BYU MPH Students, Alumni & Faculty

Update from Stoker: Innovations in Public Health

2010-09-19T10:15:00.004-07:00

Hi all, going through old blogger accounts on a Sunday afternoon discovered this is still active. Thought I would chime in with a little alumni return & report-

Since graduation I have worked with a group called Ashoka, we are a professional association and/or platform of entrepreneurs working on social issues. Here are a few of the interesting projects I have seen around our network recently:

Innovative rural health care model in India, an interesting combination of clean water, preventative and clinical care, health financing mechanisms, telemedicine and latest technologies in point-of-service diagnostics. The entrepreneur-in-residence driving the effort, Al Hammond, in a recent interview with Fast Company, video below

An effort to develop the young talent in the field of maternal health by hosting an open-source but referral based and judged competition leading to arranged mentorships with current leaders in the field.

Sakena Yacoobi written up in the Lancet, quite remarkable results in Afghanistan amidst all the turmoil.

Seeing the topics of obesity and chronic disease within the US as favorite topics here are two more people whose models I really admire, if you have the time I'd recommend both videos:
Jill Vialet, Playworks
Sanjeev Arora, Project Echo

Hope all is well in Provo, Go Cougars!

Worksite Programs to Control Overweight and Obesity

2010-04-16T23:28:00.003-07:00

While working as a secretary for three years, I got sick of sitting down all the time and feeling like I wasn't doing anything. I walked the mile-plus to and from work as often as I could, but during the day I still felt like a slug. Not fun.

When I heard about these, I became really jealous and really wanted one for my office. It never happened.

Here's a short video explaining more:

The intervention that I looked at for obesity prevention is one for the workplace community.

This intervention uses "informational and educational strategies to increase knowledge about a healthy diet and physical activity," such as printed materials and lectures. Another aspect of the intervention is aimed to change behavior. They provide group counseling and skill-building opportunities. The last focus is on policy. The aim here is to make healthy foods more available and affordable in the cafeterias, as well as increase insurance benefits for healthy living, gym memberships, etc.

The interventions most commonly used included informational and behavioral components, with a few of them aiming for policy and environmental changes in the workplace.

All of the types of interventions showed positive results in behavior, weight, and BMI. It didn't seem to matter if the intervention focused on diet, exercise, or both, they were all effective.

Thinking back on my own experience while working, I always participated in the activity/dietary challenges that the organization provided for its workers, however I tended to stop as soon as (or shortly after) the required time was over. It seems that if we had had opportunities such as this one providing counseling and/or workshops to increase knowledge and influence behavior, I may have been more likely to actually make some lasting changes.

information about the intervention can be found here.

Interview with Lynda Blades

2010-04-16T13:40:00.005-07:00

About a month ago I had the chance to talk to Lynda Blades, program manager for the Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity (PANO) program at the Utah Department of Health. She was very accommodating and we had a great conversation about the challenges and rewards of being in public health and health promotion.

She, herself, graduate from BYU and then attended the "school up north" to receive her MPH. Her career in public health has ranged from teaching healthy eating, aerobics and fitness classes at Hill Air Force Base to working against heart disease in clinical settings in Montana. Reflecting on her past experience working with individuals and small groups, she says her current position as the program director of a state, population-based program has challenges and benefits.

The challenges of working in a population-based program to prevent obesity is that it can be extremely political and slow-moving. Besides the slow pace of politics, the pace of change in population-based programs is also hindered by the rate of trickle down from structural changes to behavior change. According to Blades, it can take your whole career to see a significant change.

However, despite the challenges she enjoys knowing that her program can help create places not just attitudes. Population-based work also has the advantage of being not as didatic in approach: more encouraging than instructing.

PANO, with its motto "Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice", is mainly about creating partnerships between the health department and worksites, schools, healthcare organizations, and communities. Blades finds the progress they have made so far encouraging. Forming partnerships with local urban planning boards has been one of their recent accomplishments. She sees the program is becoming more widespread and mentioned the recent initiation of "worksite awards" as a victory. However, patience is required. She mentioned despite the changes it can sometimes feel difficult to feel that "you're making a dent." According to her, at those times it's important as a health educator to remember that what you're doing is going to make a difference.

Her advice to budding young health professionals? Get exposure to as many areas of public health as you can. Blades feels her work in a local health department, with an HMO, and now in a population-based effort has given her a good feeling for all things current in public health practice. She particularly mentioned the stark difference between working with a local health department and a state health department, and thinks students should try to get the benefit of both.

After talking to her I was impressed both by her professionalism and her commitment to her program, despite its challenges. PANO is in good hands.

PANO was on the brink of publication of the Utah Nutrition and Physical Activity Plan 2010-2020 when Lynda Blades and I had our conversation. I checked back the other day and saw it was out and online! Check it out at the PANO webiste! You may see changes coming to your Utah neighborhood soon.

CATCH Program to Reduce Child Obesity

2010-04-16T12:26:00.002-07:00

For an obesity prevention class I reviewed the CATCH program to reduce child obesity in schools. It's program components are pretty neat and it's been shown to be effective in Texas in a little as four years. Read on to find out more about it!

CATCH (or the Coordinated Approach to Child Health) has as its main goal creating healthy children and healthy school environments. It does this through an integrated team of elementary school principals, elementary school teachers, PE teachers, food service supervisors, and (when implemented with an accompanying community-based initiative) community representatives.

The program includes family fun nights/events, teacher-led activity breaks in school, social marketing efforts, CATCH community "best practices" workshops, a host of other training and coordination meetings, and a menu of options which communities can choose to include as part of their personal CATCH implementation. Some of these activities include providing opportunities for students to have a taste healthful foods, implementation of school gardening programs, implementation of physical activity breaks during classroom hours and organization of after-school physical activity programs. Because each community gets to choose the options that are right for them, this allows the program to tailor itself to specific community needs.

This program can be compared to Shape Up America, Be Active Eat Well, and other school-based obesity prevention programs. CATCH relies heavily on the recommendations for school health programs from the Division of Adolescent and School Health.

CATCH has measured success by lowering BMI measures from student self-reported height and weight. CATCH schools also show improvements in dietary choices as measured by the CATCH SPAN questionnaire. These effects are much more prominent when the CATCH program is implemented with its community-based component. This program has been demonstrated effective mostly among low-income schools.

If I were a principal struggling with a burden of obesity, I might look to CATCH for some answers...

The Hill

2010-03-22T17:07:00.004-07:00

A few weeks ago I was able to attend the Advocacy Summit in Washington DC with many of the other MPH students in my class. We had an amazing time touring the city and learning about advocacy. We had the privilege of hearing from many public health professionals about various health issues. One of the speakers was introduced as a man who had worked extensively on obesity prevention, specifically in policy related changes. I decided to follow up with this speaker whose name is Dr. Richard S. Hamburg. He is the director of government relations for Trust for America’s Health. Trust for America’s Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization focused on prevention, protection and community.

Dr. Hamburg received a BA in Political Science and a Masters in Public Administration from the SUNY Albany. He worked for a state assemblyman from Queens from 1979-86 as his staff director at the Capitol in Albany. He then joined the American Heart Association as their director of government relations in NYC from 1986-88, and then joined the AHA’s national government relations office in 1988, where he stayed through 2004, ultimately as their national director of government relations. He joined Trust for America’s Health in 2005 as their director of government relations, and became deputy director late last year.

Dr. Hamburg and his colleagues are very focused on childhood obesity and are advocates for better nutrition and physical activity in schools. He feels that policy is an important part of the answer for solving the obesity epidemic in the United States. His passion is policy, but it is also one of his frustrations. His biggest challenge is focusing the attention of policymakers on the issue of obesity and educating them that it is not simply an issue of personal responsibility. He believes there are barriers to sound nutrition and physical activity that need to be removed by the private sector and government.

