Social Media Campaign Aims to Draw Students in to Health Careers

The University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center has created a video and quiz as part of a broader social media campaign to encourage local area underrepresented (racially and ethnically diverse, first generation and low socioeconomic) students to consider a path toward a health career. It’s part of the Academic Health Center’s commitment to creating a more diversity and culturally competent health care workforce.

Support for the creation of the video came from Urban Universities for HEALTH (Health Equity through Alignment, Leadership and Transformation of the Health Workforce). UC has been part of Urban Universities for HEALTH since 2012, when it was named one of five participants in this project and was awarded a four-year grant totaling more than $400,000 for research work focused on investigating approaches to health care workforce development that lead to improved health outcomes and reduced disparities in local communities. College of Nursing Dean Greer Glazer, PhD, and College of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine Professor Barbara Tobias, MD, serve as the co-principle investigators UC’s Urban Universities for HEALTH award. Tammy Mentzel, of the College of Nursing, is program manager.

In spring 2014, the five Urban University for HEALTH awardees were eligible to compete for supplement funding to support projects aimed at finding novel ways to use data or new approaches to recruiting underrepresented minorities into health colleges/careers.

UC was the winner of that competition, with their proposal to use social media to connect to students who may need help in deciding which type of health career they’d be best suited for. The video, quiz and link to request more information can be found at http://health.uc.edu/healthcarepathways.

All are encouraged to share the campaign.

Urban Universities for HEALTH is a partnership effort of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities (USU)/Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The project aims to address the severe shortage of qualified health professionals in underserved areas by leveraging the power of urban universities to enhance and expand a culturally sensitive, diverse and prepared health workforce.

For questions, contact Mentzel at 513-558-5574 or tammy.mentzel@uc.edu.

Read what the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities posted about the campaign on their Urban University blog.