Christian Williams, MPH; Robert Pack, PhD r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r I n an effort to bridge the gap between public health practice and academia, the Health Resources and Services Administration-funded Tennessee Public Health Training Center (LIFEPATH) has supported establishment of an academic health department (AHD) involving the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health (COPH) and the Sullivan County Regional Health Department (SCRHD). The SCRHD identified a need to increase internal capacity to conduct ongoing community health assessment and community-centered practice. Similarly, the COPH recognized the need to expand evidence-based practice implementation and evaluation opportunities for public health students. Personnel from the SCRHD, LIFEPATH, and the COPH developed a formal AHD agreement during the summer of 2012 and launched the program the subsequent fall semester. One aspect of the COPH/SCRHD/LIFEPATH model that addresses financial barriers experienced by other AHDs is the competitive awarding of the coordinator position to a doctor of public health student from the COPH, demonstrating investment in the model by the college. The doctor of public health student gains leadership experience through project management, coordination of the local health council, and day-to-day facilitation of undergraduate and master's student interns. The SCRHD benefits from the formal academic background of graduate-level interns dedicated to working in the community. This AHD framework offers an opportunity for doctoral-level students to develop practical leadership skills in a health department while enhancing the capacity of the SCRHD and the COPH to serve their community and stakeholders.Over the past 5 years, between 38% and 45% of local health departments in the United States have experienced budgets cuts, resulting in job losses and elimination of services. 1,2 In this environment of diminished resources, partnerships have become essential for local health departments to maintain the capacity necessary to respond to local health needs. With 50 accredited schools of public health, and more than 85 accredited master of public health (MPH) programs, academic institutions increasingly seek to partner with health agencies in an effort to engage student interns in public health practice, train future employees, and enhance the reach of their programs. 3 In 2003, the Association of Schools of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded 14 projects supporting the establishment of academic health departments (AHDs) around the country as a way to promote collaboration between researchers and practitioners. 4 As a formal collaboration between an academic public health institution and at least one local or state health department, AHDs can facilitate

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BackgroundOnline learning has recently garnered increased attention as technology use in the classroom grows. However, most of the published approaches regarding this topic in postgraduate education centers on clinical environments. Models of partnerships between applied public health agencies and academic centers to produce mutually beneficial online learning opportunities for graduate-level public health courses have not been explored in the literature.MethodsEast Tennessee State University (ETSU) and the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) partnered to build three online, asynchronous epidemiology modules for an interdisciplinary audience of graduate students. The goals of the modules were to (1) introduce students to a public health issue, (2) provide students with hands-on learning about data and information available through TDH, and (3) allow students to connect theory to practice by having them create a product for use by TDH. TDH created topic-specific modules that would be used within the infectious disease, chronic disease, and cancer epidemiology courses, and piloted during the 2015–2016 academic term.ResultsConference calls between the two institutions occurred in the spring and the summer of 2015. Two of the three epidemiology modules were presented to ETSU staff for critique and edits at an in-person meeting during the summer. The methods of delivery for each section within a module varied from recorded webinar format to self-guided instruction. One module utilized available learning tools provided by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, while the other module was constructed entirely using TDH data. Both modules included various exercises and assignments to be conducted in class and as homework and concluded with the student being asked to construct a learning product as a final project. The ETSU–TDH team decided that this learning product would be provided back to TDH for possible future use.DiscussionThe innovative partnership between a state government agency and an academic institution has demonstrated the need for such collaborations in public health. Understanding how applied public health practice would utilize what is learned in the classroom and preparing students for real-world application may be the missing link between theory and practice.