Tracking people's location and coronavirus outbreak: crowd of people keeping a safe distance and being located by a tracker app An introductory contact tracing course has been developed by School of Pharmacy associate professors Audrey Kostrzewa, PharmD, MPH, BCPS and Sandra Slater, PhD, MS, to benefit both students and community members.
While not a requirement, the free, online course will act as a resource for students interested in Concordia’s new Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree, as well as an introduction and health education tool to contact tracing for both students and community members. The 120-credit, undergraduate program offers a Christian, Lutheran perspective on public health for individuals entering careers in the health insurance industry, hospitals, schools or research institutions as a:
- Public health educator
- Community health worker
- Health teacher
- Public health advocate/Health care navigator
Designed as a resource to introduce the topics of public health, case investigation, and contact tracing to the campus and broader community to help limit the spread of COVID-19, the course will provide information on where people can go for training on contact tracing if they’re interested.
Both Slater and Kostrzewa will be teaching the contract tracing course. The two worked together to develop course content that would be relevant and accessible to a wide range of audiences.
“This short, three-lesson course can easily be completed by students, faculty, staff or community members in about an hour,” says Slater.
Slater has been teaching public health-related courses since 2009 and has over 20 years of experience in conducting public health research.
Kostrzewa is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist who specializes in drug information. She practices two days a week at Froedtert Hospital and The Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa.
Kostrzewa says the idea to create the course came about after conversation with Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Dr. Leah Dvorak about what resources Concordia could provide to both the campus and broader community to help address the pandemic.
“Case investigation and contact tracing are well-established strategies that public health practitioners utilize to help prevent the spread of the disease, but there’s so much miscommunication currently being circulated about these important initiatives,” said Kostrzawa. “We saw a gap in a basic-level introduction to public health and a contact tracing course, so our idea for it was born.”
Concordia’s School of Pharmacy is one of six schools at Concordia, which officially began its 140th academic year August 24.
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