Running Head: PUBLIC HEALTH 1
Literature Review on the school of Public Health of the University of Texas at El Paso
Maribel Dominguez
University of Texas at El Paso
PUBLIC HEALTH 2
Abstract
The field of public health is a ramification of science, in which the main focus is to
protect and improve the health of entire populations. The promoting and prolongation of health is
achieved through many incentives including community and worldwide organizations. Public
health professionals seek to prevent health predicaments, through the conduction of specified
research, educational programs, the avocation and retention of fundamental health policies. The
field of public health being an essential field for the protection of humanity, is a vital career
choice for any individual. Even though the importance of a career in public health is evidential,
the field itself has not been widely recognized. The University of Texas at El Paso has a young
yet compelling public health program that includes an extensive variety of careers. The purpose
of this literature review is to inform about the programs that help set a foundation for the career
development of UTEP students through academic opportunities. Additionally, this literature
review will define the remarkable events of the school of public health, the effects of a shortage
in public health experts and the comparison between UTEP and other Universities of the state of
Texas.
PUBLIC HEALTH 3
Public Health: A literature review of the UTEP school of Public Health
Public health is the science of prolonging life, preventing disease and promoting health
through an organized effort to sanitize the environment, control contagious diseases and health
educate the community. Public health has prevented the spread of epidemics that had the
capacity to wipe out entire populations. Public health has become fundamental in the present
time, as it maintains health stability by preventing world chaos. Yet the field of public health had
a very indirect and slow beginning, which has created a base for debate on whether the field is
thriving of remaining still. Some experts claim that the field of public health is poorly defined
and abstract. Other experts believe that the public health field has been blossoming throughout
the world. The enigmatic predicament can be examined by investigating the position of the
public health field in the knowledge of the young generation of the time.
The University of Texas at El Paso educationally prepare the students from the entire south
border. However, it has been observed that the UTEP School of public health has not been
implemented to flourish successfully. The indispensable position of this field that protects entire
populations sets an alarming position for the El Paso residents. For these reasons, the uncertainty
about the promoting of the public health field has continued. As a consequence, these four
questions must be considered:
I. What programs has UTEP constructed to help professionally prepare its public health
students?
II. What effect does the absence of UTEP public health professionals have in the El Paso
community in comparison to other communities?
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III. What have been the most remarkable events for the school of public health in the history
of UTEP?
IV. How does the UTEP School of public health compare to other schools of public health of
other Universities in the state of Texas?
The field of public health is a necessary career field, it is of extreme importance that this career
field is being properly educated to students, who are the future of the nation. This literature
review will provide the necessary information in regards of the school of public health in the
University of Texas at El Paso.
What programs has UTEP constructed to help professionally prepare its public health
students?
The University of Texas at El Paso has a young school of public health, thus making its
programs relatively new. Despite the youthfulness of the school of public health, UTEP has
already created several programs to help prepare its students. Experts have a divided view on the
improvement of the school of public health in the University. The office of disease prevention
and health promotion government department associated with UTEP to create the Healthy People
2020 partnership to identify nationwide health improvement priorities. The healthy people 2020
is a nationwide incentive striving to increase the understanding of health disease, disability and
the opportunities possible to students as a form of fieldwork experience. The standard way of
thinking of the incentive Healthy people 2020 is that is an identical replica of the Health 2000,
the original incentive created in the year 2000. Since both initiatives are government campaigns
seeking to motivate a new generation of community minded health professionals, often people
think of the two as one incentive rather than two separate ones. These two initiatives are
ramifications of each other, which may create the misconception that they represent the exact
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equal ideology. Yet, Healthy people 2000, indirectly opposes to the central idea of the Healthy
people 2020 initiative, as the initiative healthy people initiative, indicated that UTEP was not
part of the initiative, even though their school of public health had several years in action. Thus
enfacing on the fact that UTEP was not properly involved in the student professional preparation.
The Community Health in the 21st century book, focuses on several nationwide movements and
one of them being the Healthy people 2000. Community Health in the 21st century states that the
educational initiatives taken, “The National Health Education Standards were adopted to help
students achieve education goal set in… Healthy people 2000.” (Turnock, pg. 400). These
renewable nationwide incentives placed a target on the development of UTEP undergraduates
which allowed them to increase their knowledge on the field of public health.
