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The School of Public Health
is accredited through 2017 by:
Council on Education
for Public Health (CEPH)
SPH plays role in conference exploring collaboration between Adventist Church and World Health Organization
In many parts of the world, it is religious organizations that go into underserved communities and provide health care and public health services. Because of this, officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) are showing a renewed interest in collaborating with faith-based organizations to increase the good they both can do.
After being approached by WHO, the Seventh-day Adventist Church held a conference in Geneva this past summer to explore the possibility of forming a relationship between the two organizations. Loma Linda University School of Public Health had a large presence at the conference.
At the request of Church leaders, the School of Public Health provided guidance in the planning of the conference and secured speakers in the content areas of environmental health, nutrition, and the Adventist Health Study. The following SPH faculty members presented: Gary Fraser, MB, ChB, PhD, MPH, professor of epidemiology; Ron Mataya, MD, associate professor of global health; Joan Sabaté, DrPH, MD, chair of the nutrition department; Sam Soret, PhD, MPH, chair of environmental and occupational health; and David Dyjack, DrPH, dean.
Alumni gathered for a photo as the week came to an end. Dr. Johnston is pictured in the front row, fifth from right.
Additionally, more than 20 alumni attended the conference, as well as other current and former faculty members. (See related alumni story on this page.)
Dr. Soret was impressed by both the quantity and variety of the more than 600 people in attendance, and he appreciated the open and direct dialogue with WHO and other well-known individuals from outside the Church who were in attendance.
"My wish and my hope is that we really move forward and set the foundation for progress and a more meaningful and wider participation of the Church in the worldwide arena," Dr. Soret says.
Dr. Dyjack took inspiration from the message presented by Jan Paulsen, DTh, president of the worldwide Adventist Church. Dr. Paulsen spoke about various theologies, one of which he termed the theology of connection. For Dr. Dyjack, this reinforced the importance of being part of the community and working to meet its needs.
"The School of Public Health has become much more outwardly looking than inwardly looking," he says. "And the conference affirmed the direction that we're going as a school. We've been becoming much more connected with our local community. We are much more involved in advocacy. We're really out in front. We're already doing it."
Alumni gather at conference
By Patricia Johnston, DrPH, MS
SPH dean, 2001-2004
It was a great satisfaction to have someone call my name at the Global Conference on Health and Lifestyle in Geneva and find a graduate from one of our off-campus programs. Having graduated from the first SPH off-campus program, I have always had a great deal of respect for what such programs can mean both on an individual level and in the larger context.
At the conference, there were at least nine persons who graduated in 2003 from the program at the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, and a number from other off-campus programs—one who is the chair of the LLU Board and a vice president at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (Lowell Cooper, MDiv, MPH 1978), one who is health ministries director for the Inter-American Division (Elie Honore, MD, MPH 1985), and another who is health ministries director for the East-Central Africa Division (Fesaha Tsegaye Tegene, MD, MPH 2003).
The effects of the off-campus programs keep reaching around the globe as students continue to graduate. Among those in attendance were two who graduated this September with the class in Russia.
Graduates carry the influence of the School of Public Health and Loma Linda University education to far-flung reaches, from the Caribbean to Europe to the Far East to Africa. They serve in positions of ministry and leadership in universities, hospitals, church organizations, and in those they have established. Without exception they are thankful for the MPH program and are using what they learned to make the world a better place.
As the week came to an end on Sabbath afternoon at Colognes, I had encountered so many alumni that I thought it would be fun to have whoever was still there, and would like, to gather for a few minutes together. It was announced, and I didn't know how many might show up. I was delighted to find more than 20.
The school has had and continues to have a unique ministry within LLU and within the Adventist Church. It truly prepares individuals to be a part of the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus Christ. SPH grads are doing all around the globe exactly what the conference was about.