Yesterday...

It's hard to believe that spring semester is already halfway done! Since most of the lectures in the class are over, this is a good time to look back on the semester and consider what has changed since I wrote my first blog. This semester's lecture topics have covered a huge area of information. It is extremely impressive to consider how far public health reaches. From chronic and infectious disease, to injury prevention, to statistics, and even to matters of national security like bioterrorism prevention, public health professionals work every day to promote the health of the population.

One of the lectures I found most interesting was the one that focused on injury prevention. It was really amazing to see the impact of increased speed (even of just 10 more miles per hour) has on injury. Also, I had previously kind of considered injuries to be accidents and had not thought of all the resources that can be used to prevent them. When the lecturer described the Haddon Matrix, I was blown away by all of the variables that can be assessed when considering what factors cause an injury. The focus on texting while driving was also very interesting and made the lecture seem more compelling since this is an issue which is currently up for debate in many state legislatures.

Some of the course material was very surprising. Specifically, I found the surveillance responsibility aspect of public health shocking. It is amazing the number of things public health professionals track very closely. To think that even purchases of over-the-counter drugs are tracked in order to identify trends and possible outbreaks is an awe inspiring glimpse into the amount of data that must be collected, organized, and analyzed. The bioterrorism lecture was also surprising to me. I had not previously considered the role of public health in national safety. However, when you think about it, one of the most effective ways to cripple a country would be to cause widespread health issues.

One of the main reasons I took this course was because I will be attending medical school in the fall and think that public health knowledge will help me be a more well rounded physician. I am still confident that this is true. Without a working knowledge of the US health system and the ongoing reform movement, it would be very difficult to navigate the field. Also, the information we have learned about vulnerable populations and health disparities will help me to better serve my patient population.

At the start of the course, I was most interested in the health reform movement and issues of global maternal and child health. Now, after the signing of the health reform bill, I am more interested in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the changes than in researching other reform possibilities. However, I remain deeply interested in global maternal and child health. The information given in the lecture about international health supported this interest and detailed many of the factors that contribute to inflated maternal mortality and other poor health outcomes among women and children in the developing world. I especially found it interesting that education and contraceptive availability were so highly correlated with improving health.

That's all for this week, I'm ready to get back to enjoying the beautiful spring weather!