AHD collaborations can enhance public health education and training, research, and service and may offer a variety of benefits that extend beyond the organizations involved to the community as a whole.
Use of the AHD model helps to strengthen the link between academia and practice and to address concerns regarding the division between the education of public health professionals and the practice of public health. AHDs can serve as sites for joint research and practice, enabling the academic and practice communities to work together to build the evidence base for public health and better deliver the essential public health services.
More information about the AHD model is available
here.
Academic Health Department Learning Community
The AHD Learning Community launched in January 2011 to facilitate shared exploration of the AHD concept and learning among academics and public health practitioners interested in the AHD model. It brings public health professionals together to share AHD-related knowledge and experiences and to work collaboratively to identify and create tools of potential use in developing and sustaining AHD relationships. Building these ties between public health professionals and their organizations further strengthens the link between academia and practice.
To join the AHD Learning Community or obtain additional information, please
contact us.
Academic Health Department Resources
Resources that may help in the development, maintenance, and growth of AHDs are being collected and are available
here. If you have resources you would like to contribute, please
contact us.