One of his biggest successes is the passage of the federal stimulus funding package in early 2009, containing $650 million for wellness and prevention funding to reduce tobacco use, promote physical activity and healthy living. He thinks this is a major step for the public health community. Successes like this give him hope that more efforts will be spent to fight obesity in the future.

Dr. Hamburg encouraged me as a public health student to stay current on the health issues not only where I live, but throughout the country. He also of course put in a plug for policy work and how essential that element is to public health. His work in policy is impressive to me because I was better able to see the effectiveness behind health policies in improving health behaviors. I thought it was interesting how he didn’t start out working in policy, but was lead there after witnessing the vast array of health problems in our country. I had an enjoyable experience learning more about policy and advocacy at the Advocacy Summit and also through learning more about Dr. Hamburg.

"Counting Calories"

2010-03-18T16:08:00.006-07:00

I watched a 60 Minutes segment--Counting Calories--for class on the menu labeling efforts in New York. It aired in 2007 so it was a few years out of date, but presented interesting arguments both for and against menu board labeling in fast food chains.

For fast food labeling:

Americans need to SOMEHOW be more aware of what they eat when they eat out! A study done by a Cornell professor showed that people consistently under-estimated (by half!) the amount of calories they were consuming at restaurants.

Against fast food labeling:

The fast food chains shouldn't be singled out just because they already do nutritional analysis of their foods or simply because they're a big and unpopular target. If they're going to be singled out then it ought to be done on the basis of some more objective measure (eg: the number of calories people consume at their stores, etc.)

Practically speaking, the controversy surrounding the passage of this regulation is a definite sign that any time of labeling measure is going to be an uphill battle. Public health professionals interested in taking the food industry on ought to have well-thought out arguments.

The debate continues because menu labeling measures have now appeared in health care reform legislation. The question is, is menu labeling the answer?? Thoughts?

***Look up the video: its' narrated by Lesley Stahl, produced by CBS.

The 750 Pound Man

2010-03-11T12:04:00.005-07:00

I was taking a bite of food when the film started. I immediately lost my appetite.

The story started with John Keitz, his wife Gina, and his mentally handicapped sister Jessie being kicked out of their home. Their landlord refused to renew their lease. The paramedics in that city had developed a system to get him out of the house and to the hospital using a whale harness and a specially designed ambulance.

He checked into a hospital in Ohio saying that he was finally going to lose weight. His reaction to the nurse when she brought in a salad? "I want a hamburger."

They had to use a huge sling to get an accurate weight. While they were rolling him onto the sling he had to be put on oxygen because even that much movement was too hard on him.

While working with the physical therapists, when they asked him if he was ready he said, "If you wait until I'm ready, I won't get better." At least he knew that much. He was going to have to be pushed out of his comfort zone. However shortly following that, it was reported to the head nurse that during the night he ate chips, popcorn, sun chips, and little debbie cupcakes. She had to go in and remove his stash. He tried to convince them that he knew how to manage his snacks.

Most people become obese because they don't know how to cope with difficulties.

When there's not a lot of muscle, there's not a lot of fat being burned, so it's necessary to start slowly, especially when the patient is bed-bound.

He got an infection that originated in his skin (he had a lot of skin problems due to his lack of movement, and the constant pressure on the skin), then moved to his blood stream. He died of septic shock - it killed his organs. Due to his condition, he wasn't able to fight off the infection.

He died at 39.

I think it's really sad when people are in that situation, but at the same time, I can't help but think of what precautions and steps they can take to catch things early and keep themselves from getting to that point.

A nice side story of the video talks about a guy who's in the same nursing home that John is in. Nathan is about 13 years younger than John's 39 years, and not nearly as heavy. He checked himself into the nursing home for the morbidly obese at 400-some pounds. I think it's great to show a story like that. Yes, he's morbidly obese, but he's still walking, and he knows it's a health problem. At the end of the video, he had lost 70-some pounds since checking himself in.

for more, go here.

Interview with Leon Hammond

2010-03-10T21:29:00.004-07:00

Today I had a great conversation with Leon Hammond, executive director of BeeWell Utah. According to Leon, the program's genre is social change entrepreneurship. The goal of the program is to allow communities to come together to solve the problem of overweight/obesity in their own communities. The program in essence is an NGO with an 8-member board of directors, who include Dr. David Sundwall (Director of the Utah Department of Health), a former CDC director and HHS administrator, as well as other business and public health professionals.

Leon admittedly has never taken a class in medicine or public health in his entire life. He has an undergraduate degree in English Lit, a master's degree in philosophy, and an MBA. Therefore, it is his expertise in social entrepreneurship that he brings to the table in the fight against obesity. He and his team go into a community and perform a lot of preliminary research as to what the specific problems and needs of the community may be. Then, they meet together with local leaders, churches, school boards, civic groups, etc. and bring all these entities together to develop a plan to fight obesity. The communities select their tools and target areas from options offered to them by Leon and his associates. Then, as the community moves forward, its members are bombarded with information and advertising because all facets of the community are involved in doing what they can to spread information concerning obesity. The public kick-off of the pilot city (Magna) will be this Saturday.

What is exciting about this approach is that the solutions are unique to each community. The process is the same, but the interventions will differ greatly. I think this offers the possibility for a more lasting impact. Leon also felt that this is the principal strength of Bee Well Utah and the aspect that makes him hopeful that this program will spread throughout the state.

As we concluded our conversation, Leon said something that made me pause for a moment. He said the barrier to success in combating obesity, or any problem for that matter, is that public health is always selling, but its products are not being bought. The key to success in public health, he said, is to ensure that there is a demand and then see that people actually want to purchase (buy into) what public health is trying to sell. It is not enough to just give people information because they will just keep wanting to live in the same manner.

Great interview. Leon was very cordial to me, and the conversation definitely tested me on words that I haven't thought of since I was studying for the GRE.

Healthy Body Healthy Mind

2010-03-04T11:04:00.008-07:00

I was able to watch the DVD entitled Healthy Body, Health Mind, which is a TV series. The particular episode I watched was focused on overcoming obesity. The TV series is produced by the Information Television Network (http://www.itvisus.com/programs/hbhm/ ). The series is centered on doctors making home visits to average Americans and discussing their health issues with them and then advising them how to make healthy changes.

I thought this program was a unique idea of discussing obesity with the public. Instead of being a health DVD that someone might only find at a library, the producers of this series was able to reach television watchers across the country. In this particular episode the doctors made visits to obese adults and one overweight child. One of the main priorities the doctors had was to inform the individuals about the danger of having excess carbohydrates in the diet. Several of the individuals ate low fat foods and enough fruits and vegetables, but they were not losing any weight. The doctors and other health professionals taught them how to count carbohydrates and which foods to avoid. Some of these recommendations were to avoid white flour products, rice cereals, pastas, and certain fruits like raisins, pineapples, and bananas. I thought this was an interesting focus to take on obesity. Usually counting carbohydrates is associated with diabetes, but it also pertains to eating a healthy, balanced diet. To learn how to count carbohydrates, check out this website, http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_food_diet/countcarbs.php.

Often times we hear “eat a healthy diet” as a response to how to overcome obesity; however, from this DVD I learned that focusing on a specific part of a healthy diet can possibly be more effective and manageable. They stressed the idea of food substitution, and that dieting does not have to become a chore, but rather a conscious effort to be healthy. I liked this emphasis because remaining on a diet for a lifetime is usually not possible. Small dietary changes are more effective and sustainable for weight loss.

