Many of our students attended this year’s meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA), held in San Diego, November 10 – 14. What follows is a post from one of these attendees.
By Vaughne Chavez-Gray, BS
In mid-November I had the honor to travel to San Diego to attend the APHA conference. This was my first time at APHA, or any major conference for that matter. Coming into the conference I did not know what to expect. The advice I kept getting was to plan, because that would be the way to get the most out of the time we were there.
Looking at the schedule for the first time was like letting a child lose in a candy store and telling them to just pick a couple of their favorites. However, I made a plan and tried to follow it the best I could. There were two events that really stuck out to me. The first event was the MCH Town Hall meeting, in which they explored refugee mental health. This was an eye opening experience for me, because I am currently doing a briefing paper project on the need for mental health services for refugee minors given the amount of trauma they experience. This town hall further emphasized the importance of the paper I am writing, and allowed me to gain more knowledge about this area.
The other thing that stood out to me was the expo and the poster sessions. I feel like that is where I gained the majority of my knowledge and networked. I think it was awesome to have that one-on-one experience and be able to ask questions as well as talk to people about their work. The most interesting piece of information was the Art in Medicine exhibit. They actually use art to help heal and it works. I also was not aware that Tulane had a program for this. I definitely want to look into getting started in participating in this. Also, at their exhibit you got to make pretty cool buttons to put on your APHA name tag, which was an added perk. Overall, this conference was extremely beneficial and to be honest it gave me more ideas on what I would like to accomplish and be involved in regards to my career in public health.
Vaughne Chavez-Gray, BS is a first year MPH student with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health. She plans to graduate in May 2020. Her interests include ACES, infant mental health, child mental health, trauma informed education, and art medicine.
