It's the end of the semester and perhaps the end of my blogging. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing, but like the cliche, all good things must end.
So I've learned a few things throughout this adventure:
1. What you think you're going to write about is nothing near what you actually write about.
2. Read before class... especially if it's assigned.
3. Don't wait till the last minute... especially with writing.
4. Don't try to PR everything you write.
5. Don't be afraid of line edits.
6. Let yourself go in your writing.
7. Don't be afraid of Microsoft Word.
8. Just don't be afraid.
9. Use your anxiety to your advantage.
10. Above all, if D.C. ever kicks you in the behind, kick right back and keep going despite whatever you have gotten yourself into.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
A chat with a public health economist
So now I really have to think back to my interview days. And I'm going back to Dr. Angela Fertig, assistant professor in health policy and management.
We began talking about her working paper, "Healthy Baby, Healthy Marriage? The effect of children's health on divorce." I thought this was a great start.
She analyzed data to examine if there is a relationship between a child’s poor health (such as low birth weight) and marriage. If having a child with poor health causes a marriage to break up, Fertig argued that it can also cause the family’s economic status to fall.
She questioned if it was health affecting income or income affecting health.
But with her paper, she answered that it must be health based on looking at the effect of children's health on marriages.
This is a little confusing.
Basically, the sick child causes financial strain, which inevitably causes problems that lead to divorce.
So what does this have to do with the College of Public Health and disparities? Fertig had an answer.
“One small way in which we can reduce health disparities among children by income is to target interventions at helping parents of low birth weight children stay together,” she said.
Sweet.
So we can reduce disparities, theoretically, by helping parents of low birth weight children (the sick ones) stay together. Sounds lofty to me. Good idea, but still lofty and hard to achieve.
We began talking about her working paper, "Healthy Baby, Healthy Marriage? The effect of children's health on divorce." I thought this was a great start.
She analyzed data to examine if there is a relationship between a child’s poor health (such as low birth weight) and marriage. If having a child with poor health causes a marriage to break up, Fertig argued that it can also cause the family’s economic status to fall.
She questioned if it was health affecting income or income affecting health.
But with her paper, she answered that it must be health based on looking at the effect of children's health on marriages.
This is a little confusing.
Basically, the sick child causes financial strain, which inevitably causes problems that lead to divorce.
So what does this have to do with the College of Public Health and disparities? Fertig had an answer.
“One small way in which we can reduce health disparities among children by income is to target interventions at helping parents of low birth weight children stay together,” she said.
Sweet.
So we can reduce disparities, theoretically, by helping parents of low birth weight children (the sick ones) stay together. Sounds lofty to me. Good idea, but still lofty and hard to achieve.
Institute of Gerontology: A Closer Look
So while I was still on my health disparities kick, I decided to interview Dr. Leonard Poon, director of the Institute of Gerontology at the College of Public Health.
Don't ask me why I was thinking about gerontology as helping me with disparities. I don't even know at this point... but hey, we have geriatrics who experience inequalities in health, so why not?
As far as the school's role in fighting disparities, Poon said, "as a school of College of Public Health, we always think we can reduce it, no matter how big or small."
That's good. At least we're somewhat realistic in minimizing these issues.
"We always want to reduce the magnitude of health disparities."
Right. Of course. Everyone says that.
But he actually does have good ideas.
He wants to put together a proposal to get a preventative research center at the University of Georgia funded by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. HECK YEAH.
"By having a preventative research center at UGA, it would certainly reduce health disparities."
Ways he suggested we do that without a center:
- training of health care professors
- training students
- provide medical education
- continuing education for those who work with older patients
Good interview. Not much of a post.
But I'm still pretty enamored with the preventative research center idea.
Don't ask me why I was thinking about gerontology as helping me with disparities. I don't even know at this point... but hey, we have geriatrics who experience inequalities in health, so why not?
As far as the school's role in fighting disparities, Poon said, "as a school of College of Public Health, we always think we can reduce it, no matter how big or small."
That's good. At least we're somewhat realistic in minimizing these issues.
"We always want to reduce the magnitude of health disparities."
Right. Of course. Everyone says that.
But he actually does have good ideas.
He wants to put together a proposal to get a preventative research center at the University of Georgia funded by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. HECK YEAH.
