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Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health

COPH News

Recap of 2016 APHA Annual Meeting and Expo

APHA’s Annual Meeting and Expo was held in Denver, Colorado on October 29 – November 2, 2016. The theme of the conference was “Creating the Healthiest Nation: Ensuring the Right to Health”

APHA 2016 Meeting and Expo
APHA 2016 Meeting and Expo

Kristy Jones Caldwell and Marie Walker represented COPH at the expo booth in search of the best and brightest students and also shared employment opportunities for open faculty positions.  They were joined by a host of students, faculty, friends, and others with Arkansas ties during the week.  This event serves as the largest, single recruitment effort for the college and this year proved to be another success.

Kristy Jones, MPH at APHA 2016
Kristy Jones, M.P.H., Student Recruiter

Highlights of the APHA 2016 meeting are available on the APHA Annual Meeting Blog.

Marie Walker, MA, Preceptorship Coordinator at APHA 2016 conference
Marie Walker, M.A., Preceptorship Coordinator
Nadia Siddiqui, M.P.H. and Marie Walker, M.A.
Nadia Siddiqui, received her M.P.H. in Health Policy and Management at UAMS College of Public Health (pictured with Marie Walker)
Johnnie Smith attends APHA conference. Mr. Smith works with Dr. Karen Yeary and Dr. Keneshia Bryant on faith-based research project in Pine Bluff
Johnnie Smith attends APHA conference. Mr. Smith works with Dr. Karen Yeary and Dr. Keneshia Bryant on faith-based research project in Pine Bluff (pictured with Marie Walker)
Kristy Jones, MPH and Pastor Jerome Turner at APHA 2016
Pastor Jerome Turner who works with COPH research projects attends APHA 2016 Conference (pictured with Kristy Jones)

Dec. 8th @ 4:30 pm, “Living On One Dollar” Public Health Film Series

HOW DO 1.1 BILLION PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD LIVE ON LESS THAN $1 A DAY?

Please join the Office of Student Affairs as they host the first film in the Public Health Film Series:

LIVING ON ONE DOLLAR

56 DAYS   | 56 DOLLARS  |  HOW DO YOU SURVIVE?

Thursday, December 8th

COPH 8th Floor Auditorium

4:30-6:00pm

Living on One Dollar - Trailer

A panel discussion will follow to discuss the impact of the film on global, health behavior, epidemiology and environmental health matters.

Nov. 9th, “What Is” Series on Health Policy and Management

WHAT IS SERIES

 The Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health Office of Student Affairs

Presents

What is Health Policy and Management?

Now That The Election is Over, How Will the Results Impact Public Health?

In collaboration with the Health Policy and Management Department

Please Join Us As

J. Craig Wilson, J.D., MPA

Director, Health Policy

Arkansas Center for Health Improvement

Explore the Challenges Impacting Health Care After the Election

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

College of Public Health Building, room 3202

12:00noon – 1:00pm

Biostatistics October 4th Journal Club

Biostatistics Journal Club

October 4, 2016
12:00p.m. – 1:00p.m.
COPH 2280

Amanda L. Golbeck, Ph.D.
Professor, UAMS Department of Biostatistics

Early Statistical Methods for Evaluating Faculty Equity Issues

Abstract

The American academic women’s movement began in the late 1960’s. It was noted early on that there were women faculty with equivalent training, experience, responsibilities, and productivity to men who were being paid less. Statisticians and others began to document and estimate the extent of these differences. In 1970, a study reported results of simple additive linear models of salary; this study included sex among the explanatory variables and presented correlations within a statistical testing framework. In 1972, a second study used these same methods with data on full time faculty members that came from a large national faculty survey. In 1972 and 1973, several more studies used these same data but improved the statistical methods in a number of ways that will be discussed in this talk. These improved studies promoted use of the statistical methods for purposes of advocacy: Build a regression model for male salaries, use it to predict women’s salaries, and advocate for individual increases when actual salaries for women were lower than predicted. The American Association of University Professors became involved and catalyzed many local studies around the country that used regression models to advocate for salary increases. These studies uncovered a number of problems with data; there have been many misuses of linear models in affirmative action; and there have been criticisms of using individual rather than statistical remedies for discrimination indicated by linear models.

  • Golbeck AL. Statistical methods in academic salary equity studies: The early 1970s. Proceedings of the 1st International Statistics Conference in Croatia, 2016.
  • Golbeck AL. Equivalence: Elizabeth L. Scott at Berkeley. Chapman and Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, forthcoming.

What Is Series begins September 28th with Environmental and Occupational Health

The Office of Student Affairs is pleased to announce the “What Is” series.  This hour long, interactive series will allow departments to discuss with students the significance and opportunities available in a specialty area of public health through discussion, short film, and presentation.

We will kick-off the series with the segment:

“What is Environmental and Occupational Health?”

