#623

Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2002 14:31:31 -0700
From: "Karen Denard Goldman & Robert L. Goldman" <rlgkdg@FLASH.NET>
Subject: Re: Wanted - County Coordinator for Dental Program in MD


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This is a wonderful example of how interdependent our professions are and
how important collaboration is. Ilise Marrazzo is a health educator who is
now acting director of her health department's dental program in
partnership with oral health experts in the department. Ilise, Kathy Sage,
Kelly McCormack Brown, Claudia Vousden, Esther Colchamiro, and Alice
Horowitz are health educators - members of SOPHE, actually - who I met an
the national Oral Health Conference where I went as SOPHE president as part
of a personal "crusade" to identify, acknowledge, honor, and support
specializations that support and promote the interdependence of its own
field and health education.


I had no ideas that they were so many DCHEs (pronounced "dickies") - dual
career health educators - with oral health as their speciality! Of course
everyone knows Alyson Taub and Audrey Gotsch started out as dental
hygienists and went on the make health education their second but primary
careers, but who the concept of identifying and promoting DCHEs (dickies)
seems worth pursuing! (By the way, do you like the term "DCHEs" -
dickies? I just made it up!)


Anyway, recently, oral health and environmental health are two areas that
have come to my attention as examples of fields in which there are many
examples of and opportunities for the skilled health educators to lead, be
part of a team, and/or provide training in health education strategies and
skills to topic/content specialists. At this year's ATSDHPPHE conference,
Sharunda Buchanan of CDC's Environmental Health Services Branch focused on
our interdependence and is clearly willing to do even more than talk about
it! Way to go, Sharunda! The question is, how can our profession help
people like Sharunda and our own Libby Howze of ATSDR who believe in this
make the ties that bind even stronger.


And what about all the other professions with whom we could be working??


I urge all of us to identify other areas to which we might contribute our
expertise - if we only knew more about them. For example, three of my NYU
MPH students: Jen Mills, Candice Davenport, and Tricia Gilles recently did
a poster session at the midyear SOPHE meeting on Untapped Career
Opportunities for health educators (respectively): bone marrow and stem
cell transplants, lead poisoning prevention education research, and mental
health.


I'm sure you can think of other health areas in which health educators are
not traditionally involved but easily could be. Maybe our ideas are worth
sharing here and then promoting to our students? And writing or at least
talking about at professional meetings and in journal articles as well as
in class? What areas come to mind?


Thanks for listening!


kdg


At 02:50 PM 5/24/02 -0400, Ilise Marrazzo wrote:
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>Coordinator for the Dental Program in Carroll County, MD- Contractual
>position (no benefits) 4-5 days per week to coordinate the Children's
>Dental Clinic and develop and manage the oral health
>program. Required: Bachelors degree in nursing, social work, psychology,
>education, counseling, or a related field and three years professional
>experience in health services, two of which must have been professional
>work related to the field of public health. May substitute a Masters
>degree in a health or human service field for one year of the required
>general experience. Experience in dental public health and grant writing
>and management desirable. Salary $32,715 - $50,700. Mail resume ASAP to
>Carroll County Health Department, PO Box 845, Westminster, MD 21158 ATTN:
>Healthy Smiles
>
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