Ryan Landi's Public Health Blog

Ryan is originally from Rockford, Illinois. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Augustana College (Rock Island, IL) in 2009. He is a third year dual degree Master of Public Health (MPH) in Policy and Master of Health Administration (MHA) student. He has completed internships with TRICARE Management Activity in San Diego, CA and the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Health Care System (ICVAHCS) and is continuing to work on the University of Iowa’s Emergency Preparedness Plan with the State Hygienic Lab. The past couple years, Ryan has served as president of the environmental group, ECO Hawk, which he helped form with other College of Public Health (CPH) students in the fall of '09. He also served as the VP of Professional Development on the Iowa Student Association of Healthcare Leaders (ISAHL). As a GRA for the MPH program, Ryan will meet with prospective students and keep them updated with current MPH events via Twitter and Facebook and can be followed on his blog located on the CPH’s website.

This student blog is unedited and does not necessarily reflect the views of the College of Public Health or the University of Iowa.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Happy Friday and Election Week!



Happy Friday!

I hope all made it through mid-term election week and whether you were happy or sad on the results, I think we can all agree it will be in interesting next couple years. To lighten up the mood at the end of the work week and to transition into the weekend, I have included the video above of Meghan McCain on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.

In other more relevant policy news and classroom time, I was reminded again by professor Dr. Kaskie of how important Public Health is in our society and how intricate public health measures are woven in the new health reform law (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). Dr. Kaskie is my advisor and was guest lecturer of the law colloquium I am taking this fall. Some of the highlights from the lecture included :
  • Government can purchase vaccines in bulk, but not prescription drugs
  • Funds were approved to use medication to improve smoking cessation efforts aka (use drugs to get people from using another drug)
  • $50 million is not a lot to implement new programs to all states
There is always going to be different opinions and compromises amongst federal agencies, states, city officials and individuals. A person has to realize that policy, especially those in public health, do not occur or evolve overnight and with patience and persistence we can make change happen and improve the HEALTH of our communities. A great example is tobacco policy, which has taken decades to transform a culture into everyday smoking to one that is hardly thought of as the norm.

I am interested to see how the rest of this year pans out on the news networks, but at least for now we can all rest and let the results of the mid-term election marinate on our brains for a bit!

Have a great weekend!

Ryan
Posted by Ryan Landi at 9:43 AM

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