Continuing the Relationship
From the Dean - May 7, 2012
John Finnegan, Jr.
As commencement nears, I often hear graduating students talk excitedly about ending the pressures of papers, projects, and late night studying. They also often mention their sadness about leaving classmates and faculty. While anxious to enter — or reenter — the “real world” of public health, they also wonder how they’ll keep professionally “fine-tuned” and connected after graduation.
Fortunately for our graduates, SPH opportunities for continued learning are plentiful — from seminars and special lectures to online and in-person professional development. Last year alone, our Centers for Public Health and Outreach offered 277 courses to more than 46,000 participants. Events such as the annual National Public Health Week Film Festival and SPH Roundtables bring alumni back to campus. (This year’s film festival, by the way, reached an attendance record of 1,052.) Later this month, we’ll launch the Public Health Institute. In its eleventh year, the institute offers workshops, field trips, and courses to enhance the expertise of participants who come from throughout the country and world.
The friendships forged at SPH endure as classmates become professional colleagues linked through our alumni society. Last week, the society piloted a service-learning project in Jamaica. A team of SPH faculty, staff, and alumni met with a group from the University of the West Indies (UWI) to discuss public health issues, particularly the challenges associated with creating a Jamaican renal health registry. Allan Collins of the U.S. Renal Registry joined the group to lend his expertise and insights. While in Jamaica, I signed a cooperation and exchange agreement with UWI to stimulate further partnership possibilities. Many thanks to SPH alumni society leaders Deb Lasher and Angie Lillehei, as well as SPH assistant professor Paul Allwood, SPH student Remi Douah, and interim alumni relations director Liz Stadther for planning and implementing this exciting pilot.
As we celebrate our graduates’ achievements next week, let’s remind them that commencement doesn’t signal the end of their relationship with the school, but instead represents the continuation of a connection made when we first met.
—John R. Finnegan, Jr., PhD
Dean and Professor