George Mason offers a 100% online Master of Public Health degree concentration in Public Health Practice.This accredited degree program is designed for individuals interested in advancing their skills and careers in the community and public health space while continuing to work in their current positions. Courses are taught by full-time faculty members and carefully selected adjunct faculty with highly specialized expertise and experience in their field, no graduate teaching assistants.  Class sizes are small and each course is designed to facilitate student –to– student collaboration and faculty interaction.  The program offers a competitively priced tuition making our program an affordable alternative to many of the programs offered at other schools of public health. Applications are now being accepted for Fall 2017, the inaugural class!  The application can be found at www.sophas.org, and the deadline to apply is March 1, 2017.

Please feel free to contact Dr. Robert Weiler, Professor and Chair (rweiler@gmu.edu), or MPH Program Coordinator, Kelly Beckwith (kbeckwi2@gmu.edu) if you have questions about this new online MPH program.

Upcoming 2016 Public Health Law Conference in Washington D.C. September 15-17. 

This year’s conference will focus on strategies for achieving health equity and is designed for both legal and non-legal public health professionals.  We’ll hear from some of public health’s leading experts on effective legal and policy efforts that cut across sectors and levels of government. 

The conference also features more than 40 sessions focusing on some of today’s most critical public health topics including drug overdose prevention, Zika virus preparedness, mental health care, food policy, safe housing, health data sharing, and health disparities.

This is a great opportunity for VAPHA members to obtain some important and valuable insights into how law can empower their public health initiatives.

Tuesday, August 9, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. EDT
Camara P. Jones, MD, PhD, MPH, APHA President

The APHA Presidential Initiative: A National Campaign Against Racism aims to identify all areas in which racism exists and operates, and, to make swift and practical steps towards health equity through its elimination.  The goals are to:

•       Put racism on the agenda;

•       Ask “How is racism operating here?”; and

•       Organize and strategize to act.

The cornerstone of the initiative is the creation of an Anti-Racism Collaborative, which will be hosted through APHA Connect and run by APHA members/volunteers. The Collaborative aims to facilitate conversation, education, research and intervention on racism. Join APHA President, Dr. Camara Jones, as she provides background on the initiative, discusses efforts to date and provide more detail about the Anti-Racism Collaborative.

Please RSVPfor the webinar! Log-in information will be sent prior to the webinar

Call for proposals- deadline to submit is March 1

The apex of a great conference is great information, and #APAVA16 looks to stand tall with new session formats and themes for the conference program. Last year, conference attendee’s gave great feedback on what sessions they wanted more of, and for 2016 we want the sessions to reflect the needs of planners in Virginia. Here’s a sample of what you want to see: rural transportation, farm-to-table, broadband and communications; proffers/impact fees, urban design, form based code, skill-building and practical application of planning principles.

Ø Building resilient and strong communities through: innovation, integration and evaluation. Think how and why we plan? Let’s push the limit of the great planning.

Ø The “unconference” experience; enhanced participation by design, lead a dialogue on an interesting topic or idea or share your insight.

Ø The conference blog has even more information for developing a session idea. Submit your idea’s by March 1.

Click here https://planvirginia.com/call-for-proposalsto submit your session abstract

The VAPHA membership's top recommendations were to keep the website updated, enhance communication, increase membership, and serve member needs.

The results can be viewed below.

VAPHA survey summary report FINAL.pdf

PPT Slides (COMPLETE) - 2015 Member and Contact Survey.pdf

VAPHA's Board now has representation from Virginia's major university public health programs.

Come experience APHA's annual conference in Chicago, Oct. 31 - Nov. 4. 

APHA's Annual Meeting & Exposition is where public health professionals convene, learn, network and engage with peers. At the Annual Meeting, the public health community shares the latest research and information, promotes best practices and advocates for public health issues and policies grounded in research. 

Register at https://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual

The VAPHA Board is interested in hearing from current, former, and potential members about how the Association can serve you better.  Your responses will be utilized by the Board to help define our direction and priorities. Please take time by Friday, July 3rd to respond using the link below.

 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/X9FWJWN

Thanks,

Mike Royster, MD, MPH, FACPM

President, Virginia Public Health Association

Invites You to Join Us for this Training Opportunity
Implementing Quit Now Virginia Fax Referral:
How to be Successful in Your Clinic and Community
PolyCom Fax Referral Training is being held in YOUR Health District on: November 6, 2014 from 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Invite health district staff, coalition members, and community providers to this training opportunity. Fax referral offers proactive contact by a quit coach to a tobacco user following the completion of a referral form. This training will provide attendees with fax referral basics and strategies to enhance your existing program.
Join us at one of the PolyCom locations listed below:

Accomac Health Department, 23191 Front Street, Accomac, VA - Accomac 1 Room
Central Office, Madison Building, 109 Governor Street, Richmond, VA – Room 714
Gloucester Health Department, 6882 Main Street, Gloucester, VA – Conference Room
Hampton Health District, 3130 Victoria Boulevard, Hampton, VA – Conference Room
Henrico Health District, East Clinic, 1400 N. Laburnum Ave, Henrico, VA – East Clinic Polycom Room
Lynchburg Health Department, 1900 Thomson Drive, Lynchburg, VA – Nursing Classroom
Martinsville-Henry County Health Department, 295 Commonwealth Blvd., Martinsville, VA – Conference 1
Montgomery County Health Department, 210 South Pepper Street-Suite A, Christiansburg, VA - Community Room
Norfolk Health Department, 830 Southampton Ave., Suite 200, Norfolk, VA – Norfolk 2 Room
Peninsula Health District, 416 J. Clyde Morris Blvd., Newport News, VA – Conference Room 4
Portsmouth Health District, 1701 High Street, Portsmouth, VA – Conference Room 2
Prince William Health District, 8470 Kao Circle, Manassas, VA – Polycom Room
Richmond City Health Department, 400 East Cary Street, Richmond, VA
Smyth County Health Department, 201 Francis Marion Lane, Marion, VA – Conference Room #36, Upper Level
Tazwell Health Department, 253 Chamber Dr., Tazwell, VA – Conference Room Thomas Jefferson Health Department, 1138 Rose Hill Drive, Charlottesville, VA – McLeod Conference Room
Virginia Beach Health Department, 4452 Corporation Lane, Virginia Beach, VA – Glass Conference Room
Wise County Health Department, 134 Roberts Avenue, SW, Wise, VA – Wise Conference Room
RSVP for training and for additional information by contacting:
Gina Roberts at gina.roberts@vdh.virginia.gov
Or Rita Miller at rita.miller@vdh.virginia.gov

(RICHMOND, Va.)undefined The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced today that a portion of the James River will be closed to shellfish harvesting due to flooding and contamination from sewage spills.

The emergency closure is effective September 9 - 30, 2014, and is scheduled to reopen effective October 1, 2014. The Division of Shellfish Sanitation will monitor the shellfish during this period to determine if the area can be reopened sooner.

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