Seven of our MCH students attended the 2019 annual meeting of the American Public Health Association(APHA), held November 2-6, 2019, in Philadelphia, PA. What follows is a post from one of the attendees.
by Crysta Meekins, BPH
My first time at the APHA Annual meeting is an experience that I’ll never forget! Philadelphia is a breathtaking city with an incredible atmosphere. 
From the opening general session, I was captivated and inspired by all the emerging and current public health professionals. The one quote that really stuck with me throughout the entire conference was from Dr. Robert Redfield Jr. during the opening session. He said to create “disruptive innovation” and from that very moment, I made it my mission to attend sessions that I believed created “disruptive innovation” in the field of public health.
One of my favorite sessions of the conference was the “Advancing Black Maternal Health, Rights, and Justice!” by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. All three of the speakers had very thought provoking things to say but the speaker who reached my core was Jessica M. Roach of Restoring Our Own Through Transformation. The energy and power that she spoke with about the African American maternal community really inspired me and I’m thankful I got to experience her presentation and connect with her afterwards.
This conference further ignited my love for public health and maternal & child health. I am excited to see what the future holds.
Crysta Meekins, BPH, is a first-year MPH student, concentrating in Maternal and Child Health. She plans to graduate in May 2021. Her interests include sexual & reproductive health and maternal mortality, particularly in the African American population. She also loves yoga, weight training, and watching scary movies.
