R. CLINTON CREWS, MPH
Mr. Crews is an Associate Professor in the School of Health Professions and the Director of the Master in Surgical Assisting program which is the only master’s program of its kind in the U.S. Employed at the Eastern Virginia Medical School since 1992, he has served in a variety of positions as a researcher and educator which have focused on educating individuals as well as organizations around the importance of advocating for vulnerable populations, mainly children and the elderly.
His advocacy work involving children is highlighted by a statewide initiative in Virginia that addressed reducing childhood injuries by providing technical support to local SafeKids Coalitions in the area of risk assessment and partnership building. In another child focus project, he trained approximately 150 CDC Pubic Health Advisors in techniques to work with healthcare providers to identify and reduce access to services barriers for pediatric and adolescent patients through the Coalition Training Institute.
In the academic setting, he served as a course lecturer and student advisor in the Master’s of Public Health program, training students on how to effectively engage underserved communities by understanding their true health concerns and serving as their voice. Mr. Crews has conducted Congressional Advocacy Training Workshops for college students for the Society of Public Health Educators. As the Director of the Surgical Assisting program, he trains his students as patient advocates as a means to reduce surgical errors.
Mr. Crews served as the Chair of the Commission on Aging for the City of Chesapeake, Virginia. In this role, he conducted needs assessments to determine gaps in resources that affected the city’s aging population and promoted strategies to address the identified needs. As the director of the statewide immunization coalition, Project Immunization Virginia, his initiative Vaccinate and Vote, a campaign to promote influenza and Pneumococcal vaccines for adult senior, was awarded the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services Certificate of Merit. This program has been replicated in other communities throughout the U.S.
Mr. Crews served as an Advisory Board Member of the Patient Advocacy Leadership Summit for the past 15 years. He was responsible for developing and guiding a patient advocacy agenda by implementing regional and national meetings that provided strategies for health advocates to effectively address national issues that affect their patient populations.
His work with Men Against Breast Cancer as an education director and trainer involved creating the first male caregiver national conference which focused on teaching men how to be an active patient advocate and effective caregiver for the women in their lives with breast cancer.
Mr. Crews’ personal research area is Men’s Health with special focus on teaching men how to become their own health advocate. He has worked with the Longshoreman Fraternities and has conducted workshops at the National Men’s Health Conference.