Service and Outreach in the Department of Public Health Sciences

The Department of Public Health Sciences provides many different services to the community and translates our research to practice.

The Ulysses Project is a program to improve the mental health of refugees in California by reducing the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety disorders while increasing their functioning and social integration. It is directed by Patrick Marius Koga, M.D., M.P.H., a psychiatrist and public health researcher. It is an extension of the VIRTIS Initiative founded by Dr. Koga in 2009. It is a bridge between Northern California refugee communities, UC Davis Health, and the California Department of Public Health Office of Refugee Health to address the immediate needs of refugees during the period three-months to three-years post-resettlement.

The Ulysses Project mission is to alleviate traumatic suffering of veterans, immigrants, and refugees through Research, Instruction, Service, and Empowerment.

Research - interdisciplinary translational action research and community-based participatory research
Instruction - Ulysses PoRT (an innovative professional reentry program for International Medical Graduates),
Service - Clinical and psychosocial services
Empowerment - of refugees through inclusion and engagement in community-based participatory research

It has provided 6,000+ hours of pro bono psychological counseling to refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and Syria in Arabic, Dari, Pashto, and English. It has provided telecounseling via Skype to refugees in Turkey. They have piloted with success a demedicalized model for refugees with subthreshhold PTSD, the "Ulysses Model." This intensive mentoring program has engaged 91 special immigrant visa (SIV) international medical graduates in numerous projects.

In addition to their services to refugees the project is dedicated to training the next generation of public health and medical professionals in refugee issues. Twelve UC Davis Master's of Public Health students have completed practicum projects on refugee health in Northern California with the Project. Dr. Koga has taught courses for UC Davis medical and psychiatry residents.

The Tobacco Control Evaluation Center (TCEC) provides evaluation consulting and training services to social service and disease prevention programs. It also serves as the statewide evaluation technical assistance provider for California's tobacco control programs. TCEC provides individual technical assistance, training, and evaluation-related resources while striving to build the evaluation capacity of local programs.

For California Tobacco Control Program (CTCP)-funded agencies, they provide a range of technical assistance on program evaluation, including in-person and distance training sessions and individualized consultation via telephone and e-mail. For other agencies who need evaluation technical assistance or training TCEC is available through contract or hourly consultation.

They are a full service evaluation provider that offers evaluation consultation, evaluation implementation and training, and evaluation capacity building.

The UC Davis Medical Surveillance Program delivers comprehensive medical screening services in a focused and effective manner in order to increase the health, safety and well-being of California workers. They provide the most expert and meticulous patient care possible while striving to be responsive and adaptive to the needs of their clients.

The Medical Surveillance Program is the clinical branch of our department providing preventive care in occupational medicine to workers in California and Nevada. They ensure workers are safe and healthy by reviewing health data from an individual or group of employees over time. The intent of medical surveillance is to detect and remove health hazards from the work environment before injury can occur and to keep employers compliant with Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Cal/OSHA regulations.

The Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety provides free, multilingual, and interactive training courses for the agricultural workplace. They travel to worksites and provide high-quality training in topics such as pesticide safety, heat illness prevention, and sexual harassment training relevant to the agricultural workplace. Their bilingual staff use participatory adult education methods which are culturally competent and audience-specific.