Learning through community participation: immunization program at an elementary school

Area of Science:

• Community health
• Public health education
• Interprofessional education

Background:

• Universities are creating programs to connect health professions students, faculty, and communities.
• These partnerships utilize public health models to address community needs.
• They offer students practical experience and communities preventive care access.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a university-elementary school partnership focused on improving child immunization.
• To detail the implementation, results, and lessons learned from this community-based program.

Main Methods:

• Students from medicine, nursing, and public health programs collaborated.
• Partnership involved academic and community preceptors.
• Activities included immunization status assessment, parent education, and an immunization fair.

Main Results:

• The program successfully engaged with an elementary school community.
• Students applied classroom learning in a real-world setting.
• Preventive care and health education were provided to schoolchildren and parents.

Conclusions:

• Interprofessional student partnerships can effectively address community health needs, specifically immunization gaps.
• Such collaborations enhance student learning and provide valuable community services.
• The program demonstrated a successful model for university-community health engagement.