I define ‘public health’ as, “the science of investigating issues that either independently or collaboratively act to affect population health.”
Upon completion of my graduate studies, three discrete interest categories prompted me to apply for an ASPPH fellowship:
During my time as an ASPPH fellow, I’ve been afforded the opportunity to work with two university prospective cohort data sets. I conducted an exploratory spatial data analysis with the first data set and developed novel spatial metrics for use in an independent research protocol for the second data set. I also had the opportunity to complete relevant courses at a local university and at the SAS institute.
The most rewarding and enjoyable experience that I’ve had as an ASPPH fellow has been traveling to Sao Paulo, Brazil for the Internationals Society of Environmental Epidemiology conference. I met with research colleagues that I had been collaborating with for the past year as well as other researchers that I had been following in the field.
I wish that I had made friends with previous fellows more quickly. These relationships were especially vital during the beginning and throughout the remainder of my fellowship.
I feel the field of public health should be focusing heavily on the health effect of cumulative environmental exposures on human health. This exposure area should extend beyond the traditional environmental exposures of air quality, water quality and toxic chemicals and include ecosystem exposures such as green space and blue space.
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