CHPPD Student Committee At The APHA Annual Meeting

Reflections on CHPPD Student Committee Participation at the APHA Annual Meeting

Hello from the Community Health Planning and Policy Development Student Committee.  I wanted to update all of our members about the fabulous work done by the Student Committee for the November 2010 APHA Annual Meeting in Denver.  The Annual Meeting was a great opportunity for student members of CHPPD to get involved with some exciting activities.

The CHPPD Student Committee serves to create a sustainable role for students in CHPPD governance, to provide leadership and mentoring opportunities for students within CHPPD, and to help students get involved with CHPPD activities. This year we were very busy preparing for and running activities at the APHA Annual Meeting in Denver.  Our preparation began months before the Annual Meeting, when our representatives to the CHPPD Programming Committee, Vanisa Verma and Cammie Marti, worked very hard reviewing and selecting student abstract submissions for oral and poster presentations. Out of hundreds of CHPPD Section submissions, we selected two student award winners (a doctoral-level and master's-level student award), and many other submissions to present during six different student scientific sessions at the conference. All of the scientific sessions were well attended and very successful.

Our preparation efforts also paid dividends in the successful implementation of the New Member and Student Committee Business Meeting, where we had the opportunity to convene a discussion about ways members can address Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) in communities. In addition to providing an introduction to the history, functions and activities of CHPPD, Student Committee members Russell McIntire (Student Committee chair), Michelle Denison (Student Committee secretary) and Karyn Warsow (representative to the Policy and Resolutions Committee) facilitated group discussions using the following questions: How do you address SDOH in your community?, and What can CHPPD do to address SDOH in communities?  These questions provided an excellent catalyst for discussion both in small groups and within the group at large.  Overall, the meeting was very successful in giving new members of CHPPD a taste of the activities that CHPPD performs, and creating a forum to provide input and direction for future CHPPD activities.  In addition to these activities, the Student Committee was also in charge of recruiting and scheduling student volunteers to staff the CHPPD information booth in Denver. Each year student volunteers are matched with regular CHPPD members to represent CHPPD at the exhibit booth, giving students both a mentorship opportunity and an introduction to CHPPD, while providing a service to the CHPPD Section. Feedback provided by CHPPD members and students about their booth experience was very positive.

At the Annual Meeting there was very much enthusiasm surrounding all of the activities in which the CHPPD Student Committee participated.  It was inspiring to see students from all parts of the country come together in one place to further the efforts of the CHPPD Section. We’re hoping to take the momentum we gained from the Annual Meeting with us into 2011. We’ve got a few exciting projects on tap for 2011, and we’ve got many wonderful, talented, intelligent students who are working hard to further the CHPPD Section, and ultimately, achieve our common goal of making communities healthier.

Front Row from Left: Name Unavailable, Dawn Alayon (past student representative to the Communications Committee), Vanisa Verma (student representative to the Program Committee), Name Unavailable Back Row from Left: Karyn Warsow (student representative to the Policy and Resolutions Committee), Name Unavailable, Russell McIntire (Student Committee chair), Vicky Tiglias (Master's Student Abstract winner), Name Unavailable, Akiko Sato (PhD Student Award winner), Name Unavailable