Although UTEP did not immediately created public health preparation programs, it must
be pointed out that UTEP created a community based program associated with Del Sol and Las
Palmas medical center. The UTEP News (2014) addressed that the program that allowed the
developed of creative new models of university-corporate health care collaborations focused on
the preparation of competent health care professionals (pa. 3). UTEP expanded the opportunities
of its public health students by providing access to real life professional experience. By focusing
on the importance of fieldwork experience, UTEP concentrated on the deeper problem of the
absence of student opportunity. A plan was implemented to better the professional preparation of
its public health students. In 2008 however, UTEP created the Strategic Plan that covered the
years of 2008 until 2015, this plan as described by the article is “Committed to providing access
and educational opportunity” (pg. 2). Additionally, the president of UT El Paso Diana Natalicio
(2013), stated “We are committed to raising the aspirations and educational attainment…we
serve and engaging in a highly respected program of advanced research and scholarship that
PUBLIC HEALTH 6
creates active learning environments for our students.” (pg.1). The Strategic Plan, seeks to
maintain the educational growth of UTEP through student career development, similarly the
hospital and university collaboration created new career opportunities for the students.
Unfortunately, these plans are not enough for many University experts as well as UTEP students.
The University of Texas at El Paso is right in that the new affiliations created will greatly
benefit UTEP students because of the growing need of public health professionals, yet the
University may not be aware in the fact that recent surveys indicate that UTEP students do not
feel fully prepared. Although none of them have ever said so directly, students have often given
the impression that the school of public health at UTEP is a field that is not as praised as the
other schools. The survey created for the purpose of this review found that student’s career
preparation is significantly low, indicating that 11 out of 30 students, feel professionally ignored
and unappreciated. Additionally, 46 % of the public health undergraduate students feel
uninformed of public health organizations. This primary research survey demonstrates that even
UTEP has created various career enhancing programs to help prepare its students, public health
students do not feel at their highest potential. This particular students and expert survey,
completely contradict the basic ideas of the programs mentioned above. Experts claim that the
lack of UTEP interaction with public health students have created a new alarming factor that is
the absence of public health professionals which is a current reality that affects the El Paso
community.
What effect does the absence of UTEP public health professionals have in the El Paso
community in comparison to other communities?
The El Paso community has experienced the reduction of UTEP graduate public health
professionals. The city of El Paso’s Department of Public Health PHD, annual Health assessment
PUBLIC HEALTH 7
article identified an inverse relationship between the population growths of the El Paso County
with the number of UTEP public health professionals. The health assessment article (2013)
reports that the estimated health care providers only served population of 2.6 million, while the
El Paso County has a growing population, of 18% (Pa. 4). Additionally, the city of El Paso has a
younger population than Texas and the United States, making the absence of public health
professionals even more extreme. The absence of public health professionals, according to some
experts is a matter to be worried about as in the long run, it could cause irreversible problems
that would be very much difficult to control. This particular health article stresses the absence of
public health professionals through the use census reports, using these reports as evidence of the
current situation, stressing the negative impact that the lack of UTEP graduates has had on the
community.
When it comes to the source of information, the PHD and the CIHRE agree that census
reports are the best source of evidence. Where these sources agreements usually end, however, is
on the question of the disturbing realities of the El Paso County and the main cause of the
absence of public health professionals. Each source has the same mode of evidence but different
conclusions. According to the CIHRE (2013), the absence of local public health professionals
affect the health conditions in the El Paso area, stating “El Paso County, are among the poorest
in the United States and have numerous barriers to health education and health care access. This
may be due to lack of access to health care in the border region and the need for culturally
sensitive preventive health care.” (pa. 5). The economic position, according to the CIHRE is the
main cause of lack of public health professionals, and at the same time it is also the main cause
for the poor health conditions. The following image, extracted from City of El Paso’s
Department of Public Health Assessment, supports the previous evidence.
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Figure 1. The current shortage of Public Health Professionals
Source: (2013) Community Health Assessment (CHA), 1-117. Retrieved October 18, 201414, 2014, from
http://home.elpasotexas.gov/health/_documents/CHA_draft_061413%206-20-13.pdf
The image presented above, indicate the large vacancy of public health providers, yet it
does not concede with the views of the CIHRE and the PHD organizations. Additionally, the
CIHRE’s view that the main cause of the absence of UTEP’s public health alumni flawed, as
recent research has shown that the main cause of the expert shortage is that of the geographic
location of El Paso. The academic article, “Globalization and Health at the United States –
Mexico Border” believes that the lack of public health professionals, decreases the integration of
international health markets thus contradicting the views of the CIHRE and the PHD
organizations. The Mexico border journal states, “The presence of expertise would be a better
integration of the health care markets so the population on either side of the border could take
advantage of the health services offered.”(Mexico Border, 16). The scholarly article attempted to
present the idea that if public health experts were present in the community, it would signify a
cultural, economic and geographical convenience to promote healthy lifestyles in the region.
