Charles Snyder, PhD, has been named Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) director for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC).
The QEP is a multiyear commitment that focuses on transforming student learning. A focus on the social determinants of health will become “the big idea” for students and will enhance and inform their disciplinary training.
Dr. Snyder will lead the office that will collaborate with students, faculty, staff and the administrators to develop and implement initiatives around the social determinants of health, or “conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age,” according to the World Health Organization. The goal of the initiatives will be to improve student learning around this topic, which was selected in 2017 after a campus-wide survey.
Dr. Snyder comes to UTHSC from Rhodes College, where he served on the faculty and as the director of Health Professions. He received a PhD in anthropology from Washington State University (WSU), and his Master of Public Health degree from the University of New England. He also has a master’s degree in education in curriculum and instruction and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology.
Dr. Snyder’s background is in health-related program development and implementation in the United States and internationally. He has previous faculty experience in the WSU Department of Anthropology, as well as in the Rhodes College Anthropology/Sociology Department and the program in Urban Studies-Community Health concentration. His teaching experiences include topics related to medical anthropology, social epidemiology, public health, health care policy, and community-based participatory research methods.
His research is focused on health disparities and addiction. He has authored or coauthored eight papers and has given numerous presentations. His professional involvement includes the American Anthropological Association, the American Educational Research Association, the Association of Medical Anthropology, the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions, the National Education Association, the Society for Applied Anthropology; and the Society for Ethnobiology.
Dr. Snyder will report to Lori Gonzalez, PhD, vice chancellor of Academic, Faculty, and Student Affairs at UTHSC.
“Dr. Snyder brings a strong network of collaborators from Memphis and beyond,” Dr. Gonzalez said. “We are excited to have him in this leadership role for this transformational initiative.”