After watching this DVD, I had a greater interest to learn how to count carbohydrates. I want to learn more about the difficulty level of counting carbohydrates and how sustainable this program is. Last weekend I was able to attend the Diabetes Expo in Sandy and I heard a lot of diabetics talk about the difficulty of counting carbohydrates at each meal and snack. It would be very helpful to find an easier way to do this in order to help diabetics and others eat healthier and lose weight. It would be interesting to follow up on other interventions using carbohydrate counting to lose weight and compare the success with other types of diet interventions.

Community Gardens

2010-03-02T11:46:00.003-07:00

In preparation for the grant proposal (due today!), our group has looked over the Community Gardens project, and even modeled our own grant proposal around some of the main tenets of the Community Gardens project. Here is a brief overview of Community Gardens.

The vision of the project is to increase opportunities for Utahns in low-income neighborhoods to participate in gardening to improve health.

Goals:
1. Educate the public about the value of gardening to improve healthy eating and physical activity patterns and the availability of community and at-home gardening resources.

2. Create new community partnerships and a policy team to develop community gardens and home gardens in low-income neighborhoods in Salt Lake and Weber Counties.

3. Improve access to healthy options by working together with low-income neighborhood leaders and community members to develop community gardens, offer gardening workshops, and provide technical assistance for at-home and community gardens.

Stakeholders for this project included KUTV2 News and Univision (a Spanish language media partner), Governor Huntsman's Office, Utah DOH, Wasatch Community Gardens, Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, Utah Department of Human Services, Utah Commission on Aging, the SLC Mayor's Office, Weber-Morgan Health Department, 5 A Day Association of Utah, IFA, Girl Scouts of America, University of Utah, Utah State University - Extension, and Borski Organic Farms.

It is obvious that this project reached far into community organizations to build support among those who were already plugged into potential community resources.

The project's activities included collecting proposals from community organizations throughout the state to start community gardens. 10 proposals were selected and funding was provided to develop community gardens associated with schools, churches, low-income housing communities, and boys and girls clubs. The aim of the project was to target low-income communities, and with the exception of a charter school, all of the projects had access to low-income participants. A tool library was maintained in case additional supplies were needed. They could be borrowed by an individual project and then returned.

The intitiative can be compared to Wasatch Community Gardens, which is a group of community gardens thoughout the state. One of the aims of this program was to strengthen the capacity of Wasatch Community Gardens.

As far as evaluation, the final report from the project states that evaluation fell outside the timeline of the project. That sounds like a cop-out, and I hope that evaluation has been performed to determine if future efforts should be made to expand upon this program.

Supersize Me!

2010-03-02T11:22:00.005-07:00

Every time I eat at McDonalds, I feel sick afterwards. This is not to say that the food doesn't taste good (because it does), but there is something about that food which my body likes to reject. Because of its effect on me, I avoid eating at McDonalds at all costs. In the past 5 years, the only times that I've eaten at McDonalds were in China when either my wife or my visiting mother couldn't take eating any more Chinese food. So when I rented "Super Size Me" a couple of weeks ago, I knew that it likely couldn't increase my repulsion for the double arches; however, the documentary while not increasing my disgust, did give me some wonderful facts to throw around about what McDonalds' food will do to your body.

The director and star of this documentary, Morgan Spurlock, decided to eat nothing but McDonalds food for 30 days. He had to try everything on the menu at least once and had to super size his order every time that the cashier invited him to do so. Before he started this experiment, he was medically tested by 3 doctors and found to be in remarkable health. By the end of the month, he had gained nearly 25 pounds (17 of these pounds were gained in the first 12 days), consumed 5,000 calories a day, and ruined the health of his body. All 3 of his doctors warned him that if he continued on this diet, he would soon die. His cholesterol, triglyceride, and liver enzyme levels were off the charts.

After the experiment was over, it took about 15 months for Morgan's body to return to how it was before the experiment started. BAD NEWS.

Lesson learned? Fast food is not good for you, and it will kill you if you eat it all the time. I know that this food is really cheap and calorie dense, and because of that readily becomes a staple to those of lower socio-economic class. This shows that there is a need for policy to help people have the freedom to make better eating decisions.

There is, however, a matter of free will in the matter. Should people be allowed to eat whatever they want? Isn't it their life? Morgan did find that he was becoming dependent (addicted) to the food, though, and that is another thing to consider when weighing policy options.

In summary, go rent "Super Size Me" and let me know what you think about it. It will be a well-spent $1.99 at Blockbuster.

Targeting the Taqueria

2010-03-01T14:09:00.004-07:00

Steps to a Healthier Salinas

Targeting the Taqueria: Implementing Healthy Food Options at Mexican American Restaurants

http://hpp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/10/2_suppl/91S.pdf)

I love this intervention for many reasons. First, it is a perfect example of a culturally tailored message. Instead of attempting to change Mexican cuisine, this intervention encourages taqueria owners to simple make a few food preparation changes to make their menu items healthier. They also tailored all of the educational material to the proper audience, which helped diffuse the information more effectively. Second, this intervention empowers members of the community to take responsibility for the health of others. I feel that if the whole community came together to promote good health we would see much lower rates of obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. It will be interesting to read the results of this intervention when the analysis is complete and to see how this intervention can be implemented in other areas.

Vision and Goals

The vision of this intervention was to develop partnerships to promote healthy communities with nontraditional partners, such as the owners of taquerias in Salinas, California. The intervention was aimed to use community health workers to help foster cultural links between underserved communities and efforts to improve health outcomes. The goal was to empower the owners of taquerias to offer healthier menu options as well as encourage their customers to choose the healthier options. In the beginning of the study only 16 taquerias were chosen to become partners; however, an end goal of the intervention was to include all taquerias in Salinas in the partnership.

Stakeholders and Leaders

The stakeholders in this intervention were the CDC because they funded the program as well as the owners of the taquerias and their staff members. Another stakeholder could be the people living in Salinas who frequent taquerias because they were affected by the intervention. The initial leaders of the intervention were members of the Stanford Prevention Research Center; however, their goal was to empower the taqueria owners to become the eventual leaders of the intervention

Actions Taken by the Program

The first step was to become familiar with taquerias and their owners and then to stress current health issues in their community that they could help prevent.
Partnering with local taquerias to help them become promoters of healthy foods for their community.
To educate taqueria owners about offering healthier food options such as whole beans, whole wheat tortillas, and fresh fruit.
To provide food preparation suggestions such as using less fat in food preparation, increase vegetables in menu items.
Improving access to healthy food options in disadvantaged communities.
Providing taqueria owners with a “healthy nutrition tool kit” which included information about diabetes, social marketing of healthier foods and health education visuals (such as portion size posters).
A small grant program was developed through the ‘Steps to a Healthier Salinas’ that allowed taquerias to apply for funds to help change their photo menus to look more appealing and healthy.

Comparable Programs and Possible Partnerships

This intervention is one of the eight initiatives funded by the CDC to help foster healthy communities in the United States. I have read a few of the articles and all of them focus on community partnerships and empowerment. A similar intervention to “Targeting the Taqueria” was an intervention entitled “Rock on Café” (http://hpp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/10/2_suppl/100S). This intervention also worked with nontraditional partners to improve the nutrition of a specific group of people. Instead of taqueria owners, cafeteria workers were empowered to make healthy changes in the school lunch menu to help prevent obesity and diabetes among children. The target audiences were different, but the principles of the intervention were very similar. I feel like the taqueria intervention would partner very nicely with a community garden effort. Fruits and vegetables are often not included in one’s diet due to economic barriers or not having access to these foods. Having a community garden in the disadvantaged areas of Salinas would allow individuals to cook with and eat more vegetables and fruits when they dine at home. Taqueria owners could also use the community gardens to supply their vegetables and fruit for their menu items. This could reduce costs and enhance feelings of community ownership. A great article on a community garden intervention in an underserved community can be found here: http://hpp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/10/2_suppl/146S.

