This is Madeline. Madeline is a graduate student in the Department of Health and Human Physiology (HHP) at the University of Iowa. Madeline, like many of our students, is passionate about helping people live long, healthy lives. Madeline will graduate in May and like many new graduates will be on hunt for a job. She hopes her job will allow her to apply her knowledge by helping those in need. But here’s the catch…in order to land that first job, Madeline needs experience. But how does she get the experience she needs until someone hires her?

The Department of HHP established the Community Health Teaching Center (CHTC) in 2018 to provide students like Madeline with real-world experiential learning opportunities that also support the health needs of our community. Through the CHTC, we offer health coaching, health testing, and health education programs that are overseen by HHP faculty but completely delivered by HHP students.

For example, through our Exercise is Medicine program, HHP students receive experience providing health coaching to members of the community who are trying to improve their health behaviors. This program is part of a research study so there are also research assistant opportunities available to students. To date, 41 HHP students have worked as health coaches and have delivered our Exercise is Medicine program to ~150 members of the community.  

Through our Health Testing Lab, HHP students receive experience administering and interpreting several health tests for members of the community. We currently offer tests of resting metabolism, body composition, and cardiopulmonary fitness. These tests are offered at a low cost to anyone who is interested in learning more about their health. The revenue generated from these tests is used to support student learning and scholarship programming. To date, our HHP students have administered health tests to over 200 community members.

Through our Community Wellness Program, HHP students receive experience creating and delivering health education programs to members of the community. To date over 40 HHP students have participated in this program and reached over 150 members of the community!  These programs are available to anyone with internet access. In fact, we are launching a new program called ‘Ride Your Waves: A Surfing Challenge in Resilience’. We invite you to join the program!

The CHTC is a key step in making HHP a destination program. HHP is raising funds to expand the learning opportunities and health programs we can offer. We invite you to join us in this mission by donating to the CHTC here.