UAB Police Sgt. Aleisha Dorning was looking for a graduate program to help her achieve her vision for a health and wellness program for police and first responders. She found it in the School of Education's master's program in community health.Sgt. Aleisha Dorning has a vision for how better to protect those who serve and protect the public.
Dorning, a member of the UAB Police and Public Safety Department with 17 years of experience in law enforcement, wants to develop a health and wellness program for police and first responders. Suicide and divorce rates are higher for police officers and first responders, she explains. "Officers work under extremely high-stress conditions," Dorning said. "We work long shifts, often overnight, and develop all sorts of health conditions, including heart disease and many types of cancer.” Officers are trained in physical fitness, but “currently there are very few training programs that include teaching officers and new recruits how to manage these high-stress conditions and how to stay healthy,” she said. “If we can create healthier officers and give them the resources they need to stay healthy, then officers will make better use-of-force decisions, use less leave time and stay employed longer."
Vision to reality
That is Dorning's goal: But how to turn it into a reality? "I was looking for a graduate program that would help me learn how to develop a health and wellness program that I could use to help officers learn to manage the high-stress conditions that we work under every day," Dorning said. "Because I am already a full-time UAB employee, I needed a program that was fully online to accommodate my work schedule."
| "I was looking for a graduate program that would help me learn how to develop a health and wellness program that I could use to help officers learn to manage the high-stress conditions that we work under every day. Because I am already a full-time UAB employee, I needed a program that was fully online to accommodate my work schedule." |
Dorning connected with Laura Forbes, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Human Studies in the School of Education, and found the perfect match in the school’s Master of Arts in Education in Community Health program. The program prepares students for advanced employment opportunities in public, volunteer and private health agencies, clinics, schools and worksites, Forbes says. But students do not need to have a health or education background coming in. "This is a really great thing about our field," Forbes said. "Sometimes our students majored in communications, criminal justice, psychology, community health, nursing or business as undergraduates.” The common factor is that “regardless of undergraduate background, our students have found themselves in a position or with personal experiences that have sparked the desire to make a change in individual health or the health of communities," Forbes said.
Dorning's classmates have their own projects in mind. One is creating a diabetes-prevention program for predisposed young African American adults. Another intends to do health coaching with low-income individuals seeking to exercise more regularly in an environment that may not have readily accessible walking trails.
| Learn more about the Community Health master’s program, and get started with online learning at UAB. |
"The goal of the master's program is to ensure that each student is adequately prepared to work in the field as a health education specialist," Forbes said. "Each student is on a vastly different journey with the intent to apply the knowledge gained from our program uniquely. While we want each student to have a working knowledge of the eight professional responsibilities of a health education specialist, we know that some are already planning a career focused on a particular health topic or population."
Making a ‘genuine difference’
"When advising students, I continue to be amazed by the many things that drive each of them to make a genuine difference," Forbes said. "I have many exciting conversations with individuals who continue to explore the vast possibilities that the community can benefit from. My job in their academic journey is to discuss the variety of degree options that may be open to them outside of community health as well. By providing students with a variety of degree options and discussing how each one actively fits into their desired end goal, the student ultimately makes the decision."
In addition to the master's in community health, 100% online graduate certificate programs are available in Health Education, Health Coaching and Health Promotion. "Our students looking to work in the nonprofit sector or in management are encouraged to examine the Non-profit Management Certificate and we work closely with the Department of Government to tailor student experiences," Forbes said.
"Dr. Forbes has been the biggest supporter of my decision to go back to school, and I honestly don't think I could have done it without her," Dorning said. "She was instrumental in helping me choose the right program and encouraging me to have the confidence to take on graduate school while working full-time and raising a small child."
About one-third of students in the program are UAB employees, working in clinical and non-clinical positions, Forbes said. "In addition to our master's program, we have had many UAB employees graduate from our doctoral program."
| "The goal of the master's program is to ensure that each student is adequately prepared to work in the field as a health education specialist. Each student is on a vastly different journey with the intent to apply the knowledge gained from our program uniquely." |
The master’s program in community health prepares students to sit for the Certified Health Education Specialist Examination, a national exam offered by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing.
The program has three options: a non-thesis/coursework option, a non-thesis/internship option and a thesis option. "Students entering this degree from our undergraduate program already have completed internships,” Forbes said. “Our program does place an emphasis on conducting research and values the experiences that practical, hands-on immersion can provide. Regarding the internship, we have wonderful placement locations that work with students that are also maintaining full-time employment.” The quality of the internship experience “is largely due to the efforts of site placement coordinator Amy Carr,” Forbes said.
A thesis is not required of incoming students in the doctoral program, Forbes notes. “However, the option to complete a thesis [in the master’s program] may reduce the time in our program,” she said, “since those students likely have a depth and breadth of knowledge in a particular community health subject area."