Measurement of Success

The results of this intervention have not been published yet and they have not defined how they will measure their success. In the conclusion statement they mentioned, “It is hoped that this innovative, tailored intervention, which is responsive to community needs, will have a sustained positive influence on the large and growing Mexican American population that is at high risk for obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.”

I feel that success could be measured in a variety of ways:

*The percentage of taquerias that have adopted healthier food options in Salinas

*Feedback from the taqueria customers about the healthier food, their health, etc. gathered through qualitative data (surveys or in-depth interviews)

*Increased awareness of diabetes and obesity among taqueria customers in Salinas

*The percentage of customers choosing healthier menu items

Return to UPHA -- Web 2.0

2009-05-12T17:04:00.003-07:00

Carl, Mike, Emily and I are preparing for next week's UPHA conference in Midway, Utah! We're excited to share more experiences with Web 2.0 and public health. Please let us know what thoughts, questions or concerns you have about this topic.

Neonatal Health

2008-08-15T19:51:00.009-07:00

This t-shirt was a gift from Bri's life flight crew:

Life Flight 24/7

My first foray into MPH posting...

Many of you know that our long-awaited baby was born in early July. Bridgette spent the first two weeks of her life in the NICU at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo and at Primary Children's Medical Center in SLC because she couldn't eat or stool, both of which are obviously critical to survival. She was eventually diagnosed with Total Colonic Hirschsprung's Disease, meaning, her large intestine doesn't function. It will be removed when she is big enough, at approximately 20-25 lbs. Until then, she has an ileostomy and requires some special care. We are hopeful that her ileum will adapt over time and play the part of both small and large intestine, although her digestion will never quite be the same as someone with a working colon.

I have had ample opportunity over the last month and a half to consider the excellent medical care that was at her immediate disposal and without which she would not have survived. Nothing to highlight the many discussions we share in classes about global health care like watching your own daughter struggle to live. I kept thinking, "What if she had been born in ____________?" or, "What if Dr. __________ hadn't been so close?" and, when that first bill for $30,000.00 came along, "What if we didn't have health insurance?"

"Failure to thrive" has a whole new meaning to me now. Bridgette has an uncompromised drive to thrive, but until she received the correct treatment, her illness made her appear despondent and uninterested in life. That same assistance is not available to so many babies. How many infants die and are simply diagnosed with "failure to thrive" when they could and would have turned into proper spitfires given adequate health care?

Kelly, Jeff & Bridgette Johnson with Chewy & Piper the Pups

Just wanted to share my new found emotions about the topic. Hopefully they will kindle a little fire under the aspirations of anyone interested in maternal/child health. We all have personal stories that have led us to the MPH program, and now I feel more strongly about our position and responsibilities than ever.

Dia de Salud -- healthy eating and diabetes-friendly food

2008-08-13T09:02:00.012-07:00

Last night, I attended Dia de Salud at Centro Hispano (819 South Freedom Blvd, Provo, UT 84601) hosted by Community Health Connect. Maria Lopez was giving a presentation on healthy eating and diabetes friendly foods. She presents on the first Tuesday of every month.

Turnout was decent (9 adults, 4 teenagers, and a bunch of kids), but everyone was very attentive and stayed the full hour. Mrs. Lopez's presentation seemed interactive and very engaging.

Two Spanish-speaking volunteers, a LPN and an EMT, also conducted blood sugar and blood pressure testing. They wondered how effective the blood sugar test was since many of them had just eaten.

Her food was not only healthy, but looked and tasted wonderful too!

Some attendees were not able to report how they heard about Dia de Salud. The event is advertised through flyers, posters, and health educators/professionals at Centro Hispano, Community Health Connect, Mountainlands, and UCHD. Teresa Tavares also advertises at community English classes she supervises. They have also spread word through Spanish newspapers and TV news programs. The poster was modified to be more culturally appealing based on feedback from key informants.

Mrs. Lopez's daughter, Elsie, usually supervises this event as an intern for Community Health Connect. Lisa Schiffman, MPH, also provides support and health communications consultation.

Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

2008-07-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Grant asked me some time ago, and he has been quite patient, if I would share with the group what I have been up to since I left the south end of the RB. So here's the scoop...

I came out to D.C. to take an internship with an organization I had admired from afar for some time. The name of the organization is Ashoka, named after an Indian king in the 3rd century B.C. who was very progressive in terms of serving the public good, renouncing war, and dedicating his life to social welfare. The Ashoka I work for describes itself as the "global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs-- men and women with system changing solutions for the world's most urgent social problems." What does that mean? A social entrepreneur is often compared to a business entrepreneur with a similar sense of innovation, ambition, and tenacity in pursuing their vision and in creating practical institutions around their idea but in the case of a social entrepreneur the primary motivation and drive is in response to a social problem. A quote from the founder, Bill Drayton, summarizes it nicely, he says, speaking of these social entrepreneurs, "they are not content to give a man a fish, or teach him how to fish, they will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry." The industries being health, education, human rights, the environment etc.

A few examples of their fellows in health:

Abel Albino is a physician in Argentina who was troubled with the status of childhood malnutrition in his country and responded by developing an entire system of lactation clinics and low cost "micro-hospitals" which are extremely efficient and cost effective due to a creative engagement of community volunteers and probono medical services.

Rani Bang was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 but Ashoka discovered her in 1984 at the very beginning of her work. She revolutionized health care in a poor rural area in India by building health services were designed by listening to the wants and needs of the local people, creating a unique blend of traditional medicine, government, and private services.

Rita Sembuya in Uganda has been the first to systematically respond to the unaddressed and complex issue of infertility in her country.

Every Ashoka Fellow has an amazing story and is doing absolutely incredible work. I enjoy being in their international headquarters to meet and hear the stories of their Fellows when they come through the office. If anyone ever wants to hear more feel free to get in touch and I'd be happy to spout off a few more. Go Cougs.

More on Media and Public Health

2008-07-19T13:59:00.011-07:00

Well that UPHA presentation sure has stirred up a lot of conversation and action! One person I met at UDOH, said that she now has three blogs instead of one and is working on developing an arthritis blog for her program. Can't wait to see it!

Another result of this program is my new position at the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program at UDOH as a media specialist. I was just compiling some information about media, social marketing and public health and thought I'd share it here.

First, the video called Brochures to Blogs is a great resource (produced by the California Department of Public Health Immunization Branch). It summarizes the need for public health professional to have a presence on the web. I say check it out (even though I'm not a huge fan of the background music).

Watch the rest of the video here.

Second, one of the experts interviewed on that video is from the National Center for Health Marketing. There website is another great collection of resources like examples of success (e.g. REACH's marketing efforts (4.62 MB)) to global health applications.

Third, I heard about a keynote address at the recent UPHA conference by R. Craig Lefebvre, PhD. Apparently I totally missed out because he spoke on "The Mobile World and Behavior Change." If you attended it, please fill me in. In the mean time, I found his blog and really like his post on Segmenting Black America. Another great resource.

Fourth, after just a few clicks, the Guide to Managing U.S. Government Websites has already given me simple ways to make improvements of the Diabetes Program's website.

Finally, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has a research-based guide to usable and useful websites (usability.gov). So far I'd say it's straightforward, easy to navigate, and ... practices what it preaches. It has a lot of great examples of how to organizations using their guidelines as well.

There you go! Hope this helps. Let me know what you think of these!

[UPDATE] We are gearing up at UDOH to develop an updated web presence based on the above guidelines. Speaking of, a colleague just forwarded this article to me, titled New Media Cases in Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing: The Promise and Potential. Check it out and please share your thoughts!

