How much time do we have?

Claudia

The moment you tell people you are a second year MPH student, most will ask you, “so what are you going to do after you graduate?”

Truth is – I am more confused about the answer to that question than I was last year. I don’t have a definite or exact answer, but what I do know is that I strive to stay true to the values and principles that got me into the field of public health in the first place. I don’t want to take a job just for the sake of it or for a paycheck.

Although the reality is that being unemployed is not the most desirable option, it is important for me to be a part of something bigger. I want to make sure that whatever path I take, it is one that is guided by my passions and not external expectations. Being in school, sometimes we can lose touch with the very things that got us here in the first place. This semester was a time of serious reflection for me.

Fall semester of your second year is when things start getting real. You are extremely energized from your summer internship, you are thrilled to not have any more required courses on your schedule and there is definitely less anxiety around the “unknown.” You know what to expect, except that now the realization is that there is less time. Before you know, it is the last full week of classes and people you met last school year are finishing up their programs and graduating, while you prepare for the holiday break. And then…your last semester is here.

This is where my mind goes wild. I start thinking about all the things I said I was going to do, the places I was going to go, and the people I was going to see. Then I realize I only have a few months left. And just as fast as this semester passed, the next one will.

One major lesson I have learned this semester is to do the things that make me happy and the things that help me feel connected to others. For me that means staying involved in student organizations and attending many campus events, going on road trips with friends, skyping with my younger sister as much as possible (even during class sometimes), bikram yoga, providing mentorship and guidance to undergraduate students, contributing to research projects, and volunteering within the local community.

As graduate students we get extremely busy, this is true. But, ironically, I have realized that the most efficient way to lower my stress has been to involve myself more. I may not know what I am going to do right after graduation, but I do know what I am going to try to do with my time next semester!

We have time, but then again, we really don’t. So do what you love.

Source: http://swanss.tumblr.com/

Lloyd Hall Scholars Program 50th Anniversary Reading

Danielle

As an undergrad at the University of Michigan I was part of the Lloyd Hall Scholars Program (LHSP), which is housed in the Alice Lloyd dormitory (right across the street from the School of Public Health building).  I was part of LHSP from 2007-2008, which makes me feel so old!  LHSP is one of a number of living-learning communities available to students.  The idea behind the living-learning community model is that students not only work collaboratively with their peers in the program, but they live with them, study with them, and learn from them on a daily (and nightly) basis.  LHSP is specifically for students passionate about writing and the arts and the program offers several undergraduate-level courses for its students. I loved the classes I chose because they were creative and challenging and different from any English class I had ever taken.

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/lhsp

I typically like writing non-fiction pieces or in-depth critiques of other people’s writing.  But as a hobby, I have always loved writing poems.  As a freshman in the program, I entered several poems into a poetry contest and to my surprise, one of my poems won. I had never before entered a poetry contest. I most often write poems for fun or to de-stress after a particularly stressful moment; I like to think of my own poetry writing as a very intimate experience rather than something to publicize.  But still, when my poem was included in the annual LHSP literary and arts journal I thought it was very cool.  

This year, LHSP is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary.  I received an email several weeks ago asking me to attend the launch of the “Fiftieth Anniversary” Arts and Literary Journal.  I am happy to know that the program is so connected with its past students.  At the event, I read a poem called “El Horno”, which I wrote about my Alternative Spring Break trip to Nicaragua from my freshman year of college.  The event itself was quite short, with only about ten participants, but each piece was so powerful and emotional that I appreciated the brevity of the occasion.  It was amazing to hear the other students’ wonderful pieces of writing and musical compositions.  I felt truly honored and humbled to be reading among such talented artists.

LHSP Arts and Literary Journal 2012-2013-50th Anniversary Edition

Attending the launch sent me back to my days of being in the middle of the magical, complex, and remarkable literary world.  I am comforted to know that the literary part of me has never left.  It is just a bit deeper inside of me now.  And the public health part of me has emerged.  I know even more now that I can use my creativity and love of words to guide my career path within public health.  That’s the beauty of this dynamic field.

