FCBOH Launches Partnership with Spelman College

Board of Health Providing Interns with Valuable Experience in Public Health

 ATLANTA  – The Fulton County Board of Health (FCBOH) formed a partnership with the Health Careers program at Atlanta’s prestigious Spelman College to place students within FCBOH offices to gain valuable experience in various healthcare disciplines. The initiative is part of FCBOH’s ongoing commitment to strengthening the public health workforce pipeline and preparing the next generation of public health professionals. Thus far, seven students from the College’s program have joined the pilot program to develop the experience and skills needed for the health professional careers of the future.

 Our college is mission-driven and focused on ensuring that students have both theoretical and applied experiences for their discipline,” says Dr. Rosalind Gregory-Bass, M.D., C'92, associate professor and chair in the Environmental and Health Sciences Department and director of Spelman’s Health Careers Program. “The Spelman College Health Careers Program is committed to ensuring that partnerships such as this with Fulton County Board of Health expand students’ understanding of health care and the needs of our communities."

Currently, Spelman has interns placed in FCBOH’s Environmental Health, Epidemiology, and Nursing/Clinical divisions. Students may begin a semester-long internship as early as their sophomore year, which includes 30 hours of supervised experiential learning designed to provide hands-on exposure to real-world public health practice.

“We are excited to form a partnership with one of the region’s premiere colleges and one that shares our commitment to serving the community in Atlanta,” says Dr. Marcus Plescia MD MPH, Fulton County District Health Director. “By providing Spelman students with the opportunity to intern at our facilities, we hope that this gives them the chance to begin fulfilling and productive careers as public health professionals.”

“Partnerships like this are a critical component of our workforce development strategy,” said Reginald Greene, Workforce Development Director for the Fulton County Board of Health. “By investing in students today, we are helping to ensure a prepared and resilient public health workforce for the future.”

As the students gain experience, they also gain valuable exposure to health-related career fields that they may not have otherwise considered.  This partnership supports FCBOH’s ongoing efforts to cultivate a diverse, skilled, and resilient public health workforce prepared to serve Fulton County communities for years to come. For more information on Spelman’s Health Careers Program, click here: Health Careers | Spelman College | Atlanta, GA.

The Fulton County Board of Health partners with leading academic institutions to support workforce development and public health training, including Atlanta Academy of Dental Assisting, Atlanta Medical Assistant School, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Grand Canyon University, Herzing University, Morehouse School of Medicine, South College, Spelman College, The University of Alabama, and Utah State University.

The Fulton County Board of Health provides a variety of services that help protect residents from health threats, increase access to health services to improve health outcomes, and provide information that assists Fulton County citizens in living healthier lives. For more information on the Fulton County Board of Health, visit the FCBOH website.

About Spelman College
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,300 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The College’s status is confirmed by the U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 39 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 19 for undergraduate teaching, No. 2 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 17th year among historically Black colleges and universities. Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.D.s in economics. New majors and minors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, data science, refugee studies and gaming. Collaborations have been also established with MIT’s Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning, among others.

Outstanding alumnae include Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, former Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer, political leader Stacey Abrams, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna president Audrey Forbes Manley, Harvard University professor and former Dean Evelynn Hammonds, actress and producer Latanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and authors Pearl Cleage and Tayari Jones.

To learn more, please visit spelman.edu and @spelmancollege on social media.