The Mexico’s border journal article position that the international markets are severely
affected by the absence of public health professionals was valid, the academic article,
“Achieving academic excellence at UTEP and economic opportunity for El Paso” arguments that
PUBLIC HEALTH 9
the absence public health professionals directly affects the economic standing of the El Paso
community. Eliot Shapleigh, senator and author of this academic article strongly believes that the
main impact, is the economic downfall that the community has been experiencing. The academic
article mentions above states, “The study which measured the academic success for Hispanic and
economically disadvantaged students across Texas, UTEP's students outperform students in other
major cities and border communities across the state.” (Eliot Shapleigh, pg.10). Shapleigh,
presents the idea that UTEP graduates are qualified individuals that choose to radiate in another
community than that one of El Paso. The same qualification and the perseverant character of
UTEP students has also been reflected on the most remarkable events on the history of UTEP.
What have been the most remarkable events for the school of public health in the history of
UTEP?
The University of Texas at El Paso was ranked number twelve of the entire nation by the
Washington Monthly magazine’s annual university rankings. Despite the Universities nationwide
ranking, some experts argue that UTEPS history has had only few remarkable events for the
school of Public Health while other experts argue that UTEP has had an acceptable historical
events. The University newspaper special edition “Transforming Higher Education” presents
several historical highlights for the University, including two of which pertain to the school of
Public Health. UTEP faculty and students are actively engaged in the full spectrum of research in
health their work has enabled the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund UTEP research
(Transforming Higher education pg. 6). According to the Centennial Magazine (2013),
“Research expenditures have risen steadily over the past decade, reaching nearly $80 million
annually and ranking UTEP fourth in the state and 72nd in the country among universities
without a medical school.” (pg.7). Additionally, UTEP proudly helped assist the national
PUBLIC HEALTH 10
research of Syphilis, being selected among the top Universities of the nation. In a completely
different affair, UTEP has contributed to other nationwide public health programs, such as
“Nuestra Casa” a nationwide initiative, dedicated on increasing the public health state of in need
individuals including the migrants from the Mexico-border.
Nuestra Casa was created as an advocacy tool that through communication and social
action the disease of Tuberculosis was going to be better controlled as it will help reduce the
number of cases and deaths caused by it. (US-Mexico Border Health Association 2008) The
director of this incentive Nora Gallegos (2012) states that UTEP was the first university to unite to
this incentive, alongside other national organizations, “University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), the
Mexican Consulate, the City of El Paso Health Department, the Alliance of Border Collaborative
(ABC)…with funding from Project Concern International (PCI) and the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID)” (pg.1). UTEP remarks this partnership as remark, as not
only was it the first border University to follow this cause but also because it helped the students
gain the knowledge on this national issue. UTEP, proudly participated as one of the few selected
institutions in the global research on Syphilis.
This year of 2014 The City of El Paso Department of Public Health’s Laboratory
Program was selected to assist the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) research
by providing blood samples that have tested positive for Syphilis. (EP Health, Newspaper tree,
N/A). The University was greatly honored to assist with CDC alongside other Universities across
the nation. Due to the fact that it is a very competitive selection, this selection placed a
prestigious remark on the history of UTEP. However, according to the visitors Guide, the most
fruitful year for UTEP was the year of 2011. Kathleen Curtis, Ph.D., dean of the college states,
“Professional education program enrollment had a major increase in UTEP ’capacity to meet the
PUBLIC HEALTH 11
health-related workforce needs of our region…On top of that, five of the college’s programs
moved into a new 130,000-square-foot campus facility in 2011.” (Curtis, 2014). The major
improvement of the school of public health, stated by Kathleen Curtis, has been an important
factor to place UTEP among the top Universities.
The standard way of thinking of the dean of the school of public health Kathleen Curtis is
comparable to the standard knowledge of the public health students. UTEP has a blossoming
public health program, and its students are aware of it, yet they do not express entire confidence
in their University in comparison to others. The students agreed in that, the University has not
really had ground breaking research or remarks to place the University among the historical
national events. In the survey called “Historical Events” more than 60 % of the selected students
answered “no”, to the question, “Do you feel that UTEP has found ground breaking research.”