 In collaboration with the Environmental and Occupational Health Department, join Dr. Rosalind Penney, faculty in the EOH department as she leads the discussion.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

College of Public Health Building, room 3202

12:00 noon – 1:00pm

The first 25 attendees will be treated to lunch

COPH Graduates Large Cohort

2016 C O P H Honors Graduates at Convocation
2016 Honors Graduates

Congratulations to the 2016 Class of new public health graduates, as well recipients of student and faculty awards! The group includes one of 17 Master of Health Administration graduates – one of the largest cohorts of recent years.

Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Public Health Graduates

Avery Cato

Donita R. Fells

Christina Hopson-Allen

Karis J. Strevig*

Master of Health Administration Graduates

Christina Jeannette Campo

Elizabeth Sarah Cohen*

Jordan D. Coleman*

Margaret Downs*

Amberlie D. Jones

Kevin E. Keen*

Jonathan Ray Koonce

Christopher D. Meyer*

Rizan Mohsin

Susan Wright Parham*

Syed Hamza Qadir

Jeanne Elyse Rabalais*

Jennifer M. Rable*

Keaton Ramaker

Carlos Sepulveda

Sarah Grace Spinks

Noel C. Uzick, Jr.*

Master of Public Health Graduates

Lisa Michelle Alley

Zoe Alexandra Anaman*

Charles T. Bedell

Joeline Margaret Brown

Cody Burnett

LaTonya Ratesa Bynum

Ashley Nicole Clark

Andrew Richard Cox*

Brian Scott Delavan*

Leanna Marie Delhey*

Kathleen Elizabeth Fletcher

Breanna Nichole Harris*

LaQuisha Renee Hervey

LaKaija Jaleesa Johnson

Stephen Bolton Kirchner

Katherine Jessica Leath*

Tezel Anya Lightbourne

Elena Magrans*

Molly Gayle Miller*

Patricia Lynn Minor

Yusuf Syaeful Nawawi*

Antoinette Nicole Newburn

Racheal Helen Odom*

Kripaben Patel

Alicia Lynn Phillips

Anuradha Policherla

Danele Annis′ Poole

Vinay R. Raj

Debra Leshun Randolph

Signe Larson Rebolledo*

Rebecca M. Scissors

Asa West Shnaekel*

Nell McGinnis Smith*

Madison Spriggs

John Emeka Ukadike

Randall W. Walker

Tamier L. Wells

Shaquina Danielle White

Catherine Sue Williams*

Doctor of Public Health Graduates

Austin Porter, III

Student Awards

Delta Omega Honorary Society Student Inductees:

Brian Delavan, Breanna Harris, Katherine Leath, Elena Magrans, Molly Miller, Jeanne Rabalais

Dr. Jan S. Richter Health Behavior & Health Education Scholarship: Breanna Harris

Fay W. Boozman Textbook Scholarship Award: Di Chang, Mary Skaggs

Edward F. and Carol C. Stewart Scholarship for Academic Excellence in Public Health:

Di Chang

Fay W. Boozman Public Health and Community Service Scholarship Awards:

DeIvory Howard, Catherine Scarbrough, Halie Moreno

David Bourne, M.D., MPH, Public Health Physician Memorial Scholarship:

Brian Kennedy, Michael Scott

Sonya T. Askew Student Council Award for Outstanding Public Health Student:  Christopher Meyer

Master of Health Administration Outstanding Student Award: Margaret Downs and Christopher Meyer

Jeanne D. Weiss Award: Susan Parham

Faculty Awards

Student Council Award for Outstanding Public Health Faculty Member: Saleema Karim

Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching: Martha Phillips

Faculty Award for Excellence in Research: Igor Koturbash

Faculty Award for Excellence in Public Service: Alesia Ferguson

Student and Alumni News

Graduating Students Shine with Final Project Presentations

Culminating Experience Projects Presenter Kathleen Fletcher

Twenty-one UAMS COPH Master of Public Health students marked the conclusion of their degree program with a presentation on their Culminating Experience projects earlier this month. Their topics spanned a broad range of public health concerns – tuberculosis, infant deaths, health literacy, obesity and diabetes, to name a few. With their projects, students demonstrated competency across public health disciplines and produced findings that in many cases will be valuable to Arkansas health practitioners.

