More than forty years of research demonstrated that there are wide disparities in health throughout America. Health disparities are differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions that exist when specific population subgroups are compared. It is now known that the distribution of health is not at random, but that health is systematically distributed according to different levels of social advantage. The Health Disparities, Education, Awareness, Research & Training Consortium (HDEART-C) workshop/course examines the social, societal, and genetic/epigenetic factors that are fundamental in creating disparities in health. In addition, the workshop/course focus on the formulation of public policy objectives to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities.
Work/Course Objectives

Individuals attending the workshop/course will be expected to:

1. Acquire introductory knowledge and experience related to the complex social, behavioral and medical determinants of populations’ health, which will enable them to understand the origins of health disparities within a population and to conceptualize programs and policies to reduce and eliminate those disparities.
2. Examine and gain an understanding of the latest findings of specific research that demonstrate that there are wide disparities in health among certain populations.
3. Demonstrate awareness of factors that currently contribute to wide disparities in health among certain populations.
4. Identify the role of (various) health professionals in eliminating disparities.
5. Investigate community and state-level resources that can be mobilized for planning, policy development, program interpretation and funding for reduction of health disparities.
6. Develop a global vision of inequalities in health and medical care.

Academic Credit:

Academic credit may be arranged to be provided to Health Disparities, Education, Awareness Research & Training Consortium (HDEART-C) member students (Rice, TSU, UH, UHD, PVAMU, UT Southwestern Medical Center, UT Austin, UTMB Galveston, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, University of Houston, UHD, UTHSC-Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Florida Health, University of Miami, Morehouse School of Medicine, etc.) who registers at their home institution for a “Special Topic Elective” and obtain approval from their home institution departmental faculty advisor. Upon completion of the six day Summer Workshop each student will be given a “Certificate of Attendance” and upon satisfying of that individual’s institutional requirements, 3.0 academic credit units will be awarded. For the Fall course, each institutions would be responsible for awarding the 3.0 academic credit units.