The North Carolina experiment: academia-practice partnerships

Bringing academia and public health practice closer is a major challenge to the field. The Institute of Medicine's report, The Future of Public Health, emphasizes the need for practice scholarship and closer relationships between schools of public health and the practice arena. However, little has been written on the "how to" of developing these partnerships. This article describes four approaches utilized by the North Carolina Institute for Public Health for sustainable partnerships. Each approach is depicted along with its strengths and weaknesses identified. Characteristics of the approaches are described as well as being depicted by diagrams. A time context for each approach suggests the type of events for which the approach works. Culture and requirements of the respective partners' organization must be taken into consideration in utilizing any of the approaches. Some events in the practice setting cannot wait for an academia calendar. Therefore, all successful partnerships approach must be built on realistic expectation and trust.