By Kiera Wallace, BS
I was very excited and grateful for the opportunity to attend APHA this year, especially since it was local. Overall I would say the experience was rather overwhelming with so much to do in so little time, but I still was able to take away a great deal. It was very interesting to see just how broad research interests can be even within the MCH section.
My favorite session that I attended was entitled “Breastfeeding Practices among African American/Black Women.” I feel like as a public health student it is understood that breastfeeding is the healthiest option for a newborn and that we should encourage women to breastfeed for at least six months in hopes that she will continue for up to a year. But what I learned in the session was that in practice all signs are pointing in the opposite direction toward bottle feeding. Although the information I gained was extremely valuable the best part was when during the Q&A part of the session, a woman stood up and thanked a presenter for her work. She told her that based on her presentation at APHA 2013, her office has created a program for breastfeeding promotion in African American women. Seeing the presenter’s reaction was a reminder of why I’ve chosen this field. As she neared tears, she was just so happy that her work could influence people outside of her study population and actually do some good.
Although APHA was not the networking opportunity I had hoped it would be (I only gave out 3 business cards) it was a very valuable learning experience and perhaps informed some of my research interests for the future. I will definitely have to consider attending next year in Chicago!
Kiera Wallace is a first-year MPH student, concentrating in Maternal and Child Health. She plans to graduate in December 2015. She hopes to attend medical school to become an obstetrician/gynecologist. Her interests include sexual and reproductive health, perinatal care, HIV prevention and health disparities among minority populations. She also loves cooking, music, and yoga.
