BCPH Public Health Institute - Final 2024 Session Announced!

Top Med Schools Are Looking for Applicants with Public Health Knowledge!

Calling all high school students, undergraduates (all majors), post-baccalaureate students, and students applying to and enrolled in clinical degree programs:

The countdown has begun for the 2024 Public Health Leadership & Medical Academy Institute, set for December 14-15, 2024 , from 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM PST, in West Los Angeles, CA.

Register today and get ready to gain an edge on your academic and professional career – just in time for 2025!

Whether choosing a college major or working toward a career in medicine, healthcare, business, and even law, the Institute offers one-of-kind foundational training and guidance! Participants will be grounded in the social determinants of health and gain insights into preventive medicine, health policy, and global health issues.

In addition to comprehensive public health training, you’ll receive:

  • Receive Certificates of Achievement in Public Health and Social Justice.
  • FREE elevated interviewing training in both group and one-on-one assessment settings.
  • FREE Academic Journalism and Editorial training.

Where Is the Institute Taking Place?

The program will take place at the beautiful:

ROY Retreat and Sky Rooftop Lounge
3644 Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034

Located just minutes from famous academic and tourist sites: 

  • 10 minutes from Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach
  • 20 minutes from UCLA Undergraduate Campus
  • 20 minutes from the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum
  • 20 minutes from the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard
  • 60 minutes from the Claremont Colleges (Claremont McKenna, Pomona College, and others) 
Discussion 96

What do past participants say about the Institutes?

Faculty and students from across the U.S. convened for three sessions of the inaugural institutes held in Boston, MA and Washington, DC, in 2023. Participants included aspiring candidates seeking admission to medical school and other clinical and behavioral programs, as well as university applicants, baccalaureate candidates, graduate students, and community members. 

Students appreciated the collaborative atmosphere and dynamic and timely training content. But don’t take out word for it – see what some of the participants said below! 

Prospectus 2024a
Institute Learning Session
Grad100

This program is great for students like me to get a glimpse of what university-level public health lectures are like!

I was so engaged during the lectures!

I felt like I could connect with the lectures as I’m part of the generation who will experience [public health and social justice issues] than any other generation.

Remi Gtown2
Working table
Gtown2

COURSES

Below are sample agendas from past institutes.

March 15
March 16
March 17

Meet Some of Our Faculty!

Dr. Rob with his book, "The 48 Laws of Happiness"
Dr. Rob Carpenter
Jessica (Jex) Huang
Dr. Jex Huang
Dr. Circe Le Compte
Dr. Circe Le Compte
Candice Carpenter
Dr. Candice Carpenter

Abbreviated Course Catalogue - Full Agenda Coming Soon!

A Primer on Public Health and Social Justice
Learn about the foundation of public health and social justice principles, including multiple areas of public health such as health policy and health management, community health, global health, reproductive and sexual health, immigrant and refugee health, maternal and child health, nutrition, health data science, and more. Learn about the multiple divisions of social justice, such as racial justice, economic justice, LGBTQ+ justice, DEIJ, and more.
Emotionally Intelligent Communication
One of the biggest problems people face in their professional and personal lives is communicating in emotionally intelligent and healthy ways that will allow them to build and sustain positive relationships. In this eye-opening workshop, you will learn about your own "Demon Dialogues" that hinder positive communication and how to get past them so you can persuade - and not alienate, irritate, or offend - the people in your life so that you can get the most out of yourself and the people around you.
Metaversing Healthcare in the 21st Century
Metaversing in Healthcare is a cutting-edge course that explores the use of virtual reality, augmented reality, and other meta-immersive technologies to enhance healthcare delivery. Through this course, students will learn about the concept of the metaverse and its potential for transforming healthcare experiences. They will also gain an understanding of the different types of metaverse platforms, how they can be used in healthcare settings, as well as some of the potential pitfalls of the healthcare metaverse.
Diversity and Equity in LGBTQ+ populations
This course will provide an overview of sexual and gender identities on the spectrum of LGBTQIA+. Details of health disparities of the LGBTQ+ populations will be discussed. Also, this course will prepare pre-health professionals on specific health issues that may show up in practice. There will be a presentation of current research that identifies healthcare barriers that impact LGBTQ+ individuals. By the end of the course, individuals should be aware of LGBTQ+ health disparities and potential solutions that can be implemented to make a LGBTQ+ positive environment in healthcare.
Social Determinants of Health and Theory and Qualitative Methods
Dive deeply into the multiple social determinants of health -- education, housing, employment, and more!
The Case for Health Equity in Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are at the core of scientific innovation. Health equity, the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health, is a fundamental principle that can help catalyze the reduction of health disparities. However, too often, the intersection between clinical trials and health equity is overlooked. This course will highlight the importance and necessary role of centering health equity in clinical trials, and how approaching clinical trials with a health equity lens can help us unlock a future in scientific innovation that is accessible to all.
Climate Change and You
This course focuses on issues seminal in environmental health such as climate change, environmental justice, and air and water pollution. This class is intended to open your eyes to the impact of the world around you on your health, be culturally relevant and inclusive, and will ask you to critically examine assumptions you may have about health.
Leadership and Entrepreneurship in Public Health
Atul Gawande captures the essence of public health leadership and public health entrepreneurship both eloquently and deftly when he states that: "The best public health entrepreneurs are those who are not afraid to challenge the status quo, question assumptions, and take risks to create new solutions that have the potential to transform the way we think about health and wellness." In the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Within Public Health course, we will explore the myriad types of public health leaders and entrepreneurs that exist, as well as the abundant avenues they take to create a healthier and more sustainable world.
Amplifying Social Justice: Becoming Allies, Advocates, and Activists
Students will engage in both self-reflection and self-awareness activities, learning some differential strategies and tactics for identifying structural oppression and injustice, as well as techniques for promoting social justice, from community organizing and policy advocacy, to grassroots activism and professional activism.
Out of the Darkness - A Critical Look At Mental Health
We will examine the social and infrastructural determinants of mental health. We will also identify the various barriers associated with early screening, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, and analyze the roles of public health professionals in mitigating negative mental health outcomes. We will discuss the complexities associated with cultural differences in mental health diagnosis and treatment, as well as dual diagnoses/how mental illnesses interact with coexisting illnesses. Furthermore, we will investigate the multiple health disparities that contribute to the incidence and prevalence of mental illnesses.
Organ Transplantation
The human body contains five essential organs; the heart, brain, liver, lungs, and kidneys. Therefore, when these vital organs do not work well, it can lead to devastating or deadly complications. Using the Kidney as a case study, this course will review the process of replacing or transplanting organs. The course will explain why transplantation is needed, explain its process, and interrogate who gets transplanted and who does not and why? The course will conclude with a discussion of Innovative and thought-provoking issues, such as xenotransplantation, medical tourism, and the bioethical considerations of transplantation.
Ethics of HIV Criminalization
Students will discuss the history of HIV that led to its criminalization, describe the differential impacts of HIV criminalization among those living with HIV, and finally delineate solutions to end HIV criminalization and its impacts.
Transcending Microaggressions for Health Equity Workshop
Students will learn strategies for effectively identifying racial, gender, sexual, intersectional microaggressions, microassaults, microinvalidations -- the subtle forms of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and more. They will also learn strategies to respond to these microaggressions in a constructive and productive manner.
Surgical Dimensions of Public Health
The course Surgical Dimensions of Public Health will address these questions, discussing those specialties like plastic and reconstructive surgery, which are gaining momentum within the surgical global health realm, while other surgical specialties relatively remain on the sidelines of this global imperative. The course will also elicit insight into how public health surgeons engage with surgical missions (the equivalent of medical missions) and also help to promote health equity and improve access to care.

