Top health and government officials gathered in Oman earlier this month to discuss health and wellness in Arab and Arab American communities. Janine Janosky, dean of University of Michigan-Dearborn’s College of Education, Health, and Human Services, was among the experts who spoke at the Seventh International Conference on Health Issues in Arab Communities.
Janosky’s presentation, “Education and Health Workforce Development in Community Settings,” focused on university-level health and wellness education that addresses the spectrum of health and human services.
“Typically, academic programs do not address all of the known coexisting determinants and interactions that together impact wellness and good health. In creating academic and practice programs for wellness, interrelationships of the social determinants—particularly education and health—are paramount,” Janosky said.
“The College of Education, Health, and Human Services is one of only a few academic institutions that is leading this approach.”
The trip to Oman served a dual purpose as Monica Porter, director of the Office of International Affairs and vice chancellor for student success, and Suehaila Amen, international admissions and recruiting coordinator, joined Janosky. The UM-Dearborn delegation met with government officials and university faculty to discuss how UM-Dearborn could build stronger relationships with academic institutions.
“We already are a strong name in the region,” Amen said. “Many of our alumni who are working in the Middle East and the Gulf have found success in their fields.”
Amen said their goal was to build on the university’s reputation and showcase UM-Dearborn’s academic and research opportunities with international students. Following the conference, she is continuing to travel the region and will focus on recruitment and relationship building during her nine-country tour.
“With internationally recognized programs, our recruitment efforts are expanding to encompass the global community,” Amen said. “We are looking forward to engaging other nations in opportunities for collaborative efforts between universities, high schools, professional development institutions and UM-Dearborn.”
Those collaborative efforts benefit both international and local students, according to Porter.
“Diverse classrooms, course projects and interactions enrich our students’ experiences while preparing them to make a difference in the communities and organizations where they will live and work," she said.