Future applicant to the program

2008-06-27T09:27:00.002-07:00

Meet Brianna McKell, MPH (c)

Newly installed Adobe Creative Suite 3.3 Design Premium

2008-06-09T09:32:00.004-07:00

The MPH administration loves us! CS3 Premium was recently installed in the 126 RB Lab on computer #4. This is a potentially powerful tool for public health professionals. If you have questions on how to use it, try the online help, visit the multimedia lab in the Lee Library, or for examples of potential applications ask Lisa Schiffman about her Family Health History Toolkit.

Adobe® Creative Suite® 3.3 Design Premium combines Adobe Bridge CS3, Adobe Version Cue® CS3, Adobe Device Central CS3, and Adobe Acrobat® Connect™ with full new versions of the following components:

* Adobe InDesign® CS3
* Adobe Photoshop® CS3 Extended
* Adobe Illustrator® CS3

* Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional
* Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3
* Adobe Acrobat 9
* Plus Adobe Fireworks® CS3

Here is what past MPH students had to say about Adobe CS3:

Grant Sunada

I believe that InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat would greatly expand our skills, effectiveness, and marketability as public health professionals -- specifically when it comes to social marketing, health promotion, health advocacy, and other aspects of health communication. It will also help us more effectively frame the issues we address.

Lisa Schiffman

You already know that I am a fan of adobe products, that is why I splurged and bought them. I mainly used InDesign and Photoshop and adobe professional for pdf files. I'm not that familiar with the other programs, but maybe I would be if I knew how to use them. I'm an advocate for access to Adobe products. They are very useful if you know how to use them.

Lisa Morris

Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator would have been good for our social math assignment. I would love to know how to use Adobe Dreamweaver. This could have been used with our project in Mike's class.

Erin Johnson

I think I would have used Indesign and Photoshop if we had had it.

Jun Yanagishita

So you want to know how helpful Adobe is? The following are what I've seen in job qualifications: Dreamweaver, InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.

Marin Poole

Learning the Adobe Suite during class projects would provide an excellent skill to take to the job force. I know that photoshop would be valuable many times in laying out information pages and within presentations. It would also be useful in developing social math posters during Mike Barnes' class.

Heather Sanders

Yes, I think it would be really helpful. The InDesign training we went to was really helpful.

Web 2.0 and Public Health -- As seen at UPHA Conference 2008

2008-05-21T16:51:00.013-07:00

(Click on "Menu" then "Web 2_0 and Public Health" to view it in full screen)

Carl and I had a great time presenting information from the upcoming publication in the American Journal of Health Education (Hanson, C.L., Thackeray, R., Barnes, M.D., Neiger, B.L., & McIntyre, E. (2008). The changing face of Internet communication in the 21st century: Integrating Web 2.0 in Health Education Preparation and Practice. American Journal of Health Education. [In press]). The crowd was very responsive and asked a lot of great questions. If you have questions too, please post them as a comment.

I enjoyed the presentation on Personal Leadership by Joyce Gaufin, BS. She was actually using ideas from The Leadership Challenge (as seen in Carl's class), which provided me with a bit more than a review since I had the added benefit of hearing the perspectives of public health professionals.

The final speaker was Nicole Hawkins, Ph.D. whose presentation on "Understanding the Pressures Placed on Women to be Perfect" ended with a quick summary of the nutrition philosophy of intuitive eating. Thanks to Dr. Steve Hawks, many current and past BYU public health are already fans of it. I certainly am a convert and can't wait to learn more about it!

The scenery and the conference center in Midway were both wonderful. On a personal note, sometimes my public health, Air Force, and LDS worlds overlap. I actually met a UDOH staff member whose family knew mine in Ohio 25 years ago.

In addition, a friend who was attending the conference recommended I try a 5-day old restaurant on Main Street -- The Cafe Galleria. What a great chance to give intuitive eating a try!

The place is a combination of a photo art gallery and wood fired pizza restaurant straight out of Italy, but right in the middle of Midway, Utah. As you can see below, I ordered a pizza with prosciutto (\prō-ˈshü-(ˌ)tō\) and fresh basil. Those toppings, mozzarella, great sauce, and crust simply melted in my mouth. I kept monitoring my body's satisfaction level. The pizza was so light compared to most "American" pizza, I ended up eating the whole thing! I've learned that one way that my body tells me that I have overstuffed myself is through feelings of grogginess. But after a couple hours, I still feel great.

Has anyone else had similar experiences with intuitive eating principles?

BYU MPHers Attend the 2008 Health Education Advocacy Summit in Washington D.C.

2008-05-20T23:16:00.008-07:00

One of my favorite experiences during the BYU MPH program has related to the Health Education Advocacy Summit, hosted by SOPHE and made possible by the leadership of Dr. Michael Barnes and the funding of Mary Lou & Ira Fulton.

This year, we were able to increase our numbers to 20. This led to us building greater connections between faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates; meeting with representatives from a wide variety of states; eating a lot of great food; and making memories to last a lifetime. The sites to be seen and spirit to be felt in our nation's capital seemed to be amplified for me as we walked (and sometimes ran) back and forth between the Senate and House sides of the Capital building, advocating for public health programs and funding which have been shown to prevent disease and promote health on a population level and in a diversity of communities.

In between and following Hill visits and workshops, we able to tour Smithsonians, galleries of art, and monuments. What a blast!

Stay tuned for more about this!

For statistical purposes only...

2008-04-09T17:14:00.002-07:00

Just wanna send out a public props to Mike B for sending out that alumni MPH survey. Honestly, I really enjoy taking surveys (TAKING, not administering nor analyzing).
And double props for the t-shirt reward! So benevolent of the department.

Caribbean Food & Nutrition Institute - Jamaica

2008-03-31T09:57:00.006-07:00

This is an example of what the class of '08 considers "Public Health work," the locals just call it "Dunn's River Falls, Ocho Rios, Jamaica." I was there to check for cryptosporidium & cholera. Luckily we didn't find either, just beautiful clear water, sandy beaches, tourists and plenty of sunshine. Although not one of my official PH duties, I did make sure that appropriate skin cancer prevention measures were taken by family.

PH-related website

2008-02-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

Check this out:
http://www.peterrussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php

MPH Multicultural Health Summit

2007-11-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

Dr. Randy Page and the BYU Master of Public Health program hosted its first Multicultural Health Summit on November 29, 2007. The summit featured addresses by Owen Quiñonez, MD; 1st Year students, Rachel Beene and Steve Watkins; and 2nd year students, Emily McIntyre and Grant Sunada. MPH faculty and students also discussed cultural competency over lunch as 2nd year students shared lessons learned from their "cultural plunge" assignments.

I was most impressed with the buzz in the room following the summit. The summit seemed to prompt discussion about a topic that is sometimes ignored like a big pink elephant in the middle of the room. I hope that this will lead to deeper and broader discussions and applications in our lives as public health professionals.

Kicking off the holiday season...from the first year's professors.

2007-11-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9602017635

New Video from Randy's Class

2007-10-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

Check out the new video on the right called "Teaching Lab for Randy's Small Group Interventions Class" featuring Emily, Jonathan and the rest of Cohort V.

"I Want to Know What You Did Last Summer" Brownbag

2007-09-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

----------------
Now playing: The Special A.K.A. - Guns of Navarone [Live]
via FoxyTunes

School beginnings, Reunions -- Fall 2007

2007-09-08T13:29:00.003-07:00

Trying out the 2nd Year Student Lab and still playing with Lisa S's baby:

Cohort IV Reunion!

