Title: Student Perspective
Author:
Section/SPIG: Community Health Planning and Policy Development
Issue Date:
Hello again from your Public Health Student Caucus (PHSC) liaison to the Community Health Planning and Policy Development Section. I wanted to update you all regarding what's been happening in the world of the Public Health Student Caucus since the last newsletter.
The new PHSC student liaison program has become a priority for the organization, recruiting students to serve as liaisons to all of the APHA Sections. Apparently I have been the most involved of the new liaisons, and was asked to write a piece for the spring PHSC newsletter about my experiences so far within the CHPPD Section. I described how much CHPPD has encouraged my contribution to Section business thus far by involving me in the quarterly leadership conference calls, including me in the membership committee, and appointing me to serve as a Section Councilor until 2005.
I have encouraged other student APHA members to get involved in the Liaison program to develop invaluable leadership experience within APHA, to advocate for the continued involvement of students within APHA, and to help build more collaborative opportunities between PHSC and APHA. I also encouraged student members to choose a primary section affiliation in order to establish a “home” within APHA, and to learn from future colleagues working within their interest areas. I also offered my contact information for students looking to speak with someone further about the benefits of affiliation and the responsibilities of a liaison.
I am also serving on the new members committee at PHSC, and will be involved in the planning of their new member events which will take place in Washington, DC this November. I will ensure through this process that the CHPPD Section is visible at these events and provides the kind of information that will facilitate new membership and participation in the Section. One of these activities was to send out an email to the PHSC mailing list before abstract submission informing its members of the student poster section sponsored by CHPPD this year.
I look forward to working with you all in the upcoming year. Please feel free to contact me ay amycarr@ucla.edu if you have any suggestions for how to better include the public health student voice in CHPPD and to represent CHPPD to the Public Health Student Association.