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 Ayzsa Tannis, BA
While we received the best preparation possible through CEMCH and Tulane’s Career Services, I don’t think anyone could have thoroughly prepared me for APHA. Not only was it just enormous in every way possible, but I also had never been to a conference of any sort before and couldn’t even begin to imagine what one actually looked like. Prior to leaving I was filled with equal parts anxiety and excitement. I had my business cards, my professional outfits, and a plan – so I was about as ready as I could ever be.
Despite all my fears and anxiety telling me otherwise, APHA turned out to be the most useful experience in my public health career to date. While I had the opportunity to learn from oral sessions focusing on maternal and child health in an international context, my favorite place to be was in the expo. There I got to connect and meet and gush over anything and everything that is public health. The expo ranged from universities to government orgs, to international companies, to advances in technology. There was even a van to donate blood! My personal corner of the expo were the poster sessions. In fact, I found out pretty immediately that the poster sessions were where I thrived. I met with one woman discussing her research with Paz y Ezperanza, a non profit in Peru. She looked at how machismo, or strong masculine pride, affects family planning. From her research we began to discuss mental health, domestic violence, and how all of that affects sexual and reproductive health. We were both so excited to meet with one another and just share our knowledge and experiences. Given that every poster session I attended played out in a similar manner, there was no denying that this was my happy place at APHA.
My advice to anyone going to their first conference, especially one as massive as APHA is to definitely make a plan. Without it I would be so overwhelmed by all of the speakers! There is so much content to see, you just have to take the time and map everything out. Within your plan, however, make sure you leave room for changes. I didn’t realize until I experienced them that the poster sessions were way more my jam than oral sessions. The oral sessions have great content, but I was able to make significant connections talking directly to speakers at their poster sessions. Come with a plan, but recognize that you won’t necessarily follow it and that’s okay! What matters is that you make the most of your APHA experience.
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to attend APHA this year. From those four days there, I made several meaningful connections, found potential practicum sites, and most importantly to me, found organizations doing the exact work I’d love to do after earning my MPH. It is incredible to be around 11,999 other like-minded individuals with the same goal in mind and I highly recommend you take advantage of this opportunity. There is an entire world of public health outside the classroom, and for me, APHA is just the starting point.
Ayzsa Tannis, BA, is a first year MPH student, concentrating in Maternal and Child Health and Epidemiology. Her interests include sexual and reproductive health, infant health, and mental health. She is an advocate for reducing racial and ethnic health disparities, and her target populations are Latinx communities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
