MPH Student Receives National Leadership Award in Public Health
Robert E. Braylock, Pharm.D., MBA, RPh, a Master of Public Health (MPH) candidate at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, has received the Henry Cade Memorial Award from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP).
The prestigious award is one of seven given by the organization in 2023 for outstanding leadership in the field of pharmacy. Each year, the Association presents awards to individuals who have worked with unwavering dedication to ensure NABP’s continued service to the regulation of pharmacy practice and to the state boards of pharmacy in protecting public health.
Founded in 1904, the NABP is an independent, international, and impartial association that works with the state boards of pharmacy to support patient and prescription drug safety—through examinations that assess pharmacist competency, licensure and verification services, and pharmacy accreditation programs.
“This is such an honor—I’m thankful to God for the opportunity to be able to do the work that I’m doing,” says Braylock, who joined Geisel as a first-year student (Class of 2025) in the medical school’s hybrid MPH program in August. “It’s a testament and a representation of the collective investment that many people have made in me throughout my life, including my family, friends, teachers, and mentors.”
Braylock, who serves as principal and chief operation officer of BHK Consulting, LLC, is leading NABP and six other organizations in a project to increase the number of individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups working in healthcare professions, and to improve health outcomes for racial and ethnic minority populations in the U.S.
The three-year project, entitled “Eliminating Generational Racial Health Disparities,” is supported by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is examining how policies affect racial and ethnic minority populations—from early childhood education through their experiences as healthcare professionals and leaders—to identify where improvements can be made.
Specific activities being supported by the grant include conducting Black author visits in elementary schools to improve student literacy; hosting healthcare camps for middle school students to increase their exposure to career opportunities; and at the college level working with local schools of pharmacy to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in their admissions policies and within their academic curriculums.
Braylock and his research team are also extending their work to the policy level—looking to address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity on state boards of pharmacy, as well as the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in areas such as continuing education and loan forgiveness for those willing to practice in communities that have historically experienced oppression and discrimination.
“If we can get federal loan repayment programs expanded to include pharmacists as eligible healthcare providers, to go into these communities, we believe that we will begin to reverse and eliminate some of those generational racial health disparities that are common in many places around the country,” says Braylock.
“While an important example, it’s just one area of many in this grant that we’re working on to address structural racism and racial health disparities. We hope to have a transformational impact on the health and well-being of individuals and their communities,” he says.
You can learn more about Braylock’s work by visiting the following site.