Student SPHere 2008-09

I forgot to do a rundown last week, so here we go:
Last Monday also saw the first practice of the Confounders. We're an intramural Ultimate Frisbee team that began last year, courtesy of Epi students Noel and Casey. Our team comprises of students from many programs in the SPH, so it's a great way to get some exercise and meet new colleagues. We took second place last spring and work well together so we plan on playing as a team for a while. Maybe forever.

This past Sunday we won our game against Oi, Oi, Oi. They were a pleasure to compete with and our 15-1 win will set the tone for the rest of the season.

Friday I attended Dr Tim Meade's presentation on his work with Tiny Tim & Friends. Debby Caselton and Stephanie Hengst, both MCH students, helped organize this great event. Dr Meade spoke about Tiny Tim & Friends' objectives in helping AIDs orphans in Zambia medical care and educational support. To see "before and after" photos of children with HIV is remarkable. It doesn't cost much to feed and medicate them in order to return to a healthier state of being. At the same time, there are only so many people they can help due to labor and financial limitations. They are always looking for volunteers so please consider adding this to your list of possible field experiences.

Currently my classes are shaping up nicely. This semester I am particularly excited for PubH 6802 - Managing Electronic Health Information and PubH 6617 - Practical Methods for Secondary Data Analysis. The first course is mainly about acquiring new information for me; database management is unfamiliar territory so I'll have a good time learning. Because I took Demographics for Public Policy last spring - a highly recommended course for anyone interested in learning to utilize large datasets or into policy research - STATA isn't quite the beast as it once was, so I'll be reinforcing what I've learned and then some. At least I don't have nightmares about it anymore.

This week I look forward to working on my thesis; my topic focuses on patient satisfaction across different variables such as age and type of insurance. What's my specific question? That's a good question. I hope to read more related literature and begin to narrow down a question. Only 24 more school weeks before my deadline.

If you are interested in traveling to South America for your field experience, this Wednesday marks the first SPH Public Health and Cultures Monthly Series for the academic year. The theme is "Celebrating Hispanic Month," with SPH students Mercedes Estrada Recinos and Noel Mueller presenting on their experiences in Guatemala and Colombia, respectively. It runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 3-125 Mayo. See you there.