Happy Easter!

In the event of Easter and Earth Day, enjoy this beautiful video :)

Ryan

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

IPHA Governor's Conference on Public Health

Hello all!

So the last few weeks have been crazy busy with Governor's Conferences on Public Health to award ceremonies to just about everything in-between. The main highlight I want to get across is the Iowa Public Health Association (IPHA) Governor's Conference on Public Health I attended. This conference was held in Ames, IA, which is about an 1 1/2 to 2 hours going northwest from Iowa City. In a nutshell, it is located pretty much in the middle of the state of Iowa just north of Des Moines.

This was my first time attending the conference and definitely not my last. The first thing on the Agenda for Tuesday April 5th was to arrive at 4:30PM for a IPHA Finance Committee meeting. I was nominated for the position by one of my peers who previously served on the committee. The meeting was more of a greet and meet, because most of the meetings held throughout the year are over the phone. You get to accomplish a lot during the meetings, but it's always nice to meet face to face. Even being in Iowa, there were so many small world connections made, especially with people traveling, living or working within my hometown of Rockford!

Moving on, there was a networking dinner later that night that was well attended by state and local public health officials, including one of my bosses/mentors Chris Atchison, who is the director of the State Hygienic Lab (SHL). After a long day of traveling, meeting and dinning, I pretty much passed out for the night to get ready for the 7:00AM start the next day. Throughout Wednesday, I attended seminars that ranged from implementing a state-wide Health Information Exchange system to learning about epidemiological case studies of diseases that people brought back to Iowa from traveling abroad and how the SHL handle each case (very interesting and kind of scary stuff!). The short 2-day conference ended with probably one of the best speakers I have seen in awhile, Magda Peck. She touched on the "Being the Powers that Be." Her main point was to make sure we were not passive in public health and to learn how to put power to the fore front and how it can influence people. This sounds so basic, but with her stories and examples, it was a fresh reminder of how powerful you can be by making simple adjustments and kind of what motivates you to do something, or someone motivating you to do that action.

All in all, a great experience and did I mention all paid for (except for food :() by the MPH program! If there is one thing I have learned more how to do, is to seek out the opportunities and how to write submissions/grants for payment, it's essential for any future public health or health related professionals out there!

Have a good week!

Ryan

Fridays and Joel McHale!

So it is Friday and getting last minute things accomplished before I take my night to rest. Friday nights are usually the one night out of the week where I put the school work and projects aside and just enjoy and let loose. I learned this from multiple students who have mentored me as a way to actually stay sane when your really stressed and to dedicate a night to no worries :)

Tonight I have planned to go see Joel McHale on Iowa's campus IMU (Iowa Memorial Union). The Office of Student Life (OSL) and the Campus Activities Board (CAB) sponsors the event and brings the ticket price down to $5!!! This is truly a grad school students dream aka myself! I was out in San Diego this summer and it cost at a minimum $50 to see him, so I'm glad I will finally get the chance. He is on t.v. shows "the Soup" (E!) and "Community" (NBC)...which I mainly watch the Soup! If you have never watched, you need to ASAP!

and....in the event that it is Friday and that you've probably seen this video already, but if not enjoy! (probably one of the most ridiculously auto-toned songs ever) and remember to let loose every once in a while because sometimes you just need a break :) even in grad school!

Back in Action!

So Spring Break is over and got back from a conference in Chicago, titled the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress. It is an annual conference held every year and I think booked pretty much 10 years out! It is "the event of the year" in terms of the health management world and is the best place to network!

I attend Congress last year and reconnected with those I met and also gained valuable contacts for potential fellowships and jobs after I graduate in Spring 2012. I was actually able to gain a couple more leads for internships for the summer and added some more professionals in my Linked In account and also some informal ones too on Facebook, it's inevitable, at least those that have it (cough cough Maureen, my other counter part in crime for the MPH). Networking is key in the field I am going into with Policy and Health Management and it was definitely the best fit for me. I would never push this program on anyone, but you definitely have to think about what is best for you and how you operate.

