Birthdays, Forums and again Lunch!

Hello all!

So this past week (4 out of 15) for the semester was yet another busy and amazing week! I learned that Biostats, which is one of the core classes for the MPH is going to be a lot more time intensive than I originally thought, but with only one previous stats class I guess I could have seen it coming, haha. I was able to attend a lunch presentation by Chris Atchison, one of the Associate Deans of the CPH, clinical professor and director of the State Hygienic Lab in Iowa. The week then ended with a Birthday bash for my boyfriend Cody and his friends!

Lunch:

Chris Atchison, one of my favorite professors who also teaches "Intro to Public Health Practice" gave a lecture over the lunch hour related to Iowa policies that have been and are working towards meeting the goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). It was interesting and very informative to learn some of the laws and bills that are in action within the Iowa legislature and to learn about programs that have been successful in providing more coverage and better quality to Iowans. It also got me thinking of my future career after my degree programs here at Iowa. More and more I have been leaning towards state and local policy instead of at the national level, but I know my overall passion is obviously for public health and health administration. Even as graduate students, we are still indecisive about specifics of where in the country we want to end up and what exactly we want to do (i.e. policy for a private, local, state or federal agency...which one, etc.)

Forum:

At the end of the week there was a CPH forum with Dean Curry, which included all staff, faculty and students. It was a great time to get an update of the building which is still scheduled to be moved in during November 2011! Hopefully I will be able to experience some of the newness my last semester. In addition, she mentioned the "Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)" which is the accrediting body that is coming this fall to reaccredit our college. This is a very big deal for any college of public health and involves many hours of preparation and the support of faculty, staff and students, including yours truly.

CEPH is definitely a factor that made me choose Iowa and is something if you are a prospective student reading this that you should check into when searching for College's of Public Health. In addition of course to tuition, social life and overall experience :)

Birthdays:

The week ended on a Birthday Bash with my boyfriend Cody and his friends with the theme being "What's your Sign?" in terms of your zodiac sign, which his was Virgo's and mine is Libra. It was a great time and fun to see everyone trying to match their individual zodiac signs, there was everything from mother earth, feathers of phenix and madonna!

I can't believe it will already be week 5 coming up tomorrow...hope you all had a wonderful weekend and have a Great Morning!

Ryan

Seminars, Lunch and Golf!

Hi all!

If you couldn't already tell by my picture, football at Iowa has already begun! That was the first HOME football game against Eastern Illinois, in which we dominated and I described the experience in my last blog. We also played Iowa State, one of the big rivalries here in Iowa, this past weekend and currently have a 2-0 record for the season.

The past week has been jammed pack with seminars, networking lunches, golf and of course lots of course work ;)

MPH Seminar:

So almost every Tuesday during the semester, the MPH program coordinates "MPH Seminar" where a wide variety of topics are presented. Everything from professors, current and past students to public health professionals. This past Tuesday, Dr. Osterberg from the Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH) department presented "Green Bike Tour in Romania Touting Renewable Energy”. The past 10 or so years Dr. Osterberg has been going on bike tours all around the world to promote the innovations that are renewable energy, which include his bike that is solar powered, kind of like an electric bike that uses the sun instead of gas to power you along. His message was clear, that it is cost effective and relatively easy for organizations and governments to invest in renewable energy. I was shocked to learn that the state of Iowa gets 20% of its energy from Wind! In addition, there has actually been a decrease in energy expenses for Iowans versus other states that use other sources of energy to power their towns and cities.

All and all it was a very informative topic and very relevant to me, since I am the president of ECO Hawk, which is an environmental group I cofounded last year with other CPH students. We have already put on two waste sorts, field trips to city recycling and landfill sites and have had many gains towards sustainable practices that will be changed and implemented in the new College of Public Health building scheduled to open Fall 2011. We have a lot of events planned for this upcoming fall and are excited to have our first meeting of the academic year this Wednesday!

Lunch and Golf:

On Thursday I was able to have lunch with Iowa Alumni from Alegent Health in Omaha, NE. This was an event put on by my department in Health Management and Policy and was a great way to connect with recent graduates and reconnect with Alumni that had come to Iowa last year for the annual "Iowa Student Association of Healthcare Leaders (ISAHL) Golf Outing". I am the VP for Professional Development for the student organization and our major fundraiser and event of the year is our annual Golf Outing which was held at Brown Deer Golf Club in Coralville, IA (just next to Iowa City). The Friday event was very successful and a lot of fun. I am not an avid golfer but I was able to make it on the "green" a couple times and almost hit a couple people in the process with my flying balls, haha. The event draws in Alumni from all over and was a great way to network and get to know professionals in the field of Health Administration. It is one of my favorite events and I am already looking forward to being able to participate again as a student next year (which will be my final year in the program).

Life:

I was unable to make it to Iowa vs. Iowa State game since I traveled back to my hometown for my cousins wedding, but couldn't wait to get back to Iowa City, where I am now catching up from the long weekend of events and golfing and will update later this week which entails seminars on Emergency Preparedness, All student meetings/outings and a potluck with friends at the end of the week!

Post questions/comments on the blog or send me an email: ryan-landi@uiowa.edu if you all want to know more about my life and Iowa!

Good Morning! Good Morning!

Ryan