A Wide Open Future

Amanda

Hi Everyone!  I am one of SPH’s newest bloggers, and I hail from local Tecumseh, Michigan.  While it may  be fairly close to my hometown, after four years in a tiny undergraduate school, the huge University of Michigan is sure to be bursting with new opportunities and experiences!

 A little bit about myself:

I graduated this past May from Hillsdale College with a degree in Biology, and now I’m looking ahead to concentrating in Epidemiology with a global health focus.   I also recently got married just two months ago!  Needless to say, there will be many changes this coming year.

I must admit that as excited as I am to be studying Public Health here at Michigan, I’m just as excited to be running for the varsity track and cross country teams here.  Running has always been a passion of mine; I love the competition, the camaraderie, and the feeling of really pushing yourself to the limit.  So even though this year will be pretty hectic trying to balance both school and athletics, it will also be very rewarding to see what I can accomplish in both!

Goals for the Year:

1. Balance: I know spending 30+ hours a week on training as well as being a full-time graduate student will be tough, and on top of that being involved in research and many of the other opportunities that will present themselves over the year.  So I won’t be able to commit to everything, I’ll have to really manage my time well, and I’ll have to learn to say that dreadful word “no.”  If there’s one thing I’ve learned from undergrad, it’s to commit to one or two things and put yourself whole-heartedly into those activities!
2. Challenge:  I didn’t come to the University of Michigan looking for an easy graduate degree; I came here because I knew I would be challenged in the classroom, in my opinions, and  in my research.  I want to challenge myself to think critically, develop my own thoughts and ideas, and put myself in situations outside my comfort zone.
3. Immersion: I want to become a complete Public Health nerd  I want to learn all I can to understand what public health means, how it plays a role in daily living, and how I can contribute to improving it.  I want to be as involved in my education as possible to get the most out of Michigan during my two years here.

I’m looking forward to meeting everyone soon!  Here’s to a great start to the semester!

The Real Job Hunters of Ann Arbor

Tasha

Now that I have applied for graduation and can tell my family the definitive date that I will be a Master of Public Health, I am now starting to feel the pressure to become a productive member of society. I must join the workforce of America.

But that is not as simple as our forefathers made it seem. With an increasing number of people with degrees and the state of the economy, the reality of landing a dream job today is not the reality of our college educated parents. Many of my peers and I have come to many stark revelations about our first job and the search there of:

1. The six-figure dream salary is not the mean starter. It is somewhere at the tip of the curve.
2. Just because you graduate on Friday does not mean that you will start working on Monday. If fact, several Mondays may go by if you are picky (which you have the right to be).
3. The exact position you desire or were trained to do may not be the first job you are offered or take or enjoy.
4. It’s not just about who you know, it is about who they know and if they are hiring.
5. It is a job to find a job. It does take effort and persistence.

In all fairness, there are employers looking for employees. As a graduate student at UM SPH, they actually do knock on our door. Half the struggle of finding a job is finding the right job for you. It is not enough to be a prospective employee of an organization, but the organization must also be a prospective employer of yours.

That being said, I am going to suit up in my MPH armor from the University of Michigan School of Public Health (one of the finest ateliers of job market couture) and forge my way to the land of employment. Though the scape has changed, the reality of adulthood, self-actualization, and  student loans has not.

20 Years Later

Jiean

November 7, 1991. There are a few days where you just remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news. This is one of them. This was the day Magic Johnson, one of the NBA’s brightest stars, announced to the world that he was HIV positive and essentially changed the face of the disease. At the time, it was widely believed that AIDS was a gay-disease (see: GRID), but as we now know, this disease can affect all human beings, regardless of skin color, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status (see: AIDS  2010 Conference Report).

Not too long ago, a positive diagnosis of HIV infection was considered a death sentence. Fortunately, with advances in bio-medical research, HIV does not have to be a death sentence. With a regimen of positive thinking, healthy eating, and exercising, the HIV virus can remain asleep. Of course, Magic Johnson continues to take antiretroviral drugs to keep the virus in check; and while it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that his money and fame is affording him access to all the latest and greatest therapies, this is not the case. According to Dr. David Ho, a prominent HIV/AIDS researcher, “What he gets, in terms of his therapy, is typical of what most American patients receive. So, he’s not the exception. He is the rule.” Hopefully within Magic’s lifetime, this rule is no longer one that applies only to first-world patients but to 33.3 million people around the world who live with this infection.