I just did a student panel with other graduate students in the College of Public Health on the University of Iowa's campus for undergrads. It was exciting to see and listen to their enthusiasm for what their next steps in life will be and their journey trying to figure it out, which don't get me wrong I am still on that path, which I would beg to differ that most people, no matter how old, are always working toward some goal.

If you ever have questions about the programs in the College of Public Health, or grad school in general, definitely hit me up on email: ryan-landi@uiowa.edu

Hope you all are enjoying this warmer Hump Day!

Ryan

Mid-Terms...Spring Break!

So as I googled Spring Break, this was one of the first images that popped up, oddly I can only guess this a mob in Panama City that MTV typically displays...unfortunately I will not be going south of the Iowa/Missouri border but am enjoying the warmer 50's/60s headed our way this week! ;)

In addition, if you haven't noticed I have been a little MIA lately. Mid-terms definitely stole my time away but for good reason. They are always busy no matter how much I try to prepare for them. I faired pretty well and am glad to say that we are on Spring Break, even though I am still working on some homework for after break since I will be gone at the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Congress International Conference in Chicago. It is an exciting few days, but I will make sure to leave blogs about the experience later within that week.

Interviewing!

Some of the happenings that have been going on during mid-terms have been an MPH Seminar about improving interview skills, which came in really handy because I had an interview the day after (Wednesday) with a local hospital (St. Luke's - Cedar Rapids). Unfortunately I did not receive the interview, but was up against four of my classmates and was glad that someone from Iowa was able to be there. I am still keeping my hopes up for a couple more internship applications/interviews I have coming up and will definitely put the skills I learned in the interviewing seminar to good use, especially since I was kind of the "guinea pig" for the exercise. We used this program called "Perfect Interview," which is great online tool which video records your responses to interview questions. (1) I thought this was a great way for you to see yourself and all the little habits, whether good or bad that you do and (2) it can be sent to others for review (i.e. career counselor, practitioners in the field, etc.).

There were a couple other things that occurred but I will leave them for my next blog post tomorrow :)

Hope you all are enjoying this warmer weather, at least those of us in the Mid-West!

Ryan

Alumni, Networking and ....Mid-Terms

We all know they are coming, and yes they are stressful, but there is a certain satisfaction in accomplishing Mid-Terms. I named this post "Alumni, Networking and...Mid-Terms" and will certainly get right into the first couple titles...

Alumni/Networking:

So today the CPHSA (College of Public Health Student Association) hosted a meeting with Alumni from each of the departments with the College of Public Health. It was an eye-opening experience for me in terms of the variety of ages and paths each individual had taken in their Public Health journey. Some had been in the field and came back to get a degree (i.e. MPH) and others went right into a position (i.e. Health Analyst at Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Administrator at State Hygienic Lab, Epidemiologist and Strategic Planning at UIHC).

The one thing that I would say most important that I took away, was NETWORKING! I say this in terms of those Alumni that were there, about half obtained their positions by meeting people through their internship/practicum experiences while obtaining their degree. That is certainly how I have found and eventually obtained many of my internships and PH experiences the past few years and is something that I feel the College and personally my department of Health Management and Policy does well..

Mid-Terms

So it is Mid-Term season and things certainly are not letting up anytime soon, but I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow night for TGIT (Thank Goodness It's Thursday) because my department does not schedule classes on Friday's and it is the one night where I take a break from studying and go out and let loose a little before starting productivity for the weekend! Tomorrow a group of us have planned an unofficial St. Patty's Day outting where we will take over the down-town scene in our Green Gear and may or may not part take in some Irish traditions or at least what they have become in the U.S. of a couple drinks. It's always nice to know there is great downtown IOWA CITY to go to and get away from the academics sometimes and hang out with the family I have created with those in my department and in my terms, life-long partners in public health.

Hope you all are having a wonderful week and sending the Luck of the Shamrock with you!

Ryan

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

This was an awesome video of a family that literally creates ZERO waste!

Enjoy! ~ Ryan

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