January 21, 2025

This bi-weekly newsletter will provide timely updates, information on upcoming trainings, events, resources, and more!

THURSDAY!

Recruitment Strategies for Montana Public Health Departments 

Goal: How to recruit, retain, and develop a competent and confident PH workforce.

Learning objectives include:

1. Explain the importance of recruitment strategies to build a diverse public health workforce.
2. Identify state-wide recruitment and workforce support programs and strategies.
3. Discuss challenges facing Montana’s local and tribal public health workforce.
4. Analyze the health department’s current recruiting strategies and determine steps to expand or improve recruitment efforts.
5. Identify key skills for health department positions and apply job profiling to recruiting.

Presenters: Public Health Professionals from: DPHHS, ASTHO, Local Health Departments & SPCHS

Date: January 23, 2025

Time: 9:00 - 11:00 AM MT

Where: Zoom

Register: MPHTC Portal

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Public Health Laws and Policies & Engaging Boards of Health

This training session is designed to increase the knowledge of state, local, and Tribal public health department personnel on public health laws and policies in Montana. Topics covered will include essential components of a Board of Health, how health departments can be involved in policy development, and ways health department personnel can work with a Board of Health and the legislature to improve public health policies.

Presenter: Kimberly Dudik, JD, MPH, PhD(c)

Date: February 13, 2025

Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM MT

Where: Zoom

Register: MPHTC Portal

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Making Friends with Excel: Your Fast & Easy Guide to Navigating Spreadsheets

This 90-minute workshop is designed to provide participants with the opportunity to practice hands-on exercises to reinforce learning and demonstrate understanding of Excel features. This interactive workshop will cover key features designed to help organize your data, filter it to make it more useful, suppress data you don’t want to share, and protect cells on your worksheets from accidental changes. Participants who work in Excel should be able to put this learning to use immediately.

Presenter: Stacy Maloney, Founder and CEO of Elevate 11 Consulting

Date: February 21, 2025

Time: 9:00AM-10:30AM MT

Where: Zoom

Register: MPHTC Portal

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Public Health Data 2: Using Data as a Communication Tool

The workshop will equip participants with skills to effectively use public health data as a tool for communication. Participants will learn how to translate complex data into accessible formats for various platforms, including social media, and how to create impactful infographics. Participants will explore successful case studies, practice ethical considerations, and learn strategies for engaging stakeholders through data-driven public health messages.

Presenters: Kelley Milligan - MPH & Linda Donahue - BA in Mass Communication

Date: February 26, 2025

Time: 10:00AM-12:00PM MT

Where: Zoom

Register: MPHTC Portal

The MPHTC Wellness Program is launching a new worksite Wellness Champions program. For more information, please contact Wellness Director Lydia Czech at Lydia.Czech@mso.umt.edu

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Upcoming Wellness Offerings

TOMORROW!

Shifting Perspectives for Meaningful Change

We often hope for change in the new year and look forward to it. This seminar focuses on how to shift your perspective. This session will focus on tools designed to help with meaningful behavior change. This session will help you gain skills to manage your inner well-being and create a new mindset for the new year.

Presenter: Jen Racicot, MA, PCLC, NCC

Date: January 22, 2025

Time: 10:00-11:00AM MT

Location: Zoom

Mindfulness: Developing a Practice

This session provides participants an opportunity to develop a mindfulness practice. Utilizing sound therapy to explore its benefits for stress reduction, emotional balance, and overall well-being through an experiential approach.

Presenter: Lydia Czech, MPHTC Wellness Director

Date: February 5, 2025

Time: 10:00-11:00AM MT

Where: Zoom

Public Health in the Schools Initiative

The Public Health in the Schools initiative has developed curriculum modules to promote public health topics and careers in high schools across Montana, and we are very close to finalizing the modules. If you have connections with high schools in your community, please reach out to us!

We will offer: 5 curriculum modules on the core disciplines of public health, a lesson to leverage data from each school's PurpleAir monitor(s), a summer teacher workshop, and can we help organize classroom presentations with public health professionals.

Currently, the project is actively working to connect with health departments and recruiting schools to be part of this exciting initiative! Please email Kristen.Cram@mso.umt.edu for more information.

Facilitation Foundations Course

The Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center would like to share their upcoming facilitation foundations course. They will have a Tuesday class and Wednesday class offering starting in January.

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Student Leader in Public Health Program

RM-PHTC is offering financial support to 27 higher education students during the 2024-2025 academic year. The Student Leaders in Public Health initiative was developed to increase the public health workforce in the Rocky Mountain Region, with a focus on underserved communities and populations.

SLPH award recipients receive $3,500 to aid in their public health-focused field placements and collaborative projects with faculty.

SLPH Stipend Program details ( goals, eligibility criteria, and application process for the SLPH Stipend Program) can be found at:  https://rmphtc.org/student-leaders-in-public-health [rmphtc.org] 

The next application deadline is February 15, 2025.

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We welcome the opportunity to share announcements on behalf of your organization. Please email anna.kiley@mso.umt.edu if you have an announcement you would like us to include in future newsletters.