Clinical Workforces at Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs): Trusted Voices Used to Pivot from Integrating the National HIV Curriculum to Helping Safeguard Black Communities' Health amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Published in: Phylon 2023-12, Vol.60 (2), p.59-74
• Main Authors: Downer, Goulda A., Ellick, Kecia L., Ramsey, Lauren M., Cunningham, Suzanne Randolph, Bailey, Denise
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0031-8906; 2325-7199

In 2018, prior to the national declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Howard University National HIV Curriculum Integration Project (H-NIP) set out to integrate the National HIV Curriculum (NHC) e-Learning Platform into the education and training curricula of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) nationwide. The H-NIP was implemented in twenty-six medical, nursing, pharmacy, and other health professions programs, including graduate education/residency programs at twenty HBCUs. The overarching goal of this project was to enhance the nation's HIV clinical workforce, preparing healthcare providers to deliver exceptional care and substantially contribute to mitigating the impact of the HIV epidemic, particularly in heavily affected African American communities. This paper examines how the program adapted its strategies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing HBCUs to continue providing crucial HIV prevention and care and increasing the number of health professions program graduates who received specialized training in the care and management of persons living with HIV (PWH). This training positioned the HBCU students (N=5,597) and fifty-one faculty mentors to serve as trusted messengers to and advocates for their peers and families in promoting health measures against COVID-19. As trusted voices, this cohort helped increase public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines and reinforce basic prevention measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, and correct hand-washing. Implications are drawn for using HBCU clinical workforces as trusted voices to apply proven strategies in one health domain (e.g., HIV) to safeguard Black communities in times of other public health emergencies (e.g., COVID-19).