"By having a preventative research center at UGA, it would certainly reduce health disparities."
Ways he suggested we do that without a center:
- training of health care professors
- training students
- provide medical education
- continuing education for those who work with older patients
Good interview. Not much of a post.
But I'm still pretty enamored with the preventative research center idea.
A convo with an associate dean...
So as we're rounding the 3rd heading towards home plate at the end of the semester, I realized that I had more blogging to do. I couldn't believe that with all my news briefs and side stories, I still had more! But blogging, here I come!
---
I didn't decide to interview Dr. Robert Galen, associate dean and professor of epidemiology, until much later in the course of my interviewing. But he helped me put my story together and it revolved around the training of students and their efforts in the community.
His quotes were stiff and sounded very PR-ish, but sturdy in all.
We started off by talking about the Archway Public Health Initiative — a position created in a community to meet the public health needs of the area.
"We want to facilitate the connectivity of the faculty of the College of Public Health and the community resources that are needed for their expertise," Dr. Galen said. "So we created a position for Archway public health position who must have a MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree and that MPH person will start very soon and live and work in Sandersville, Washington County."
He said the positions could be congruent with farm agents, extension agents, 4-H agents and other different extension agents.
So that's great. We know where they are. And... that they have to have a MPH. What do they DO?
"The role of the Archway public health professional is to do a needs assessment of public health and health problems in the community to aggregate resources in the community that could be mobilized, facilitate communication between resources in the community and play the key land grant role of our institution," Galen said.
OK. Now at least we have a better idea.
Galen said he Archway position, and similar positions, could help with research, too.
"What we hope is that the Archway public health professional, or the public health professional in town, or students on internships as they learn about the problems when placed on internships, will turn to the professors they had in the classroom and make their problems known to the faculty," Galen said.
"Hopefully some of the faculty will find challenging research opportunities around those problems and with that faculty will then move out of this building (Coverdell) and into the community to do what is referred to as community-based research and the by-product is that it will help solve real problems in the community."
So now we have a picture of their roles and contributions to the community and academic world.
Let's send people out, have them report back, and base our research off what they tell us. And now it appears students play a larger role than I previously thought. They aren't just learning... they're brainstorming research ideas for the faculty.
---
I didn't decide to interview Dr. Robert Galen, associate dean and professor of epidemiology, until much later in the course of my interviewing. But he helped me put my story together and it revolved around the training of students and their efforts in the community.
His quotes were stiff and sounded very PR-ish, but sturdy in all.
We started off by talking about the Archway Public Health Initiative — a position created in a community to meet the public health needs of the area.
"We want to facilitate the connectivity of the faculty of the College of Public Health and the community resources that are needed for their expertise," Dr. Galen said. "So we created a position for Archway public health position who must have a MPH (Masters of Public Health) degree and that MPH person will start very soon and live and work in Sandersville, Washington County."
He said the positions could be congruent with farm agents, extension agents, 4-H agents and other different extension agents.
So that's great. We know where they are. And... that they have to have a MPH. What do they DO?
"The role of the Archway public health professional is to do a needs assessment of public health and health problems in the community to aggregate resources in the community that could be mobilized, facilitate communication between resources in the community and play the key land grant role of our institution," Galen said.
OK. Now at least we have a better idea.
Galen said he Archway position, and similar positions, could help with research, too.
"What we hope is that the Archway public health professional, or the public health professional in town, or students on internships as they learn about the problems when placed on internships, will turn to the professors they had in the classroom and make their problems known to the faculty," Galen said.
"Hopefully some of the faculty will find challenging research opportunities around those problems and with that faculty will then move out of this building (Coverdell) and into the community to do what is referred to as community-based research and the by-product is that it will help solve real problems in the community."
So now we have a picture of their roles and contributions to the community and academic world.
Let's send people out, have them report back, and base our research off what they tell us. And now it appears students play a larger role than I previously thought. They aren't just learning... they're brainstorming research ideas for the faculty.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Harriet A. Washington Visits!
Today was another guest speaker. But I completely paid attention to every word. She was fascinating. She was Harriet A. Washington, winner of the National Book Critic's Award for her book, Medical Apartheid.
She was amazing. I wanted to pick her brain and ask her so many questions.
In short, she discussed the racial inequalities in clinical trials and some of the horrid things that went on using black women as subjects.
