The University of Kentucky College of Public Health is undergoing a lot of changes. So National Public Health Week organizers decided it was time to go big.
“We want to set a new tone and be out in front in our community and on campus so people really understand what our profession is all about,” said Scot McIntosh, director of student success at the Lexington, Kentucky, college of public health. “With a new dean here, she’s challenging us to go big or go home.”
In addition to recently welcoming a new dean, the school is also undergoing a strategic planning process and pursuing Council on Education for Public Health accreditation. In fact, it was the strategic planning process that revealed just how many people on campus do not know what public health is, said Angela Carman, DrPH, MBA, CHE, an assistant professor and director of practice and experiential education at the College of Public Health.
So, to help raise visibility, the college’s NPHW observance kicked off with a Bachelor of Public Health Career Fair. During the fair, students from the Bachelor of Public Health Program, which began in 2014, presented posters on career options for BPH graduates.
On April 5, students could hear from Christopher Jones, PharmD, MPH, director of the Division of Science Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, via a phone conference. NPHW organizers invited staff and colleagues from other state public health programs, from other Appalachian region schools and fellow health professions students.
University of Kentucky public health students hosted a week full of campus events to celebrate National Public Health Week.
Photo by Justin Sumner, courtesy University of Kentucky College of Public Health
McIntosh said it was difficult to estimate how many people packed into rooms to hear the call, which focused on the prescription drug and heroin epidemic, but at least 100 people tuned in.
Visibility was back on the calendar on April 5 and 6 with a #WeArePublicHealth Walk and the Student Research Spotlight. During the walk, more than 100 students, faculty and staff, many sporting matching T-shirts that said “Health for All, Y’all,” marched around campus handing out information about public health.
At the research event, undergraduate and graduate public health students showed off their latest research with oral and poster presentations. Honour McDaniel, a BPH student, presented her research on the state’s infant mortality rate in relation to home visitations. She said it was a great opportunity to reach younger students.
“Overall, I feel like the week helped create a sense of community and brought students to feel more connected to the college,” McDaniel told The Nation’s Health. “It made us proud to be a part of this college.”
For more informayion on the college, visit www.uky.edu/publichealth.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