2007-09-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

Fieldwork and Project

2007-08-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

So the new student council leaders asked some of the 3td (!) years to jot down some ideas and thoughts on their fieldwork and project experiences. I should start by saying that if any new first years or the new second years have questions or anything, call me (573.239.7706) or email me (meredithbergin@hotmail.com)!

My project and fieldwork were combined. That is THE WAY to do it. It is possible to do them seperately, but you are signing yourself on for some misery in my opinion. I went to Amman Jordan with a International Volunteers group led by the amazing Hala and carefully monitored by the fantastic team of Carl (first three weeks) and Ray (last three weeks). I had a team of seven undergrads and we worked with the ministry of health on an anti tobacco campaign for college students. Well, technically i had two things going on. My technical fieldwork was doing presentations on nearby campuses and my project was designing curriculum and then implementing a small-group oriented tobacco cessation group. However, midway through the summer, my tobacco cessation group tanked, so I switched (with approval from my committee) the offical titles and made the university presentations my official project and the small group my fieldwork.

I sent emails to my committee once a week, and for the last half of the trip I was lucky becuase Ray, my chair, was in-country. If you do go internationally, go somewhere fun! But preferably not when the surrounding countries declare war on each other. It was definitely a growing and stretching experience. I didn't know that I could do half the stuff that I ended up doing.

You probably feel a little overwhelmed, and you should - its healthy! But remember that your committee is there to ensure that you succeed! Get to know your profs as soon as you can, find their research interests, and get the show on the road!

Guyana to Barbados to Puerto Rico to America

2007-08-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, I love to see pictures more than read stuff, so this is gonna be tons of pics. This is me with the last group of youth that I helped trained to be HIV/AIDS peer educators. It was a very diverse group.
This is me and Matthias in Lethem. He helped by biking me to different houses to that I could administer a survey to the youth in this hinterland region. This region has Amerindins-indiginous people- and they are so kind! Lethem is right on the boarder of Brazil and so I crossed into Brazil for an afternoon to eat some beef on a stick and drink some Guarana.

These are some of my soccer boys. I would play soccer with neighborhood kids most nights after work, that is, if the field wasn't flooded from all the rain. They were always happy to see me cause I brought the ball-yes, I brought a soccer ball to Guayana. Once a PE teacher, always a PE teacher.
These last two fotos in Guyana are my favorites! Every Saturday they would have baptisms at the chapel. It was a little crazy at first to see them get baptized in chocolate brown water(which is how all the water is in Guyana) but very special and powerful!
This is a photo with a few of the kids in the primary which I taught for 3 weeks because the primary president had gone inactive. I had 17 kids, ranging from ages 2-12, for 2 hours. To make this more of an adventure, 3 were recently baptized and 12 were there because their parents were investigating the church. It was crazy town, but behaved pretty well because I promised them each two cookies. Oh, the power of a cookie!
I loved Guyana, but the beautiful beaches of Barbados were heaven! Megan and I covered the island by riding busses all over the island and had one relaxing day on a cruise to swim with the turtles and fish! So fun.
On my flight home from Barbados, I had an 8 hour layover in Puerto Rico. I could just sit in the airport, so I jumped on a bus to see the city. I went near the castle and cathedral in San Juan and then went to the beach. I was back at the airport with 45 min. till my flight left. It was pretty sweet, but not advisable if you don't speak the language! I almost didn't make it back on time. Anyway sorry if this is really long, but I had a great time and can't wait to hear about everyone elses adventures!

A discussion with TBAs in rural Cambodia

2007-07-22T04:24:00.000-07:00

Hi again everyone!

I finally got some pictures up. Internet (let alone anything fast enough to upload an image or video) is hard to come by here in Pursat. Hopefully you'll enjoy this update, I had to work hard to make it! =D
I was privileged to be a part of a focus group with 12-14 TBAs at a health center here in Pursat Province, Cambodia. When we showed up, it was pouring rain hard and all these 60-80-something women were all waiting patiently inside on the floor. They were just beaming with wisdom.

This woman greeted us (that's Miss Panak with me, she's the Assistant Director for RACHA in Pursat Province) in traditional Khmer fashion and shared a story about a pregant woman she heard about in her village who gave birth in a rice field while she was working and he the baby in her pants while trying to walk out of the rice field!! Yikes!!!

The Ministry of Health and RACHA have developed a wonderful relationship with these TBAs through exhibitions of respect and training sessions. All of these TBAs wholeheartedly stated that the health centers and hospitals are the ideal place for a woman to give birth due to possible obstetric complications. They also receive a small cash bonus for every birth they refer to the health facilities.

Here's a video of an adventure of mine coming back from church last week -- http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5754722944766258461&hl=en

Can't wait to hear more of your adventures too!
Grant

From the sticks of Cambodia!

2007-07-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Hello from Pursat, Cambodia!

We've it's been almost 3 weeks since flying into Phnom Penh. Now I'm in the countryside and really loving the fresh air and great hospitality! I've visited 3 health centers and one hospital so far in this province. Every road except the main interprovince road (and a few in the main town) are dirt and during the rainy season (now) they're especially bad, but not impossible! I had a real treat yesterday when I was driven to Pramoy ("elephant's trunk") to visit their health center. What a wonderful mountain village with even better fresh air and great views of their mountains! The health center has a minimum staff and very few members of the villages they serve can make the long arduous trip to receive services.

I was just visiting with Dr. Khoy Dy, the Provincial Coordinator for RACHA in Pousat, the other day and it was a treat to hear his vision for the province, … how he sees the different units of RACHA supporting each other (safe motherhood, infectious disease, malnutrition, etc…), … how his staff helped the province prepare for the dengue fever season and have seen the lowest incidence rate in the country, … how he is working to establish locally sustainable programs such as a pilot community-based health insurance program, … WONDERFUL!

Missing all of you!
Grant

Responses

2007-07-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

I am so proud that I guessed the closest due date for the MPH baby! I am coming to Utah just to pick up my prize, congrats!
In response to questions about classes and computers: You are an idiot if you do not take grant-writing! Alright, that might be a strong statement, but I can't think of anywhere you could end up where it would not be useful. I think taking it second yeaer wasa good choice. And I think that taking one elective per semester is just about perfect. I did not feel that a laptop was at all necessary, you'll only end up surfing the web and not paying attention.

I love public health!

drugs or grants?

2007-06-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

It's me again! I am trying to put my schedule together and wanted to ask how the electives work. Basically does it turn out to be one elective per semester? How come the electives are on Tues/Thurs? That kind of messes up my plans (ha ha). I am interested in the grant writing class. Is is a lot of work? Would I be better off taking substance abuse first semester and saving grant writing until second year? I don't want to kill myself off right out of the gate. Words of wisdom second years?

Thanks,
Kristin Brown

Mac or PC?

2007-06-26T06:32:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

As an incoming student I was curious how many of you brought laptops to class for notetaking, internet stuff, etc. I know there are carols with computers that are assigned to us, but I wondered how useful a laptop might be----(imperative? helpful? a luxury?) Anyone with advise?

Kristin

Who guessed Baby Schiffman's B-Day & Weight

2007-06-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

The Doctor guessed Ammon's birthday (Schiffman says that he doesn't count though) -- 6/6/07

Emily M., Megan D. & Meredith B. were the real winners since they all guessed 6/5/07

Becky & Whitney came the closest to guessing his weight -- 8lbs. 2 oz. (compare to actual below)

Prizes will be given out once school starts!

New Arrival!!!

2007-06-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

Well, luckily the human gestation process does not last approximately a year as was suggested by one first year MPHer (and Aaron's wild guess for the birthday). I don't remember what people guessed for the date and weight, but our MPH baby has arrived! I'm sure someone guessed the right day and perhaps even the weight. (It wasn't I! I was hoping for a May delivery!).

