Learning and earning

Officially, APHA's 141st Annual Meeting and Exposition kicks off with the Opening General Session on Sunday, Nov. 3. But why wait 'til then to start learning about the latest and greatest in public health practice? For all you early birds itching to get a head start (AND earn continuing education credits), I've got three words for you: The Learning Institutes.

APHA's Learning Institutes are full- and half-day interactive educational courses that offer insights from some of the best and brightest in the field. The institutes, which run Saturday, Nov. 2, and Sunday, Nov. 3, cover a range of public health topics, from the always popular Epidemiology for Non-Epidemiologists to an institute on how to develop compelling public health research proposals in a time of tight budgets. Here are just a few examples of what's on tap for this year's institutes:

• On Saturday, Nov. 2, APHA will offer this Learning Institute on using storytelling to promote health equity and improve health. The daylong course will bring participants up to date on storytelling intervention research, teach participants how to implement a storytelling-based intervention and offer hands-on practice. The institute will also feature a case study from the Real Latina Mothers Project, an effort to explore the personal experiences of Latina mothers as they navigate the Medicaid system.

• Also on Nov. 2, APHA has organized an institute on how to engage youth in the public health policy process. During the course, the Boston-based nonprofit Health Resources in Action will train participants in youth development and community organizing, youth-adult partnership building and community mobilization. The institute will also feature interactive panels with local youth involved in policy change campaigns, such as the Youth Jobs Coalition and the Roxbury Environmental Empowerment Project.

• On Sunday, Nov. 3, APHA will offer its Global Health Institute to bring public health professionals the skills to address global health issues both at home and abroad. During the half-day course, participants will get an overview of the current global public health field and be introduced to the key competencies needed to succeed in the global health arena.

Learning Institutes are not included in the overall Annual Meeting registration fee, but you can sign up for them when you're registering to attend the Boston meeting. Fees as well as the number of CE credits participants can earn vary from institute to institute. In addition to the Learning Institutes, a number of the meeting's regular scientific sessions are also eligible for CE credits — learn more about that here.

To read more about this year's Learning Institutes, visit www.apha.org/meetings/highlights/LearningInstitutes.htm.

— K.K.