Obama Visit

On Wednesday, April 25th, Obama came for the second time since my start at Iowa in Fall of 2009. Both times, I have been able to see him speak, which have been amazing opportunities, especially this past week. I was able to see him speak this time because I volunteered as part of my role interning for the Marketing and Communications for University of Iowa Healthcare. 


He talked about a topic that is on the top of any students' mind that is graduating....paying off student loans! Seeing as I will be graduating in two weeks, this was a very important topic and one that I tried to read up on. As for the promotion of President Obama's speech, it mainly focused around undergradaute loans and raising them to the interest rates at which my loans are already at. I could see why this would be a big deal, because those graduating with their Master degrees, on average earn more than those graduating with their BA.


I am grateful that I have a position lined up after graduation as an Administrative Fellow at a VA hospital in the Chicagoland and hope as the the economy continues to improve, more and more graduates find their way into a successful first position. 


However, being of the public health mind, I just read an update this morning on Huffingtonpost.com that the White House is threatening to veto a plan put forth by House Republicans to reduce student loan interest rates by pulling money from the Prevention and Public Health Fund, a funding stream set aside by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to support preventative health initiatives across the country. In my mind, this would be devastating to public health measures outlined in the ACA and I would hope any of you that are entering the public health field to always pay attention to the POLICY details before standing behind any decision being proposed and to learn the politics behind statements by either side of the aisle.


~ Ryan

March Madness - April Recovery

So as you may have noticed, I took a little bit of a break in March. This was due to a lot of traveling I did over Spring Break and the two weeks after attending two conferences. I'll describe the conferences I attended, as one is an annual conference I have been going to the past three years as part of the Health Management and Policy Department and the other through my Aging Fellowship.

ACHE Congress

The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress is an annual conference for those who are interested in Healthcare Administration, including students enrolled in a Master of Health Administration (MHA) program like myself. I have been going to the conference for three years as part of my graduate program and have been able to network with many professionals that have led to internships and now my Administrative Fellowship at Hines VA Hospital starting in June 2012!

There is also an Alumni Networking event as part of the conference with the Health Management and Policy (HMP) department, which was especially fun this year because I got to reconnect with classmates that graduated last year (May 2011) and are now in their roles as fellows or entry level managers.

Overall, I love going to ACHE Congress and will be attending next year as an Alumni and Admin. Fellow of the Hines VA Hospital!

ASA Conference

The American Society on Aging (ASA) holds an annual conference that is focused on aging issues and is more practice based compared to the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) that holds a conference each year as well that is more researched focused. I have attended both, but GSA was in the fall, and ASA was just a week ago and ended on April 1st! ASA was a great experience that was available to me via my Aging Fellowship with the Center on Aging at the University of Iowa. It is an interdisciplinary fellowship that involves graduates students from Medicine, Nursing, Audiology, Education, Social Work, etc. It has been a great experience this year to be part of such a program and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the aging population.

The ASA conference was held in Washington, D.C. this year, which opened the opportunity for me to attend a policy advocacy day on the "Hill." I attended it with my classmate Nicole Egan, who is also in the fellowship. It was a great way to learn about the bills and laws being debated currently affecting the aging population and meet the Senators that are leaders in aging advocacy.

Leap Year! New Building!

So as I was trying to get prepared for my week last night, I realized it was already going to be March! The weeks have been flying by this last semester and the work is still endless on the projects I am working on and students/faculty/staff getting settled into our new building. I've included some photos of the new building and if you want to view more photos, visit the Iowa Spectator article about our new building.

From the warmer weather this winter to the realization that I will be moving on from Iowa City in a few months, I have started to reflect on everything I have accomplished and still have to learn. In addition, admire the things around me and thank those who have helped me become the person I am today and continue to evolve.

I challenge you to take the extra day we have this year on the 29th to reflect on yourself (i.e. what have you accomplished, what do you really enjoy, what do you not enjoy, etc.). Asking yourself these questions and spending time to reflect may help you in your journey towards fulfilling your wants and needs in life (i.e. career in public health ;)

I will post to the MPH Facebook page to see what you are doing with your time on the 29th of February and hope you all find out something new about yourself or realize how much someone has impacted your life.

