The kids hold up their hands excitedly inside the dark tent. There are patches of glowing white here and there. It’s a fun way for the Whitten Elementary School students to learn about handwashing. Sumner County Health Department public health educator, Beth Gray, assists them in the project, making sure they use the glow in the dark lotion correctly. Then the kids head off to wash off the lotion. They return under the black light in the tent to see how they did. The splotches show places they didn’t get “clean”. Out in the gym, Kimberly Bonds, a health educator II, talks to the third graders about scrubbing beneath their nails and making sure to get the backs of their hands. The demonstration is on the front lines of public health and the simple lesson has big implications for all of us.
“We want to keep them in school,” Bonds said. “When they’re not sick, they’re learning. They may work in fast food restaurants as teenagers, and this can remind them how to keep their hands clean. When they enter the workforce they better understand how to be responsible when you have a cold or flu.”
Volunteer State Community College has a new Health Sciences associate of science degree program that is designed to train workers for public health administration jobs. Working in public health, as an administrator, educator or in community outreach, means a wide range of activities.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Gray. “We go to many different schools. Rather than sit in the office, we go out into the community and meet people. We have an impact on their lives.”
The Vol State Health Sciences degree includes courses that you might expect, such as Medical Terminology and Anatomy and Physiology, but it also includes other important education for a public health worker, including Fundamentals of Speech Communication and Introduction to Ethics. The program is intended to transfer to a bachelor’s degree program in Health Sciences at a university. Most public health jobs require at least a four-year degree. The Sumner County Health Department handles many responsibilities, including the operation of health clinics, promoting immunizations and preventing the spread of disease. Public health administrators have many roles within the field.
“The roles of Public Health administrators are evolving to include community economic development, community planning, and design,” said Hal Hendricks, county director for the Sumner County Health Department. “We live in a global society, even in what we still consider rural communities. That, along with changes in healthcare, make public health an integral part of community safety and quality of life.”
“We are on the front lines of education and prevention with four major areas of concern: obesity; not getting enough physical activity; tobacco use; and opioid drug abuse,” Bonds said. “One day you can be teaching cute kids and the next day adults. You’re doing something that impacts the community.”
For more information about the Health Sciences associate of science degree program visit www.volstate.edu.
Spring classes at Vol State start January 16. Apply now at www.volstate.edu/apply
The degree program is open to everyone. Adults considering a new career can use the TN Reconnect tuition-free program for the degree starting in the fall of 2018. For more details visit: www.volstate.edu/reconnect
Pictured: Beth Gray and Lisa Sweed, with the Sumner County Health Department, hold up a handwashing diagram as Kimberly Bonds talks to students in Hendersonville.