So much has changed in our collective understanding of HIV and AIDS. At the time of his announcement, many players’ sentiments mirrored those of the general public. The most notable of which are Karl Malone and Mark Price’s refusal to play with him in the 1992-93 NBA season, despite playing together on America’s 1992 Dream Team. With all the information available today, it is easy to demonize these players; however, if it weren’t for Magic educating us about this disease, we might still be in the Dark Ages. I’m glad that we now live in a world that is increasingly accepting of those with HIV/AIDS. Magic’s enthusiasm in embracing the role of “spokesman for the disease” is quite admirable and it would be difficult to quantify his contribution to this success. Using his celebrity status, Magic and the Magic Johnson Foundation have raised over $10million for research, testing, and scholarships. There are many student groups at Michigan dedicated to doing similar work in our local community and those around the world.

In his closing remarks yesterday, Magic acknowledged the progress that has been made in the past 20 years and calls us to make many more.

“There will always be great basketball players who bounce that little round ball, but my proudest moments are affecting people’s lives, effecting change, being a role model in the community.” – Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

5 Tips to Landing a Great Internship

Tasha Edwards

Let’s start by saying, I look nothing like this picture. I will post a picture of my current self below. My, how things have changed in a year. On to the point of this post, my internship. In the fall, I will be second year Master’s degree student at the School of Public Health in the department of Health Management and Policy. I believe that it is a requirement in all the Master’s degree programs to complete an internship between the first and second year of study. My internship is at Henry Ford Health System in the Web Services. The main component of my work in the development and implementations of social media strategies.

I am so lucky to have received this internship, because it is very fitted to goals and talents. The department of web services sits inside of Marketing and alongside Corporate Planning, Public Relations, Communications, and Media Resources. I live for this stuff! I feel that every project I am a part of or take charge of is helping me to hone my skills to be successful in the future. Awesome, right? I know!

So, how do you get an internship as great as mine? Here are 5 quick tips.

1. Speak up about your interest, experience, and goals. You never know who’s listening, who they know, or what they can offer you.
2. Be professional in your work, study, classes, and extracurricular activities. I am not saying you need to wear a suit everyday, but look presentable. Employers and alumni visit the school for interviews, recruitment, and workshops on a regular basis.
3. Do not procrastinate on deadlines, interviews, emails, etc. Someone else could just be waiting to take your place.
4. Have an idea about the type of internship that would best fulfill you or the place you would like to be live. If you don’t know, then no one else will.
5. Follow up with potential employers. Like I stated previously, you are not the only student trying to obtain an internship, so you have to make an effort to stay at the top of the list.

I really hope these tips helped. This is how I got my awesome internship, and hopefully you will have a similar story to tell.

Introductions

Jiean

Hi! My name is Jiean and I wanted to extend a warm welcome to our newly admitted students. Being a Californian, I hope the weather does the same in the near future (as my soft upbringing came no-where near sufficiently preparing me for a Midwestern winter).

I am currently a first year student in the Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology program. For those who don’t know (and I’ll admit to being among them when I first got here), HME combines molecular biology with epidemiologic concepts to explore the etiology, distribution, and prevention of diseases within populations at the molecular level. That’s just a fancy way of saying that we like to utilize our science backgrounds to understand how diseases move through a population (much like other epidemiologists do with field work).

I was drawn to Michigan because of the prominent role it plays in oral health research. Many leaders in the field of dental public health (or just about any field) call Michigan home, and as a lowly grad student I have been able to soak up their brilliance and collaborate on their projects. As an undergraduate at the University of California-Berkeley, I found my research in oral cancer to be quite disconnected from a larger picture. While it was neat to understand how this cancer metastasizes and how our sense of pain is augmented by these tumors, it feels a lot more rewarding when the impact of your work on people’s lives is more apparent. My current research focuses on oral spirochetes known to cause periodontal disease, as well as the association between periodontal disease and various systemic maladies. The Department of Epidemiology at Michigan has afforded me the opportunity to explore both parts of this broad research interest; I could not imagine a more perfect fit for me.

