My First APHA Conference
By: Areeta Bridgemohan, '09
The semester went by so fast; it took me by surprise when I had to pack my bags to go to San Diego. I’d never been to an APHA Conference and as an international student, I'd never been to California. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to come away with from the conference. Going in, I expected, and hoped, that I would come away having had some interesting conversations, perhaps some time to reflect on the next steps in my career.
I went to San Diego as a participant in the Maternal and Child Health Community Leadership Institute. The Leadership Institute started on Saturday morning, the day before APHA officially opened. The participants were health professionals from a range of generations and from a variety of places in the Caribbean. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to reconnect with the Caribbean and to take time out of school and think about leadership and what kind of role I want to take once I leave the warm bosom of academia. Our sessions were facilitated with experienced practitioners and academics connected in some way to the Caribbean: Dr. Gillian Barclay (from the Pan American Health Organization/ World Health Organization in Barbados – also UM SPH HBHE alum) and Dr. Roderick King (Professor at Harvard Medical School).
The San Diego Conference Center was empty until suddenly on Sunday afternoon it started filling up – with 13,000 people! The kick-off ceremony included an inspiring talk by Sir Michael Marmot, who made a strong argument for a multi-dimensional way to think
about public health fuelled by a desire for social justice. Then that night there was an amazing performance by Sarah Jones who impersonated many faces of health disparities in the U.S. before an invisible and immutable Congress (played by the audience).
Other highlights of my time at APHA included spending time with other HBHE-ers from UM SPH, meeting alums, random conversations with other participants, being in San Diego and enjoying the beautiful weather. With 13,000 people there and such a variety of things being covered, I found it hard to focus on sessions that dealt with my interests. The posters lining one end of the huge exhibit hall were up for only an hour and there were many of them.
SPHers in a Hallowe’en themed bar (with $2 tacos!)
I asked a few other students what they enjoyed about APHA. Emily Renda (2nd year HBHE MPH student) said: “I think the most exciting part of APHA is to get a feel for what is going on in the field…it is such a broad field so it is interesting to check out what people are doing and the variety of careers that are included under the rubric of Public Health. In addition to being social and fun, the HBHE and SPH get-togethers are also useful … you get a chance to spend time with colleagues and ask alumni about their experience at SPH and how it has influenced their career and life afterwards.” Emily also mentioned that the drawbacks were: the expense and she said “it tends to be overwhelming because there are so many sessions and posters; it’s hard to focus your attention.” Shannon Andrzejewski (MSW/MPH soon to be alum) felt similarly to Emily: “At the conference
I had the opportunity to interact with and learn more about several public health organizations, especially those who share my interest in aging. In addition, attending the HBHE and UM-SPH networking events allowed me to meet several alums – working in all areas of the country – and learn about their career paths.” Yusuf Ransome, another 2nd year HBHE MPH student said that what he got out of APHA was: “professional networking with faculty from other schools whose research you have read. Also, (meeting) students with similar research interests, who you might possibly collaborate with one day….the preparation for APHA was intense but it felt good after you got to share the work you have put so many hours into”.
My advice for a student going to APHA: look at the program on-line before you get there, make a schedule for yourself and be relaxed and flexible! I think part of the time I was stressing out because I felt that I wasn’t getting “enough” out of the conference. But in hindsight, the important and formative part of the experience was talking with a wide range of practitioners/ academics in public health, taking the time to enjoy not being in school and interacting with the public health world in a different way.