Birth Date: June 6, 2007, 10:56 pm

Length: 20 inches

Weight: 8 lbs 4 oz

Mom and baby are both doing fine! The baby is a night owl, so I have been trying to adjust to my new schedule. My husband blames me for staying up late to finish my homework. But I never stayed up as late as this child does! He is a sweetheart and laughs in his sleep. He looks mostly like his father. He had Jaundice the first week after he was born and had to sleep under the Billy lights for a few days. So if he looks like he has a dark tan, that is really the Jaundice. He is doing fine now.

It has been fun to follow peoples' postings though I haven't been on the internet for a couple of weeks. I'm glad that everyone is having an adventurous summer!

BYU professor creates Spanish anti-smoking ads for Utah Hispanics

2007-06-11T17:18:00.000-07:00

Again, not a MPH faculty member or student, but still related.

BYU News Release.

Videos of the series of 4 ads.

New job!

2007-06-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hi people -

You are reading a post from Utah County United Way's newest employee!

I had the 3rd interview today, and must have really done a good BSing job, because they just love me and think I'm fabulous and offered me a FT position starting June 18th! The title is "Resource Developer." The office is less than 2 miles from our house, so that's a big plus.

So - if you end up employeed out in the big, bad corporate world.... remember - become a United Way sponsor!

Oh - Brian and I just returned from an awesome week vacation in Denmark. Had a blast. Little upset that they didn't have free water fountains or bathrooms though.....

PAHO: This just in....finally

2007-06-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Everyone!!!!

I have been meaning to do this weeks ago. I am so excited about our MPH blog and say hats off to Grant for using his mad-technical skills to improve our lives, our program, and bring us all together during our summer adventures away. I echo Emily, that I miss you all. We really do have an amazing cohort and I miss seeing you every week, day, almost every night. I look forward to more good times in the Fall, but for now am so excited that we get to all have the time our lives in different corners of the world.

So Washington, DC and PAHO. Fantastic. I'll post pictures of the crazy PAHO building on 23rd street. Definitely wins the award for the most unique building design of the area. I think the UN or WHO have a special knack for that. Anyway, I work on the 8th floor with Chris and a bunch of other people. It is a place I affectionately call, "DC's little Latin world" because the people who work there all speak spanish (and working english), come from Latin American countries, and can spend their lives living and working in DC without having to speak much english. My cubicle is 827E, in case you want to come visit. Oh, and don't forget to check in with the security guard/reception table by the front door before getting on the elevator as I did my first day. They get all excited. ;-)

I spend my days doing research, particularly on Peru. I'm putting together a health profile of Peru, but which is more like a background-of-partnering groups for the LDS/PAHO Partnership which is coming underway. They plan to begin implementation of some IMCI projects starting in the Fall. I'm learning TONS and reading a lot in spanish, including the webpage for the Ministry of Health there in Peru. Sadly, I don't think I'll be flying there this summer for any related project, however, there still remains hope for possibilities during the school year. We shall see...

There are several other interns...mostly M.D.'s: 2 from Haiti and 1 from Nicaragua, and a medical student from Arizona in her 3rd year. Also, there is Andrea, another 1st year MPHer just like me, from Vancouver, BC. Actually, she is from Austria, but studied in Norway and Canada, and is hoping to get accepted to a medical school in the US. She's a lot of fun. Tonight we are going to a ballet together at the Kennedy Center, which is just a short walk down from PAHO after work. I'm excited!!!

Sight-seeing opportunities have been enjoyable. On Memorial day I went to Arlington Cemetery and heard the President speak. I went to a Poetry reading at the National Library of Congress. We've been to the DC temple!!! A group of ward friends went to Mount Vernon for an afternoon. I've toured the National Masonic Temple in Alexandria. Right behind my apartment building (and across the freeways) is the Pentagon and the new Air Force Memorial which we call "homebase." I've enjoyed a National's baseball game, and lunch at the World Bank. My roommates are really great. One works for Senator Harry Reed as a scheduler, one is from Ukraine, and one is trying to get into the Peace Corp or work for a non-profit organization. They're all amazing.Marin and I are in the same ward!! So that makes us very happy! I ran into Erin's brother on the Metro one Sunday after church! Crazy. And then Dr. Mirta Roses was at Tobacco Free World Day in Conference room A, which is when I got to take a picture with her. A day before there was a random firedrill and we all cleared the building and I saw her on the sidewalk talking to a man next to us. Random. She's pretty busy and travels a lot, so she's not always here at PAHO.

Well, there is so much to say but not enough time! I hope this gives you a glimpse into my PAHO internship! I'll post more later. Love you guys!

Christine

Thanks for posting and reading! Keep it up!

2007-06-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

If case you wondered who all checks the blog, I have a report for you. People from all over the world (but mostly Provo/Orem) are reading this blog -- WAY TO GO! And we're just getting started. =D Click on the images to see the details.

This data was collected between May 20th and June 4th, so those who visited between April 27 (when I started the blog) and May 20th are not represented on the map.

Hello All

2007-05-30T19:42:00.000-07:00

This is Kristin Brown, a "newbie" next fall. I am really excited to get to know you all and learn from you all the tricks of the trade. I hope you will pass on your nuggets of wisdom to us so our path might be a bit smoother. I am also excited about this blog! Thanks, Grant, for setting it up! I have little to offer at this time, but have and will continue to enjoy reading what you all post. Have a great summer.

Kristin Brown

Lesson learned: Stay on your toes!

2007-05-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow MPHers,

Amanda and I are pleased to report happy news -- we are back on track to Cambodia! The key phrase that seemed to keep rising to the surface is "Know your stakeholders!" After becoming more familiar with the policies of the Fultons and our college, department, and program, we teamed up with Prof. Don Holsinger and a group of BYU-Hawaii students for our trip to Cambodia! We will be sharing housing while we are there, which sounds like a wonderful situation and should greatly enrich our experience. We even have our plane tickets now! Our date of departure is the 24th of June.

In the meantime, we are finishing the preliminary paperwork, I am wrapping up my internship with the Center for Multicultural Health and the Utah County Health Department, and I get to take a break by doing a little bit of sprinkler system work on the side!

Thanks everyone for keeping me up-to-date on the blog! Thanks for all your support!

PEPFAR retreat to Bagaanara

2007-05-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

We were able to be Part of a PEPFAR retreat to Bagaanara!! We went with the leaders from USAID, UNAID, CDC, Peace Corps and the Ministry of Health. There was also the Washington DC based part of the PEPFAR Guyana team. They were putting together the plan for 2008. It was amazing to see them work, discuss programs and understand how PEPFAR unites all of these groups. It was also a beautiful resort on the Esiquibo river. We took a 2 hour bus ride and then a 1 hour boat ride to get to the resort. We were there for 2 days! We were invited by the USAID director Julia Reihwinkle-Roberts. She has been very kind to us. The picture is Annah and Asmita in the speed boat.

This is Annah doing Karaoke with two girls from the Washington DC PEPFAR Core team-Guyana. She tore it up for a song, but got self conscious. The other two girls sang it up for about half an hour. I played Ping pong with the Program directors daughter-Ashley. It was fun! We had a first big rain storm and it left many of our neighbors flooded with about a foot of water. It was crazy. Hope everyone is doing well! Rock on everyone!

Peace from Guyana

Lori and Annah

Assorted Tidbits

2007-05-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

I am heading to Palo Alto later this week to get to this new job o'mine. For anyone who does not yet know, I accepted a position at Stanford at the Asian Liver Center as a Global Projects Coordinator. I am way excited, but finding housing has been frustrating. But I think I am almost there.

