Day 1 of Public Health Leadership Seminar

August 3rd, 2015 

HHS O'Neill Building

Hello HOSA!

Today was our very first day at the PHLS. This seminar is hosted by ASPR (Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response), aims to promote career pathways in public health, provide opportunities to meet health professionals and leaders who work in and outside Health and Human Services (HHS), and guide participants to develop a project that benefits both HOSA and ASPR.  HOSA members Sneha Rangu (NJ), Justin Zeien (AZ), and myself, Sophie Obert (VA) were all lucky enough to get to experience this week along with advisor Jermey Sutton (TN) and alumni HOSA member Heath Treadway (NC). It will be a fast paced week but we hope to keep HOSA well updated on all of our progress, learning, and fun.

We were all so excited to start out the day, but none of us were sure what to expect from this opportunity. After getting through security we met our guide, ENS Michtta Andre and began the day's session. We had orientation and discussed project development for the week. We are going to be continuing the work done by the July session while also incorporating our own ideas. 

Next, ENS Michtta Andre spoke to us about the vast amount of opportunities available to us in public health. We learned about the Jr/Sr Co-step programs, opportunities for summer internships at both the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and NIH (National Institutes of Health), and even public health paths in the Peace Corps. Additional information on just some of the public health opportunities discussed can be found here: 

• Junior Costep Website
• CDC Office of Minority Health (OMH) Internships
• Senior Costep Website
• Indian Health Service (IHS) Student Opportunities
• NIH Summer Internship

As you can see...the opportunities in public health are endless for motivated HOSA members!

Next, LT Katie Hager gave an impassioned speech about the history of the USPHS (United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps). The USPHS was officially started in 1798 under President John Adams. The USPHS has been involved in outbreaks like smallpox and yellow fever to ebola and  and just about every large scale natural disaster you can think of (i.e. Hurricane Katrina). It was a USPHS member, Surgeon General Dr. Luther Terry, who first introduced a report on the dangers of smoking and how it can be the direct cause of chronic bronchitis and lung cancer.

To learn more about the USPHS, click here

Some Members of the USPHS with the last Surgeon General, Rear Adm. Boris Lushniak

Ted Kennedy stopped by to give us a riveting presentation about emergency preparedness and "controlling chaos". We learned not only what to pack in an emergency kit (click me!) but the chain of command when an incident does occur.  Mr. Kennedy has been an employee for HHS for almost twenty years and was able to tell us many of the changes that HHS has experienced. 

Quote of the day: "All bleeding and all fires will eventually stop; it is a matter of how that makes the difference." Ted Kennedy

If you're interested in learning about the Incident Command System (ICS) take free National Incident Management System (NIMS) courses here.

HHS Building in D.C.

Finally,  CAPT Rob Tosatto sat down with us to talk about the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and the partnership between the MRC and HOSA. The MRC provides a national network of volunteers who can be involved with activities ranging from local health screenings to being first responders at incidents. Volunteering or partnering with a local MRC will improve not only your resume and HOSA chapter, but your community as a whole.

To learn more about the invaluable partnership between HOSA and the MRC... click me!

MRC Logo

After a delicious lunch generously provided by George Sifakis we walked to the Russell building to meet with our states' representatives.

All of the PHLS participants and advisors had the pleasure of meeting with senators representatives from their home state. The purpose of these individual meetings was to discuss and promote Perkins funding that benefits HOSA classrooms and other CTE organizations across the nation. Perkins funding was cut by nearly 5.4 million with the sequestration of 2013. Hoping to bring Perkins funding back up to that number, we met with all of our home states staff members (excluding Sen. John McCain's staff member who was unfortunately unavailable). The meetings went well and we hope we influenced two of the senators to vote to restore Perkins pre-sequestor budget.

Have a great night! 

Sophie Obert, Virginia