As our late president, Teddy Roosevelt, once noted, ”Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led diffcult lives and led them well.” Michigan is definitely worth the late-nights in the computer labs with half your cohort clicking away at their workstations, the 5 problem sets you struggle to finish before the week is over, and the daunting 80 slide powerpoint you need to go through for 1 lecture of a pathophysiology exam.

Media Hype?

David McCormick

While browsing the interweb, I came across this video by Dr. Hans Rosling – probably the most amusing statistician alive today (and no, that’s not an oxymoron).

Dr. Rosling teaches International Health at the Karolinksa Institutet (like Harvard, but in Sweden), and is also the Director of the Gapminder Foundation.  Gapminder has some more amusing videos on their site and they take health issues, like HIV/AIDS, and present them in an entirely new context.  What I especially like about the site is that they recognize that the issues are complex and that simple solutions probably don’t exist (you can see this at the end of the above video when he says that he supports the media coverage, but warns us not to read into it too much).

What is Public Health?

David McCormick

So what exactly is public health?  If you’ve ever wondered about this question, you’re not alone – the Association of Schools of Public Health realized about a year ago that most people don’t really have any idea what public health professionals do, or what the field of public health offers, so they made this handy website and the video below.



(Link to the video in its original context.) One of the coolest parts of this campaign: you can get the stickers for free!

I like the idea of the ASPH’s campaign and think it’s great that the video shows a lot of public health’s “hidden” aspects, but I wish that the video would show some of the dramatic effects that public health has had on society. While public health is a very broad field, it doesn’t include everything (although it’s a fun game to try to find some connection to public health in everyday objects – think “Six Degrees of Separation” for public health dorks).

The best example is smoking – once it became clear that tobacco smoking was a major health hazard (from epidemiologic research), programs to help people quit started (thanks to Health Behavior and Health Education), and eventually policy changes were made (courtesy of Health Management and Policy) so that smoking is now banned in public places in most states (MI recently passed such a law).

Other examples of changes made by public health professionals are as basic as the regulation of drinking water and ensuring that our food supplies, especially meat, remain disease-free.  Going back to infectious diseases, the national vaccination program has eliminated almost all of what were formally the “childhood diseases” – no-one born in my generation has had to experience widespread polio, measles, or whooping cough outbreaks.  (A list of the 10 greatest public health achievements is found here).

So as a tool for raising awareness, the video is great, but I hope that it encourages people to look deeper into public health.  There really is something for everyone in this field, from microbiology nerds (like me) to those of a political nature (how else would we get public health laws passed?).

What is Public Health? See below!

Carrie Rheingans

This is something I found via other public health students on facebook   Feel free to repost! This is an initiative of the American Public Health Association.

“Let’s face it – as a nation we’re not nearly as healthy as we should be. Compared to other developed nations, we’re lagging far behind.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. With your help, we can make America the healthiest nation in just one generation.

Want to know more? Watch the Healthiest Nation in One Generation viral video today. Share the video with your friends and family and encourage them to get involved.

America can make this the healthiest nation in one generation. We all have to do our part. What will you do?”

And also from this site (I’m just copy-pasting, so I’m quoting it):

“Public Health is:

local clinics • healthy mothers and healthy babies • breastfeeding • vaccinations • clean, fluoridated water • car seats • seatbelts • traffic laws • prepared communities • clean air • mental health services • school nutrition programs • tobacco-free environments • safe workplaces • green communities • medical research • sex education • jogging trails and bike paths • safe and clean places to play • sidewalks • elderly services • city planning • healthy homes

Public health is: the promotion of good health and the prevention of disease.

Unfortunately, we’re not there yet. The United States may spend more on health care than any other country, but even our best efforts have failed to make America a healthier nation. Check the facts:

• U.S. life expectancy ranks 46th in the world, behind Japan, most of Europe, and also countries such as South Korea and Jordan.
• A baby born today in the U.S is more likely to die before its first birthday than in almost any other developed country.
• Nearly one in 20 residents in the nation’s capital are HIV-positive.
• All ethnic minorities, except Alaska Natives, have a rate of type 2 diabetes that is two to six times greater than that of the white population.

With your help we can reverse these statistics. It all starts with one. What will you do to help make America the healthiest nation in one generation?”