Course Title: Amplifying Social Justice: Becoming Allies, Advocates, and Activists Workshop

Course Instructor: Dr. Candice Carpenter 

Course Description: 

Just what exactly is the difference between allyship, advocacy, and activism? How do we differentiate between the actions of changing our facebook photos to signposts that proclaim “Black Lives Matter”, speaking up for a transgender individual who has been misgendered in a workplace or social setting, deciding not to engage in disability inspiration ‘porn’, drafting a policy memo articulating the injustices suffered by specific refugee groups, or even testifying before Congress on the environmental atrocities committed by multinational companies? In the Amplifying Social Justice: Becoming Allies, Advocates, and Activists course, we will peel back these layers to discern the differences in how individuals can work to promote social justice and equity in a variety of ways. Students will engage in both self-reflection and self-awareness activities, learning some differential strategies and tactics for identifying structural oppression and injustice, as well as techniques for promoting social justice, from community organizing and policy advocacy, to grassroots activism and professional activism. Ultimately, students will be able to learn how they can evolve into and embody allyship, advocacy, and activism for a variety of marginalized communities, all with the goal of creating meaningful change.

Course Title: Transcending Microaggressions for Health Equity Workshop

Course Instructor: Dr. Candice Carpenter 

Course Description: 

In this workshop, we will unlock the power to recognize and dismantle microaggressions with our course, “Transcending Microaggressions for Health Equity Workshop.” The course goes beyond theoretical understanding, providing practical tools for recognizing microaggressions, microassaults, and microinvalidations related to race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and more. A comprehensive toolkit will also be provided to address these issues effectively in various settings, including the workplace and educational environments. Participants will have enhanced empowerment tools to become an active agent, prepared to create a more equitable and just world. This is a course you do not want to miss on self-discovery and social impact in the pursuit of health equity!

Course Title: Social Determinants and Theory in Public Health 

Course Instructor: Dr. Circe Gray Le Compte 

Course Description: 

This session will focus on the social determinants of health with a focus on the U.S. with a specific emphasis on behavioral, psychological, and structural factors that have demonstrated impacts in creating health inequities. We also will learn about different population and psychosocial theories of health, and their heuristic value in understanding the causal links between social factors and disparate disease outcomes. Case studies will be used to explicate the social, economic, and political factors that contribute to inequalities and illustrate opportunities to reduce them and improve health equity. By the end of this course, you will be able to discuss the means by which structural bias and inequities create, recreate, and reify inequities and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community, and societal levels.

Course Title: Emotionally Intelligent Communication for Public Health

Course Instructor: Dr. Rob Carpenter 

Course Description: 

One of the biggest problems public health professionals face in their professional and personal lives is communicating in emotionally intelligent and healthy ways that will allow them to build and sustain positive relationships. In this eye-opening workshop, you will learn about your own “Demon Dialogues” that hinder positive communication and how to get past them so you can persuade – and not alienate, irritate, or offend – the people in your life so that you can get the most out of yourself and the people around you.

Online versions of popular BCPH Institute courses are now being released to the public, including: 

Metaversing Healthcare in the 21st Century
Course Instructor:
Dr. Candice Carpenter
Electrifying Your Career as an Academic Reviewer and Editor
Course Instructor:
Dr. Circe Gray Le Compte
Emotionally Intelligent Communication
Course Instructor:
Dr. Rob Carpenter