Ryan

MPH Practicum

As an MPH Student, that is the Practicum Course/Capstone experience that is required to help those obtaining the degree at Iowa to get practical experience in the field. Currently, I am in my last semester and completing my practicum at CASI (Center for Active Seniors Inc.) in Davenport, IA. Working with my faculty advisor, Dr. Kaskie and the Center on Aging at Iowa, I was able to obtain such an experience and gain knowledge at an agency and in the field of aging that complements my Aging fellowship I am also currently in this academic year.

So far, it has been a great experience at CASI, working with the staff, learning more about aging issues in the community of Scott County and also networking for future opportunities in my career as a health administrator.

Students can complete their practicum experience wherever they want (i.e. international, nation-wide and local). This gives a student at Iowa the ability to explore new territories while completing a project that will give them experience in a focus area of their choice while still meeting the core public health competencies for the MPH degree.

I hope to give more updates at CASI and hope you're able to explore some of the MPH website to look at other students and their practicum projects.

Ryan

PS - If you're technical and detail-oriented like me, here is a straight definition of the practicum requirements at Iowa:

"As a capstone experience for the Master of Public Health degree, students complete a 200-contact-hour Practicum project in a public health setting. This project, including a final written report and a professional presentation, constitutes the final examination of the MPH degree. A site for each Practicum project will be selected by the student with guidance from the course faculty, which has developed working relationships with a variety of organizations that address public health issues."

Passport Health!

Are you still with your New Year's Resolution? I'm trying, and to help me along is Student Health at Iowa. They are offering a program called "Passport Health" which helps students, like myself, obtain physical and nutritional goals through the Spring Semester. You earn points by entering in your physical and nutritional activity each week (up to 10 weeks) and at the end you can earn prizes if you have reached your goal. I will make sure to keep you all updated on my progress and to give you a taste of what the program is like, I have included an example of this week's goal below:

• Physical Activity Goal: Try a new type of physical activity (something you don’t typically do) on at least one day this week
  • *Physical Activity Bonus Point for Week 1*: Be physically active 30-60 minutes on 3 or more days this week.

• Nutrition Goal: 6-8 servings of water or other fluids (1 serving = 8 ounces). Here are some suggestions to help you meet this goal:
  - Take a water bottle with you to sip on water throughout the day
  - Drink a glass of water before and after exercising
  - Drink a glass of water with meals and snacks
• *Nutrition Bonus Point for Week 1*: Consume 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day this week.

PS - Here was my favorite commercial from the Superbowl, which ironically goes along with even my own New Year's Resolution of "Get Fit":

Heart Month! 29 Days...100!

Gah, it's already February and with it comes HEART MONTH! I am currently doing an internship with the University of Iowa Health Care Marketing and Communications office where I am helping promote events through social media for the "29 Days of Heart Health" month!

I am learning so much about the heart again (since my undergrad in Biology at Augustana College) and also getting to know more people throughout the hospital and UI Heart and Vascular Center. It has already been a busy first two days of February, but as you all know we are in a LEAP YEAR, which means there are 29 days instead of 28!

In addition to it being February 2nd, some of my classmates who are graduating with me this year informed me that we have 100 days till graduation. I can't believe I am in the "home-stretch" of my academic career. It is bittersweet knowing this will be the last time I am student and I'll be moving forward with my career. I am truly trying to soak up as much knowledge, experience and time with friends before time is up at Iowa and know I'll always stay connected, even if geographically separated.

Wishing you all a Heart Healthy Month!

Ryan

PS - Like the UI Heart and Vascular Center Facebook page and if you sign-up, you'll receive a Free Recipe booklet for Heart Healthy Meals!

New Year and Last Semester!

So it's a new year, 2012 and it's the coldest day so far this winter season...so of course the natural thing to do with the parents (minus brother and his wife) is go to south to Arizona! I'm taking a trip with my parents for my last long break I will probably have in a long time, being this is my last semester going for my MPH/MHA at Iowa. I'm excited and sad at the same time that this will be some of my last classes in grad school but I look forward to learning throughout my career and relying on those I made friends with and worked with while here at Iowa.

People, I have learned throughout my life are your best asset, whether career, personal or happiness. Most of you may know this, but it really does come down to who you know to get your foot in the door, or ask for a recommendation and you never know who knows who, so never burn bridges. I've seen people do it too often over little stuff and it's not worth it.

So as I start the new year, spending it with my family, I plan to take what I've learn and expect new challenges to face me each day and learn from my mistakes, because no one is perfect and we all have something new to learn, even if we forget.

Ryan