She gave us guidelines about finding the truth behind an array of stories.
"Go straight to the source," she said.
This was one of the few times in my life I wanted to say "Amen" during a class lecture.
So go to the source. Check all the facts. Talk to old folks. Read past the medical jargon. Look for the true meanings.
Great advice!!!
She was amazing. I wanted to pick her brain and ask her so many questions.
In short, she discussed the racial inequalities in clinical trials and some of the horrid things that went on using black women as subjects.
She gave us guidelines about finding the truth behind an array of stories.
"Go straight to the source," she said.
This was one of the few times in my life I wanted to say "Amen" during a class lecture.
So go to the source. Check all the facts. Talk to old folks. Read past the medical jargon. Look for the true meanings.
Great advice!!!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Community... Health
How does your job, your work, your money affect you on the inside?
That’s precisely the question one of the moderators asked while presenting a session on the term “social determinants” that I love so much. Basically, he was asking what affects our health?
This was the topic of the first session I attended concerning health disparities in the community focusing on the movie, Unnatural Causes.
I thought I was in class.
Social gradient. Health disparities. All are terms that we throw around in the College of Public Health as if they are going out of style.
So apparently morbidity and SES are connected.
“As you climb the social ladder, your life expectancy climbs with you,” said Dr. Strelnick, director, Institute for Community and Collaborative Health, Motefiore Medical Center.
Like I haven’t heard that enough.
But the problem isn’t the graduate student who is in the wrong school trying to understand public health.
The problem is trying to convey the differences in health associated with SES (socioeconomic status) with your audience.
What did the panelists suggest?
They said to find the human element of the story — bring the problems to life through stories journalists can tell. We have the power to tell the story. We have the power to be a voice for those silenced. We have the power to initiate change.
That’s precisely the question one of the moderators asked while presenting a session on the term “social determinants” that I love so much. Basically, he was asking what affects our health?
This was the topic of the first session I attended concerning health disparities in the community focusing on the movie, Unnatural Causes.
I thought I was in class.
Social gradient. Health disparities. All are terms that we throw around in the College of Public Health as if they are going out of style.
So apparently morbidity and SES are connected.
“As you climb the social ladder, your life expectancy climbs with you,” said Dr. Strelnick, director, Institute for Community and Collaborative Health, Motefiore Medical Center.
Like I haven’t heard that enough.
But the problem isn’t the graduate student who is in the wrong school trying to understand public health.
The problem is trying to convey the differences in health associated with SES (socioeconomic status) with your audience.
What did the panelists suggest?
They said to find the human element of the story — bring the problems to life through stories journalists can tell. We have the power to tell the story. We have the power to be a voice for those silenced. We have the power to initiate change.
Mental Illness and Violence - What It Really Means
Update: I am now attending AHCJ-- Association of Health Care Journalists 2008 -- a conference in Washington, D.C.
---
For my second session, I attended "Violence and mental illness: How strong is the link?" and was greatly moved. Hopefully I will try to convey what I learned and feelings that surfaced in the best way possible.
Think. When do we hear about mental illness in the media? Usually it's linked with violence. The mentally ill are violent. Lock them up before they hurt themselves or someone.
I want to throw up.
Harvey Rosenthal's words touched me. He was an advocate for mental health. So what's this got to do with journalism? Well, he suggests we look into the deeper story.
Were they being treated? What kind of care did they have? What was their treatment plan? Did they give any indication of violence? They did reach out?
So these are the questions we need to ask to really find the true mental health story. We must not paint a picture of crime. We must find what the background is. We must go forth and fight the stigma.
---
For my second session, I attended "Violence and mental illness: How strong is the link?" and was greatly moved. Hopefully I will try to convey what I learned and feelings that surfaced in the best way possible.
Think. When do we hear about mental illness in the media? Usually it's linked with violence. The mentally ill are violent. Lock them up before they hurt themselves or someone.
I want to throw up.
Harvey Rosenthal's words touched me. He was an advocate for mental health. So what's this got to do with journalism? Well, he suggests we look into the deeper story.
Were they being treated? What kind of care did they have? What was their treatment plan? Did they give any indication of violence? They did reach out?
So these are the questions we need to ask to really find the true mental health story. We must not paint a picture of crime. We must find what the background is. We must go forth and fight the stigma.
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