And Chels, I think it would be okay to pass on the sacred dart gun, but only if the new Second Years realize the incredible honor and trust that is being given to them!

I am loving reading what everyone has written, keep it up!

fuming but good

2007-05-21T11:10:00.001-07:00

Hey guys!

I am so glad to hear about everyone's adventures. So glad to be out of school too. I still can't believe that we actually made it through our first year. We are pretty amazing!

As for me, I have been washing windows quite steadily for the past few weeks to earn some extra cash. Seeing that Grant and I did not recieve any money from the Fulton grant, I will have to wash a lot of windows to pay my way. I am still pretty upset as the reasons why we were not funded, but just don't get me started. Grant keeps me level headed about the whole thing, so I am glad he is around for that.

Nothing much else to report. If you we wondering, I have no boyfriend nor prospects at this time. That boy who will remain nameless that came to biostats that one time is no longer in the picture.

Well, wish Grant and I luck as we try to find some funding to go. Grant is unsure that he will go if he does not have funding. I don't really want to go by myself, but I will if I have to. Take care, and I will keep you all posted!

Amanda

Barefoot and Pregnant

2007-05-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

I hope you are enjoying your summer. Mine has been nice and relaxing so far. I have done my baby shopping, studied my books on labor and delivery (I've even looked into Hypnobirthing, though my husband thinks its weird and my sister calls it "hippy birthing"), and I have a years supply of baby clothes (if I turn out having a girl, I'm in trouble--Girls can still wear blue can't they?). We bought a carseat, so I can bring the baby home when he comes. I'm full term now, so no premie. I am basically just waiting for the next couple of weeks until the baby comes. I've been catching up on my sleep and making baby quilts. This week I have been volunteering at the temple and getting things ready for our Enrichment activity. So far so good.

I'm kind of on the same page as Jonathon though, can anyone explain to me about the MPH practicum??? It is too bad that childbirth isn't listed as a fieldwork option. Maybe they'll consider it for next year. Anyway, I miss you all. I hope that you are having fun in your various adventures. Keep posting. Until later . . . Lisa Schiffman

Hi from LA

2007-05-12T23:40:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Well, I'm loving my fieldwork and LA. Its beautiful here...you can go to the beach any time (not only do I go to the beach during the day...this week I took up going at night....so fun!) and its warm and really just lovely! I'm working on some great stuff with the show! The LA media market is simiar to New York's in many ways but is also a little different.

I've met some wonderful people here and am really enjoying my time. But I miss all you first years a lot! We were like a little family over the last 8 months and I honestly miss seeing you guys all the time!

I hope all of your fieldwork is going well! Take care everyone!

Teens with Babies and Dreams of Better Things

2007-05-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

I relate so much to what all of you are saying...particularly the "overqualified/underqualified" bit. I was just beat out of an environmental health position by a PhD in Toxicology--why would a PhD accept a $19/hr job? I am still working at the YWCA Teen Home (for teens with babies). I am also a temp--yep, a temp--at the health department. The best irony is that I had previously turned down a second interview with the same people I am temping with because "it wasn't paying enough". Now I am eating my words since I am getting paid much less as a temp. Lesson learned? I'm not sure.
So, I just presented my research at the Utah Environmental Health Conference in Bicknell, Utah (does anyone know where that is...maybe chelsea). I am counting down the days before I head out to New Jersey and then Europe for other presentations. I miss school--at least you always knew what to expect.

Anderson's

2007-05-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

Rachel and Maddy are doing well. We took Maddy in a few weeks ago to get her one year immunizations. They gave her 5 different shots and she didn't cry until the third one. She's tough like her mom.

I've been playing a lot of intramural sports: soccer, softball, kickball (yes, they play kickball here). I'm even thinking of lobbying for intramural 4-square. Who's with me?

We're having fun. I'm taking Organizational Behavior classes in Spring and Summer. They're going to count as my electives so I won't have to worry about taking any other elective classes, which is nice. I'll just have to worry about something they call the "practicum" in the handbook. Someone will have to tell me what that is.

I'm also working two part-time jobs and I've been golfing a little bit. I guess I'm getting two semesters worth of bottled energy out.

We'd love to hear about what everyone's doing over the summer, so be sure to post your journal entries here.

Duck hunting

2007-05-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

I have been cleaning out my desk area here in SFH 74, as I will soon be kicked out in order to make room for the rising generation.
After much internal struggle and introspective debate, I have decided to leave the coveted dart gun here. The next group deserves to experience the joy of shooting the ducks, just as we have.
This is, of course, pending approval from M-Death. I believe she had the closest relationship with the gun and ducks...

Overqualified and Underemployed

2007-05-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

So, I had a mtg w/ Kye Miner last week, and she advised NOT to go on and get a DrPH, as that would likely close a lot of doors for being overqualified. I thought to myself, "noooo....that's ridiculous. Who would not hire someone for being TOO good?!"
But as circumstance would have it, I just received a response from a Healthcare Software Management Company in Springville I half-heartedly applied to .... they "have chosen not to go forward with employment, as your [my] resume overqualifies you [me] for the position."
ARRRGHHHHH

Wanted: Fellow Administrator

2007-05-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

I could use the help of a co-administrator of this blog. Please let me know if you can help with this. Duties would involve maintaining the blog by moderating posts/comments and encouraging appropriate parties to participate.

Thanks.

Guyana!

2007-05-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

We have been rockin' Guayna. That's our place-it rocks and is very safe. We have 4 guard dogs. Since we have been here we have met with the country director of UDAID, had dinner with the CDC coutnry director, met the President of Guyana and haven't been shot yet! It's been great. We do work very hard and have been putting in 45-50 hour weeks. Lots of work to do down here! Here are some stories.

Lori's story-Today it was raining really hard and I tried to run out to see if it was our taxi. I walked towards the car and the guy made a motion, but I wasn't sure if it was "stay" or "come". So, I kept going and basically ended up trying to get into some guys car who was there to pick up his colleague. A bit embarrassing. Another taxi story, one of our taxi drivers was watching a music video while trying to drive us around. We thought we were going to die!

Annah's story-Another story involved Annah's white legs. A lady walking by nearly broke her neck staring at Annah's white legs and the look on her face was priceless!

Annah also has several men after her-Ray and Frankie, to just name two. (JK)

Good Idea!

2007-05-09T04:38:00.000-07:00

This is a great idea! Props to Grant! And for anyone else who is concerned about me being in Missourah during these floods, my town isn't effected at all. I like you all!

BYU researcher helps show the cost of kids losing health insurance: more than $2,000 each

2007-05-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Not our faculty, students, or alumni, but still pertinent:

BYU researcher helps show the cost of kids losing health insurance: more than $2,000 each

Updates as of May 1st

2007-05-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

I've heard from two of our cohort members who have left the greater Provo area.

First, Emily M. has arrived in Los Angeles. She lives very close to the LA Temple and it only took her 20 minutes to get to Paramount Studios where she started her internship TODAY! She's already been to the beach.

Christine W. is on the other side of the country now waiting for her ride from Cheryl S. (BYU MPP student interning at the Heritage Foundation's Health Policy office) at the Dulles Airport. She'll be living right next to the Pentagon in Pentagon City! YAY!

And I can't wait to hear more about everyone else's adventures!

Welcome to the BYU MPH Blog

2007-04-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

MPH Mission Statement
Promote community and family-centered health by training public health professionals to strategically plan, implement, and evaluate health promotion solutions that improve health and well-being. Emphasis is placed on reducing preventable diseases, injuries and health disparities among underserved or at-risk populations in both domestic and international settings.

BYU MPH Blog Mission Statement
To support the MPH program's mission statement and provide a place for students, alumni and faculty to record their public health experiences.