Detroit Health Department Fellowship
While many public health training programs focus on specific health needs or concerns, CHRT was tasked with designing a program that would help Detroit Health Department (DHD) staff develop essential skills and knowledge deemed necessary for a 21st century public health workforce.
In 2019, CHRT launched the DHD Public Health Practice and Policy Engagement Fellowship, training two cohorts of DHD staff in four key areas — systems thinking, communications, policy engagement, and data analytics — so they may ultimately lead collaborative, cross-systems work, eliminating silos and addressing the social determinants of health.
COVID-19 has only magnified the need for a robust public health department workforce who can quickly respond to multilayered public health crises. Based on discussions between CHRT and DHD employee engagement staff, CHRT is leading a shortened, supplemental virtual fellowship for alumni to continue elevating their public health skills and professional development experience.
CHRT will lead alumni in a six-session fellowship, covering a host of current policy issues and trends. The alumni fellowship touches on long-standing, complex issues of public health, many of which have been exacerbated by COVID-19. It will create a space to identify and discuss these dynamic problems and provide tangible ways for fellows to address them and affect change.
Furthermore, the fellowship includes a small-group practicum project, focused on real issues faced within their departments. At completion, the fellows will have a fleshed out plan for improving processes rooted in systems thinking.