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Student Announcements
Oct. 10th Student Council Meeting
Make your voice heard! We will be discussing college-wide upcoming events and projects for the academic year that you can get involved in. Students are encouraged to attend! Tuesday, October 11th at 12:00 pm, COPH Room 1202. Lunch will be provided for the first 15 students.
2016 Health Care Policy and the Law Symposium, September 30th Free for COPH Students
Access to Health Care in Arkansas
September 30, 2016
UALR William H. Bowen School of Law
Presenting Sponsor:
Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield
Sponsors:
UALR William H. Bowen School of Law
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
$20 pre-registered/$30 at the door
Register online: http://ualr.edu/law/
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
Save the Date! 2016 UAMS Alumni Weekend
Mark your calendars for the second annual all-UAMS Alumni Weekend August 19-21.
This year, we hope you are able to attend all or part of the reunion activities. The weekend will most definitely be an opportunity to network and reconnect with public health alumni and as well as those from across UAMS.
Alumni will soon receive a printed invitation and email with the full schedule for this fun-filled weekend. Registration for the weekend is $50 and includes the Chancellor’s Reception, Continental Breakfast and the Showcase. Alumni may also choose to attend other events which are priced separately.
Here are some highlights:
Friday, August 19 – Chancellor’s Reception.
Saturday, August 20 – UAMS will host a Continental Breakfast and give an update about research, education and patient care at UAMS, followed by a showcase of informative sessions that dive deeper into leading-edge programs, technologies, and research. You may bring a guest at no charge.
Midday on Saturday, each college will host a luncheon and tour from 12 to 2 pm. The luncheon is $15 per person. The COPH Alumni Luncheon will be a great opportunity to network and participate in a facilitated discussion along your fellow COPH alumni.
Saturday, evening, a casual “Southern Supper” on campus, along with live entertainment promises to be a great way to relax and have some fun for only $45 per person.
In short, the weekend is the perfect opportunity to reconnect with your college and see how it continues to fulfill its mission for improving the health of all Arkansans. It will make you even more proud to be an alumnus of the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health.
One may register for the full weekend or by individually priced activities. Look for a printed invitation and email soon with the full schedule for this fun-filled weekend.
Career Fair and IRB Workshop Conclude Spring Series for Students
The Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health (COPH) will host the Spring 2016 Career Fair on Tuesday, May 10, in Bruce Commons from 10 am to 2 pm. COPH students are encouraged to attend and to bring with them their resume, transcripts and portfolio to share with prospective employers.
About 30 Central Arkansas employers have been invited to participate. They include non-profit organizations, corporations, hospitals and other health care providers, state and federal agencies, and the military.
“The purpose of the fair is to connect employers with students and expose students to the many career opportunities available to them,” said Marie Walker, MA, Public Health Practice Coordinator for the COPH Office of Student Affairs (OSA), which is organizing the event.
The fair is in response to student requests to the OSA for assistance in finding employment after graduation.
“It is something we have always wanted to do for students,” Ms. Walker said. “We hope to make the fair an annual event every spring and that it will grow every year in employer participation.”
Back by popular demand, Edith Paal, MSJourn, MPH, gave a presentation on March 30 to COPH students about the UAMS Institutional Review Board (IRB). Ms. Paal is the Director of the UAMS IRB Office. She presented last fall on the same subject.
Her presentation covered what student researchers need to know about UAMS IRB requirements for conduct of a study. She also explained how to navigate CLARA, UAMS’ online system for submitting information about a study. The first step is completing a human subject determination form on CLARA to find out whether a research project will require IRB review.
Ms. Paal told workshop attendees to never assume that their research won’t require a review and skip that step.
“We strongly advise against guessing or relying on the opinions of those around you,” Ms. Paal said. “You need to get an official determination from the IRB.”
A phone conversation or email with someone in the IRB office does not constitute an official decision.
“The ONLY ‘official determination’ we make is the one done in response to the form ,’” Ms. Paal said.
Waiting to submit a request for determination until after the project is underway is a huge mistake which may create regulatory headaches for UAMS and could mean delay or termination of a study.
“Don’t wait to submit the form. Do it before you start,” Ms. Paal said.
The IRB workshop and career fair conclude the OSA’s 2015-16 Professional Development for Students series. Other events included workshops in the fall semester on the IRB and APA document formatting and a workshop on job interviews that was held in February.
Biostatistics Journal Club, Tuesday, Apr. 5th at noon
The Biostatistics Journal Club meets on Tuesday, April 5th, 2016!
The place is: COPH 2280
The time is: 12:00 – 1:00pm.
Our speaker will be: Page C. Moore, Ph.D..
Seminar title is: “The Delta Garden Study: Results and Challenges.”
Abstract:
Adverse health outcomes, including childhood obesity, require new strategies for enhancing children’s and adolescents’ adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The primary aim of this study, the Delta Garden study, was to test the effectiveness of a science-based school garden program for increasing fruit and vegetable (FV) intakes of middle school students. The study used a quasi-experimental, repeated measures, nested, pair-matched design utilizing 6 intervention (school garden) schools and 6 control (no school garden) schools, including over 2,000 6th, 7th and 8th grade students nested within 4-6 science teachers per school. A self-report FV questionnaire (FVQ) was developed for use specifically with school garden programs, and was tested for validity (comparison with concurrent 24-hour recalls) and reliability (test-retest). Subsequently, the validated questionnaire was used to measure the proportion of students who had at least a ¼ cup increase in fruit and vegetable intake from the previous time-point (baseline, midpoint, final). Here the validity of the FV questionnaire, main results and some of the challenges faced from the Delta Garden Study will be presented.
March 8th “Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative and the All-Payer Claims Database”, Public Health Seminar
March 8th, 12 noon – 1 pm
College of Public Health, Room 3202
Joseph W. Thompson, M.D., MPH
Director, Arkansas Center for Health Improvement
Kenley, Money, MA, MFA
Director, Information System Architecture, Arkansas Center for Health Improvement
T. Mac Bird, Ph.D., MS
UAMS, COPH Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management
Tuesday, March 1st Biostatistics Journal Club
Seminar title is: “Sensitivity Analysis in Observational Studies: an example in a study examining the association between SUD quality indicators and mortality using VHA data.”
The place is: COPH 2280
The time is: 12:00 – 1:00pm.
Our speaker will be: Song Ounpraseuth, Ph.D..
Abstract:
Propensity score methods and regression-based covariate risk adjustment approaches are generally used to control for differences in comparison groups based on observable characteristics. A complication to examining the association between receipt of care and mortality using observational data is that the amount and quality of care received by patients could differ for those who are relatively severely ill in a way that is unexplained by the measured data on patient risk factors. Here, we apply a sensitivity analysis approach described by Lin and colleagues (1998) to examine how large an effect an unobserved confounder would need to be to invalidate our statistically significant findings.