StudentPresentationMPH SpecialtyCE Committee(chair name underlined)
Charles BedellUtility of Genotyping in Evaluation of TB Program in ArkansasEpidemiologyLeonard Mukasa, Ruth Eudy, Barbara Fuhrman
Latonya BynumThe Role of Depression in Effective Chronic Disease Management:  Application of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System FindingsHealth Policy and ManagementRuth Eudy, Appathurai Balamurugan, Leanne Whiteside-Mansell
Ashley ClarkSugar Sweetened Beverages and High-fat Food Consumption Among College Students at a Historically Black CollegeHealth Behavior and Health EducationNickolas Zaller, Elaine Prewitt, Taren Swindle
Leanna DelheyPerinatal Factors Associated with Attention Deficits in the OffspringEpidemiologyMartha Phillips, Brooke Montogomery
Kathleen FletcherAssessing Patient Education Information:  A Field of Study on Health LiteracyHealth Policy and ManagementKevin Ryan, Krisite Hadden
Breanna HarrisHealth Literacy in a Medically Undeserved PopulationHealth Behavior and Health EducationAlexandra Marshall, James Selig
Katherine LeathA Case Study of Reducing Student BMI in Rural Arkansas SchoolsMACS/MPHKevin Ryan, Martha Phillps
Tezel LightbourneUsing Pre- and Post-event Surveys to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Health Message Conveyance in AA & Hispanic Barbershops & Beauty Salons: An Evaluation of the AR Minority & Beauty Shop Health InitiativeEpidemiologyVictor Cardenas, Tiffany Haynes
Elena MagransEvaluation of the Relationship between Low Health Literacy and Hospital Admission Rates from the UAMS Emergency DepartmentM.D./MPHKeith Williams, Kristie Hadden
Patricia MinorThe Impact of the Patient Centered Medical Home Model on Patient SatisfactionHealth Behavior and Health EducationCarol Cornell, Elaine Prewitt, Laura Rule
Yusuf NawawiIdentification and Utilization of Potential Genetic Biomarker of Breast CancerEpidemiologyMohammed Orloff, Rosalind Penney
Racheal OdomComparison of Lyme Disease Diagnosis in Neighboring States, and Areas of Different PrevalenceEpidemiologyMohammed Orloff, Dirk Haselow, Rosalind Penney, Marisha DiCarlo
Alicia PhillipsImplementation of Office Policies to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates in Free ClinicsHealth Behavior and Health EducationPaul Greene, Holly Felix
Anuradha PolicherlaAssessment of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SIDS) Related Training Policies in the U.S.Health Policy and ManagementHolly Felix, Karen Yeary
Vinay RajTrends and Projections in Hospital Stays of Patients with Diabetes Melitis in Arkansas and U.S.BiostatisticsKeith Williams, Becky Adams, Ruth Eudy
Deborah RandolphReducing Vitamin D Deficiency In At Risk PopulationsHealth Policy and ManagementHolly Felix, Karen Yeary
Signe RebolledoElucidating the Relationship Between Health Literacy and CT Scans in the UAMS Emergency DepartmentM.D./MPHKeith Williams, Holly Felix
Asa ShnaekelAssociation of Health Literacy with Clinical Outcomes After Total Joint ArthroplastyM.D./MPHKeith Williams, Kristie Hadden, C. Lowery Barnes
Tamier WellsIncreasing Knowledge of Healthy Eating Habits of Children through Parent EducationHealth Behavior and Health EducationNickolas Zaller, Victor Cardenas
Shaquina WhiteAutomation of the Aggregate Report for Tuberculosis Program EvaluationBiostatisticsPage Moore, Leonard Mukasa
Catherine WilliamsAutomation of the Aggregate Report for Tuberculosis Program EvaluationBiostatisticsKeith Williams, Morris Cranmer

MHA Grad Fellowships and Awards

Five 2016 graduates of the UAMS COPH Master of Health Administration degree program have accepted administrative fellowships this year. This is the largest number of fellowships the program has placed in a single year. The recipients:

Chris Meyer                Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Little Rock, Ark.

Margaret Downs         Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas

Rizan Mohsin              American College of Healthcare Executives, Chicago, Ill.

Jeanne Rabalais         UAMS, Little Rock, Ark.

C.J. Uzick                   Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Pine Bluff, Ark.

Three 2016 graduates received MHA program awards, which were presented at COPH Convocation on May 21:

Margaret Downs and Chris Meyer – joint recipients of the Outstanding Student Award.

Susan Parham – recipient of the Jeanne D. Weiss Award, which is presented each year to the outstanding part-time student graduate.

HPM Doctoral Student to Present at Pharmacy Conference

C O P H Student Xiaocong Li
Xiaocong Li

Xiaocong Li, who is a student in the UAMS COPH Health Systems and Services Research Ph.D. Program, will present on the findings from her study, “Quality of Life in Post-myocardial Infarction Patients and Caregivers,” at the Southern Pharmacy Administration Conference June 25 at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.

MHA Alumni Promoted to New Leadership Position at Baptist

North Little Rock Baptist Health Medical Center Vice President of Patient Services John Bowen, M H S A
John Bowen, MHSA

John Bowen, MHSA, who graduated from COPH in 2010, has been named assistant vice president of Patient Services at Baptist Health Medical Center-North Little Rock. Effective May 30, Mr. Bowen will be responsible for the on-site management of support services and Baptist Health integration, supporting efficiency in the delivery of healthcare services.

Bowen began at Baptist Health in 2012 and served as assistant vice president and night administrator at the Little Rock facility. Since May 2013, Bowen has been the assistant vice president and administrator for Baptist Health Medical Center-Arkadelphia.

“While at Arkadelphia, John has been successful in opening three rural health clinics and coordinated several collaborative initiatives among the Baptist Health regional hospitals,” said Steven Webb, vice president and administrator for Baptist Health Medical Center-North Little Rock. “We’re exciting to have him on our team.”