The Master of Science in Community Health & Social Justice<\/a> aims to be an education like no other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe want to make sure that we\u2019re not putting another program into place that was already represented in other schools and universities across the area. We want to make sure we are meeting a specific niche need,\u201d said Dr. Grace Lasker, teaching professor in the School of Nursing & Health Studies. \u201cWe\u2019ve really focused on people\u2019s need to have the tools and knowledge at the institutional and systems level to make change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lasker said the program has been several years in the planning and partly responds to the desire of undergraduates in the school\u2019s fast-growing Health Studies program who wish to continue their studies at the master\u2019s level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a school,\u201d she said, \u201cwe decided to jump into this, really do our due diligence to provide this program \u2014 and here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of this due diligence involved connecting with a number of stakeholders and community partners, many of whom experience the inequities of health care firsthand and in their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among these is Rosario Reyes, who directs the Lynnwood-based Latino Educational Training Institute which empowers young workers and meets other needs for Latinx communities. Reyes sees all too clearly the inequities of community health for low-income, immigrant and senior populations, and said she fully supports the new UW Bothell program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo me, the more we educate young professionals about how to really contribute to social justice, the greater the impact we\u2019re going to have in the community for change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reyes, herself an emigrant from South America, said she thinks some people don\u2019t accept that there are institutional barriers and inequalities. \u201cThey\u2019re not fully aware of these concepts \u2026 they just don\u2019t understand the importance of going a little bit extra to support people in poverty or who do not understand how the system works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And until there is wider education, she said, \u201cnothing will change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new MS in CHSJ will be a hybrid program, combining a weekly in-class meeting with both synchronous and asynchronous course work online. Students will earn 60 credits across two or four years, depending on whether they choose to study full or part-time, or move between those modes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By design, this model will make the program more accessible to students \u2014 many of whom might already be employed in health care roles \u2014 and help them balance work and school, Lasker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe realize your life can change at the turn of dime. You have to work. This is the real world,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to advantage all students who have a passion for changing the world. They are the ones who are actively doing that work right now, so why would we want to stop that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through their studies, students will explore the root causes of health inequities, promote and implement anti-racist policies and social justice through community health programming, and develop the leadership skills to serve and uplift historically marginalized communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Classwork will be in social justice, history and ethics, research theory, advocacy, social epidemiology, inclusive health care management and related topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Jason Daniel-Ulloa, an assistant teaching professor who will teach in the new program, said that he expects to see a student population that is a \u201clittle bit different\u201d than at other public health programs in the area \u2014 and that this is all to the good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHopefully, having the option to do the master\u2019s program here at UW Bothell will overcome some of the perceived barriers of going to grad school,\u201d said Daniel-Ulloa. \u201cThis might be a more comfortable transition for many students, and through that we should also get a broader-based population into the field of health studies and public health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lasker spoke to this point as well, saying that in attracting students, the CHSJ program will de-emphasize gatekeeping \u201cbarriers\u201d such as test scores, grade point averages and math grades as \u201ca way to get people out of programs rather than getting them in programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She added, \u201cWe are centered on those individuals who really have the passion. They don\u2019t have to come in already knowing how to do this work \u2014 that\u2019s the whole point. We\u2019re going to make the journey together. We\u2019ll teach them to do the epidemiology, the math and all that. They don\u2019t need to come with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey need to come with that desire to really do the hard work, both internally and externally, then look at systems and say, \u2018We really have to rethink all of this and build it up now.\u2019 Those are the people we\u2019re looking to attract.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Put another way, Lasker said, \u201cWe\u2019re not looking for the person who has done, we\u2019re looking for the person who has yet to do!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She stresses, too, that students will be supported every step of the way. \u201cWhen there\u2019s doubt, when it seems like it\u2019s too hard, too big \u2014 or seems like there is too much to overcome \u2014 we are an ally in that space with that student.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CHSJ program will change and evolve to continue to meet society\u2019s need as well, said Lasker, noting that it is a fitting addition to UW Bothell\u2019s Master of Nursing<\/a> program, which emphasizes leadership skills and has been ranked among the best in the nation<\/a> in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHealth is not just going to the hospital or getting a diagnosis,\u201d Lasker said. \u201cHealth is resiliency, health is upstream and thinking about those things that impact our wellness at the end of the stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe want to be a program that is known for doing the hard work. And so I really hope our community partners a couple of years from now are saying, \u2018This is the change we\u2019ve been waiting for, and it\u2019s these students who are doing that work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daniel-Ulloa added, \u201cLeaving this program, you won\u2019t be able to fix the world, but the idea is that you will have a skillset that you can use to apply to making real change, not just perceived or expected change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The new Master of Community Health & Social Justice focuses on the need for people to have the tools and knowledge at the institutional level to make true change in the health care system. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[202,218,229,197,252],"tags":[],"school":[420],"class_list":["post-23315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news","category-community-engagement","category-faculty","category-news-releases","category-population-health","school-school-of-nhs"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"Contact Type","email":"sample@uwb.edu","phone":"(206) 999-9999","box":"Box 358500","address_line_1":"18115 Campus Way NE","address_line_2":"Bothell, WA 98011-8246","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\n![\"Grace](\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/grace.jpg\")
Important community input<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Accessible from the start<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Made for students who want to make change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/03\/jason.jpg\")
The change we\u2019ve been waiting for<\/h2>\n\n\n\n