MPH student Aaron Caldwell at APHA
Several students from the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health attended the 142nd American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Exposition, which was held Nov. 15-19 in New Orleans.
It was the first time attending the huge (10,000+ attendees) meeting for Felisha Crosby, an MPH candidate and a Clinical Team Manager for the UAMS Department of Respiratory Care Services.
Ms. Crosby says she chose to attend the meeting “to network, receive information on other DrPH programs, to improve my professional skills and employment, and gain knowledge from professionals that have made contributions to public health.” Some of what she enjoyed most was the opportunity to hear the latest information, straight from public health experts, about Ebola, as well as management for COPD, new knowledge that she can apply in her job at UAMS.
Aaron Carroll, student in the MPH program and the COPH Student Council president, was also new to the APHA meeting. For him, the large meeting meant lots of networking opportunities with people “from all walks of life.”
“I was able to sit down and talk with Ph.D., DrPH, MPH, and BS/BA students about public health and learn from their journey,” Mr. Carroll said. “I was also able to explore the amazing booths at the Expo hall and learn how many organizations are directly involved in supporting the public health cause.”
He says he brought back useful information about public health advocacy and “some great ideas about things we could do during Public Health Week.”
Neither student presented or had a poster at the meeting, but are looking forward to doing that at a future meeting.
“I feel that every student should attend the APHA conference,” Ms. Crosby said. “It was an awesome experience, and I plan on attending the 2015 APHA conference.”