Injury Center Launches New Partnership with Diné College and Indian Health Service

The Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research & Policy is excited to announce a new Partnership with Diné College in Shiprock, NM and the Indian Health Service (IHS). This new initiative aims to increase the injury prevention workforce in tribal communities.

Center faculty will work with faculty at Diné College's Department of Public Health to infuse injury prevention content in their core courses by participating as guest lecturers and by identifying opportunities to incorporate examples of injury prevention into the public health curriculum. Additionally, Center and Diné College faculty will work together with IHS Navajo area environmental team to identify injury prevention practicum opportunities for Diné students. Diné students will be able to apply for stipends to support their practicum work. The inaugural cohort will include 6 students during the 23-24 academic year.

Update From the 23-24 Academic Year Partnership with Diné College 

Sept. 16, 2024 -- Over the 23-24 academic year, Center faculty worked with faculty at Diné College's Department of Public Health to guest lecture and infuse injury content to a total of eight distinct courses including: Environmental Health, Health Services & Policy, Epidemiology, Public Health Research Methods, Health and Human Disease, Implementation and Evaluation of Public Health, Principles of Health Education, and American Indian Maternal, Infant, Child, and Sexual Health. Additionally, Center and Diné College faculty worked together with the IHS Navajo area environmental team to identify injury prevention practicum opportunities for Diné students. The inaugural cohort included 5 students whose projects focused on suicide prevention, seat belt safety, car seat safety, and smoke alarm home installation.

For the upcoming 24-25 academic year, Center faculty are excited to continue the partnership and plan to increase to eleven distinct courses, with an emphasis on the SAVIR & Safe States learning objectives and a wider breadth of injury and violence prevention topics. Center faculty actively collaborate with Diné faculty and the Center for Teaching and Learning at Johns Hopkins to ensure the lectures foster a space for discussion and for students to share their perspectives of injury prevention topics.