Health Professions Schools in Service to the Nation was a national demonstration program of service-learning in health professions education that ran from 1994-1998 and awarded three-year grants to 17 health professional schools across the United States. It was a program of the Pew Health Professions Commission and the National Fund for Medical Education, sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Corporation for National Service and the Health Resources and Services Administration and administered by the Center for the Health Professions at the University of Califomia-San Francisco. The goals of the program were to:

• strengthen partnerships between health professions schools and communities which address unmet health needs;
• instill an ethic of community service and social responsibility in health professions schools, students and faculty; and
• equip the next generation of health professionals with
  community-oriented competencies necessary to practice in a changing health care environment.

Click here for publications from the HPSISN program.

Click here for case studies of many of the HPSISN grantee service-learning partnerships.

CCPH served as a training and technical assistance contractor for service-learning and community partnerships during the initiative's first year, 2000-2001. CCPH provided assistance to all of the dental schools that signed Educational Partnership Agreements.

Local public health agencies (e.g., local public health departments, community hospitals and community health centers) serve on the frontlines in responding to many public health emergencies. While the threat of a bioterrorist event in most California communities is thought to be low, it
has led many local public health agencies to question their capacity to prepare for, detect, and respond to emerging health threats. The majority of local public health agencies lack the resources and expertise to develop their response capacity, thereby lagging behind in infrastructure improvements that would enhance their capacity to protect the public's health.

The California Public Health Preparedness Corps would utilize the resources of AmeriCorps to demonstrably increase the ability of local public health agencies to effectively respond to public health emergencies. The program would equip health professional students
with the skills and competencies they need to effectively respond to public health emergencies, through their roles as AmeriCorps members, volunteers and service-learners.

• facilitate the integration of service-learning into the curriculum of nursing education at the associate, undergraduate and graduate degree levels; 
• increase the understanding of and support for service-learning in nursing education nationally; and
• disseminate new knowledge and information about best practices and models of service-learning and nursing education 

Following is a list of the selected teams.  Please click on the team to view and print a case study of their service-learning partnership, printable with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

• Bethel College, St. Paul, Minnesota & Rice Creek Covenant Church, St. Paul, Min-nesota have developed a parish nursing program as part of a graduate course on Christian healthcare leadership.
• Indian Hills Community College(IHCC), Ottumwa, Iowa & Jefferson County Hospital, Fairfield, Iowa provide wellness care for the elderly in rural Iowa and SL opportunities in an advanced nursing theory course as a part of IHCC's associate degree nursing program.
• Kapi'olani Community College, Honolulu, Hawaii & American Red Cross, Honolulu, Hawaii provide HIV prevention education to the community as part of an associate-level adult health nursing course.
• Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois & Community Health Improvement Center, Decatur, Illinois provide care to the medically indigent as a part of an undergraduate community health nursing leadership course.
• Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing and Allied Health, Omaha, Nebraska & Catholic Charities, Omaha, Nebraska provide mental health services in conjunction with an undergraduate mental health nursing course. Click here for a PowerPoint presentation on this partnership.
• Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas & East Texas Community Health Services, Nacogdoches, Texas provide health services to the elderly and other medically underserved groups in conjunction with an undergraduate nursing leadership course.
• University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado & La Clinica Te-peyac, Denver, Colorado provide care to Latino and Asian immigrants as a part of the School of Nursing's capstone nursing seminar for undergraduate and graduate students.
• University of Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts & Community HealthLink's Homeless Outreach Advocacy Program, Worcester, Massachusetts involve graduate nursing students in the care of the homeless.
• University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri & Hope House Inc., Independence, Missouri provide services to survivors of domestic violence in conjunction with the graduate nurse-midwifery program at the Sinclair School of Nursing.

PCC Program Resources

Please click to view and print these service-learning tools and resources (some require Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Click here to view a powerpoint presentation on the PCC program.

Click here to view a summary of the next phase of the PCC program.

Please click here for a bibliography with published abstracts of service-learning resources in nursing.

Please click here to view service-learning course syllabi and resource materials.

See CCPH's publications page for information on ordering two related publications: Partners in Caring and Community: A Team Approach to Service-Learning in Nursing Education, and Caring and Community: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in Nursing.

For further information on the Partners in Caring and Community: Service-Learning in Nursing Education program, please contact CCPH at (206) 543-8178 or by email.

CCPH and the California State University Chancellor's office collaborated on a state-wide AmeriCorps program called Service-Learning for Family Health (SLFH) funded by the Governor's Office of Service and Volunteerism. The program engaged college students and others in service-learning experiences that promote healthier communities and provides them with leadership opportunities. Five CSU campuses participated in the SLFH program in 2002-2003: Sonoma State University, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and CSU Northridge. Members served either 450 hours or 900 hours based at community-based health organizations. SLFH members served the campus and community in three critical ways: 1) develop new service-learning opportunities and strengthen existing service-learning opportunities; 2) serve as peer leaders; and 3) support the community-university partnership.

For more information about the SLFH program and other service-learning initiatives of the California State University system, please click here.

Please click here to view the statewide training proceedings for Fall 2001.

Please click here to view the program's post-service survey that assesses participant knowledge about health determinants and perceived sense of civic responsibility.