The Weekly SPHere July 2008
The Weekly SPHere is a weekly electronic publication for students in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. To submit items for the Weekly SPHere, please send an e-mail to sphnews@umn.edu.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Weekly SPHere will resume weekly publication on Monday, Aug. 4.
>SPHere Spotlight
>Student News
>School News
>SPH Events
>Other Events
SPHere Spotlight
Welcome new students! The SPH Orientation is scheduled for Thurday, Aug. 21. A full-day Health Disparities Workshop will be Friday, Aug. 22, and time is set aside on Monday, Aug. 25 to learn more about financial aid, public health careers, and to meet second-eyar studens. All new students are encouraged to attend orientation.
• Learn more/register online
The Health Careers Center is seeking public health students to have lunch with high school students who are participating in the center’s summer career exploration program HCI, Health Career Investigators. Come to lunch and share your interest and experiences regarding your own career path with a table of high school students. The lunch will be held on Wednesday, July 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 1-451 Moos Tower. Those interested please contact Scott Simpson at simps132@umn.edu or call 4-5374. Please provide the following information in your reply: program,year in program, and hometown.
Keep up to date on your fellow students as they complete their field experiences abroad this summer by reading the Notes from the Field blog.
• Go to the blog
• SUBSCRIBE to e-mail feed
(TOP)
Student News
Applications for the Thomas W. and Mary Kay Hoban Scholarship are being accepted through Aug. 15. The scholarship is open to HPM or public health nutrition students and ranges from $1,000 to $3,000.
• Application details
Matthew Eggebrecht was the recipient of the Minnesota Public Heath Association Student Achievement Award. He is a student in the Master of Healthcare Administration program.
Maia Seitz, a 2005 graduate of the MPH Nutrition program and 2006 graduate of the UMN Master's in Health Journalism program, was recently published in the April 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. She conducted her research for the article with Mary Story and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is recruiting candidates to participate in the upcoming National Graduate Student Research Festival to be held Sept. 11-12 in Bethesda, Maryland. 250 students will be selected to spend two days discussing their research, meeting other students from around the U.S., learning about the research being done at the NIH, and exploring postdoctoral training opportunities on the NIH campuses. Expenses will be paid by NIH.
• Details and online application
Applications are being accepted for the 2008 Student Ambassador Program. Thirty returning SPH students will be selected to represent the school in a variety of recruitment events on and off campus throughout the 2008-09 academic year.The Student Services Office is seeking applicants from all majors, backgrounds, and career interests for the most diverse group possible.
Students will be selected on the following criteria:
- Some knowledge of the SPH programs and application process
Training will be provided in early September for all volunteers
- Knowledge of SPH buildings and spaces
- Public speaking skills/experience
- Community engagement in and out of the SPH
- Academic standing
- A brief essay indicating interest in the Ambassador Program
“I would like to be a SPH Ambassador because...” in one page or less.
- A resume review
- One faculty reference with contact information
Ambassadors are volunteers who will give tours of the school, staff recruitment events, respond to student life inquiries, work with the undergraduate student Public Health Association, travel for the SPH on occasion, and possibly blog or participate in a web-based “My Life” video or other feature. Compensation is minimal but the benefits include SPH clothing, SPH recycled bag, SPH flash drive, a recognition event in the spring, resume building, and possible travel opportunities. Applications are being accepted immediately with interviews to be held in the first two weeks of fall classes. For more information or to apply for an ambassador volunteer position, please contact Melvin Monette at monet008@umn.edu or 4-0601.
Equivalency exams for SPH core courses have been scheduled for August. The dates and times are listed below. Please contact the appropriate person by Aug. 8 if you are interested in taking the exam.
(TOP)
School News
The June issue of research brief comes from SPH assistant professor of biostatistics Saonli Basu.She writes aboutlinkage analysis, a statistical method for estimating the location of a hypothesized gene in the genome that influences the susceptibility to the disease under study. Research Brief is a monthly electronic publication that profiles the work of SPH faculty members.
• Read the brief
David Jacobs, Simon Rosser, Craig Hedberg, and Dianne Neumark-Sztainer were featured in Public Health Moment last month. Public Health Moment is a weekly SPH podcast that is also picked up by several outstate Minnesota radio stations.
• Go to Public Health Moment
Join the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). The University of Minnesota Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) was formed in 2004 as part of a comprehensive effort to prepare for health emergencies on campus and in the community.MRC members are needed from all disciplines, backgrounds, and skill sets (clinical and non-clinical). If you are not currently registered with the U of M MRC, please consider doing so. Contact MRC Coordinator, Kathy Berlin, at 6-4722 or medicalreserve@umn.edu
• More information/register online
Walk-in Preventive Health Screenings at Boynton Health Service are available on the second Wednesday of every month for UPlan members through December. The screening tests available include: cholesterol (total, HDL, LDL); blood glucose (nonfasting); body mass index and body composition, and blood pressure. Offered first-come, first-served at no cost.
• More information at Boynton website
The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) is seeking feedback as it begins its process of developing national accreditation standards for government health. On Aug. 1, the PHAB will issue preliminary domains, standards, and measures for its voluntary national accreditation program. The proposed standards will be available to the public health community for review on PHAB’s Web site,www.phaboard.org. Applicants for accreditation — including state, territorial, city or county, and tribal health departments — are invited to provide feedback by Oct. 31 via a survey on the Web site, a written questionnaire or discussion groups. The organization will review all responses by December, with the goal of finalizing accreditation standards by January 2009.
• More information online
(TOP)
SPH Events
“Hierarchical model for spatially-referenced longitudinal data with applications to crop growth,” is the topic of Haowen Cai’s Plan B presentation to be held at 9:30 a.m. on Friday July 11 in room A301 Mayo. Refreshments will be served prior to the presentation.
2008 National Maternal Nutrition Intensive Course
June 30 to Aug. 1. This continuing education program focuses on the improvement of maternal and infant health through the delivery of risk-appropriate high-quality nutrition services.
• Read more and register
The Minnesota State Fair is fast approaching. Visit the SPH booth in the Crossroads building on Wednesday, Aug. 27. The booth will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and feature demonstrations on DNA, State Fair food, and other public health topics. Visitors will have an opportunity to express their opinions about public health in an SPH vodcast (video blogging). The video footage from the vodcast will be edited and made available on the SPH website. SPH trinkets will be given away. For questions, contact the Dean’s Office at 4-6669 or sphmayo@umn.edu. See you at the fair.
The 2008 Public Health Institute, North Dakota, July 28-August 7. These courses are designed to improve the capacity of frontline public health workers and other health and human service professionals responding to public health threats. Content emphasizes theory to practice with opportunities for intensive, interactive classroom sessions, discussion and case studies. Courses are presented in a convenient two-day workshop format and faculty are nationally-recognized experts.
• Read more and register
(TOP)
The Weekly SPHere is sent by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, 420 Delaware Street, S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455.
Last modified on Monday Jul 07, 2008