More dramatically, about 80% of the surveyed students, answered “Not aware” to the question,
“Can you recall the main remarkable historical events, of the school of Public Health in UT El
Paso?” Unfortunately, students are not aware nor enthusiastic about the historical public health
remarks, the majority marked the “School of Business”, as the “Successful College of UTEP”,
meaning that the school of public health, to the eyes of the students is “Relatively standard or
Average”. Consequently, the low outlook of public health students in UTEP, is becomes a main
cause of the idea that UTEP is not as highly accomplished as other Universities in the state of
Texas.
How does the UTEP School of public health compare to other schools of public health of
other Universities in the state of Texas?
The University of Texas at El Paso has a relatively new school of public health being
incorporated barely 18 years ago in the year of 1992. The University of Texas Health Sciences
PUBLIC HEALTH 12
Center (2013) compares UTEP to top Texas Universities, focusing on the sister cities of the El
Paso County, and how they form a population of over two million, making it the largest
intentional metroplex in the world (pa.1). The health sciences center emphasizes the fact that
even though UTEP does not provide a medical school it does provide other high level degrees.
The public health college of UTEP, offers all levels of graduate from certificate programs to
masters and doctoral degree programs.” (Texas Health Sciences Center, 2012, Pa. 2). UTEP
alumni, also created the duty on representing their University, but exemplify it in comparison to
other Texas Universities.
The Texas Health Science Center thesis about the professional offerings of UTEP was
extremely useful to the academic article, “Experience Preferred: Insights from Our Newest
Public Health Professionals on How Internships/ Practicums Promote Career Development”
because it shed insight on the importance of fieldwork experience. Written by UTEP alumni the
academic article acknowledged that “This article provides perspectives from four public
designated minority-serving institutions and highlights the ways fieldwork experiences have
contributed to their career development.” (Experience Preferred, 2013, pg. 12). In other words,
the article believes that minority serving institutions in Texas are the best choice as they provide
a more meaningful journey. Similarly the academic article “How Texas Will Celebrate National
Public Health Week April 4-8, 2011”, is too written by University Alumni, but exemplifying the
University of Texas at Galveston as the best public health school in Texas. The Texas Public
Health Association TPHA journal, recognizes the University of Texas at Galveston as the most
qualified Texas University. The Public Health association journal states, “The school's Public
Health Student Association (PHSA) also plans to recognize National Public Health Week as
University of Galveston has implemented the most innovative program of the state of Texas”
PUBLIC HEALTH 13
(TPHA, pg. 22). However, there following academic article, does not in any way view UTEP as
a better choice in comparison to other Texas Universities.
Whereas the previous academic articles have provided ample evidence that Texas
Universities have the capacity to complete amongst each other, the academic article “Training
Primary Care Physicians for Local Health Authority Duties in Texas” targets the fact that very
few Universities in the State of Texas provide an inexperienced public health performance.
According to doctor James Mobley, public health director and collaborator of is article states,
“Public health inequities may occur in Texas counties where there are no appointed career LHA.
No citizen from any community… should be without identifiable and realistic access to the
benefits of public health” (Training Primary Physicians, pg.5). While some experts have
classified the aptitude of the Texas Universities, other such as Bernard J. Turnock have argued
that there is no best University, as the field of public health is not being properly presented. In
the book, “Career Choices that make a difference, Turnock stated, “Yet public health is not
among the best known or most highly respected careers, in part because when public health
efforts are successful, nothing happens.” (Turnock pg1). Due to the fact that public health is not
a recognized field in the nation, Bernock believes that no University has the sufficient
knowledge to take public health to its highest level.
Conclusion
The field of public health plays a fundamental role in the health stability of the entire
nation, and in the El Paso community. The University of Texas at El Paso is a nationwide
recognized institution, yet the progress of its school of public health was questioned by local
experts and students. The alarming absence of UTEP public health graduates and the lack of
publicity towards public health enhancing programs challenged the ability of UTEP in
PUBLIC HEALTH 14
comparison to other Universities in the state of Texas, thus affecting the El Paso community. The
research presented in this literature review presents an opportunity to create knowledge on the
field of public health. With the knowledge gained from this literature review, one will be capable
to develop an opinion based solemnly of knowledge.
PUBLIC HEALTH 15
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