School of Public Health News from UNC

Fall 2009 Graduate Program Open House a Success

fmebane@email.unc.edu (Felicia Mebane) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:50:40 PST

Written by Yulia Koltun, Senior-Nutrition, OSA Assistant (with input from Sherry Rhodes)

On Friday, October, 23, 2009, Dr. Felicia Mebane, Assistant Dean for Students, welcomed nearly 180 eager prospective students to the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Dr. Mebane and other faculty, staff and students shared an overview of the school and departments and invited to them take full advantage of the resources, faculty and staff lined up for the day�s sessions.

Next, an Information Fair gave prospective students an opportunity to meet representatives from each department and several of our certificate programs. More faculty, staff and students helped prospective students explore and refine their interests and connect with their programs. Representatives from

BINGO Fun, Fall 2009!

fmebane@email.unc.edu (Felicia Mebane) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:12:28 PST

Written by Yulia Koltun, Senior-Nutrition, OSA Assistant

You think BINGO is reserved for the old and weary? Not around here! On Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 85 young and eager public health students met and mingled at the 3rd annual Fall SPH BINGO Night! The night of fun kicked off at 5:30 pm with scrumptious pizza, thirst-quenching drinks and delectable desserts provided courtesy of The Office of Student Affairs. By 6 pm, once the masses were fed, the boards and chips were handed out, and the rules were grounded by Dean Mebane, the competition was underway!

During each of the 12 approximately five-minute rounds, players became winners by shaping their chips into the desired design: the typical �X� or �T�. As time went on, the rounds became longer and the winning

Gillings Gift funds new dissertation award and scholarships for incoming students

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:22:22 PST

The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health has announced two new programs to support students at the School, both funded through a $50 million gift to the School from Dennis and Joan Gillings.

Dissertation awards

Up to two dissertation awards will be granted to current doctoral candidates at the School whose work has strong potential for public health impact. The Schoolwide Student Awards Committee will solicit and review applications, and the $5,000 award(s) will be presented in spring 2010.

�These awards will recognize doctoral candidates whose dissertations have the potential to help solve important public health problems,� said Julie MacMillan, MPH, managing director of Carolina Public Health Solutions, the unit that manages the Gillings gift.

Funding for new students

Any student applying to a graduate degree program in the School will be eligible to receive merit-based scholarship support. The current round of scholarships will be available for

Gillings Gift funds new dissertation award and scholarships for incoming students

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:22:22 PST

The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health has announced two new programs to support students at the School, both funded through a $50 million gift to the School from Dennis and Joan Gillings.

Dissertation awards

Funding for new students

Any student applying to a graduate degree program in the School will be eligible to receive merit-based scholarship support. The current round of scholarships will be available for

ASPH Promotes "Certified in Public Health" Exam

fmebane@email.unc.edu (Felicia Mebane) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:44:45 PST

In an October 2009 letter, leaders of the Associations of Schools of Public Health encouraged upcoming graduates to take the Certified in Public Health Exam.

"We are at an important time in our history as large numbers of public health professionals are expected to retire in the next few years and it appears we have insufficient numbers of fully qualified people to replace them. The CPH credential provides a way foryou to distinguish yourself as a graduate of an accredited school or program of public health, fully prepared to address the many challenges that will face public health in the coming months, years, and decades."

The next exam is offered in August 2010. Registration is open and study materials are available. For more information about the exam: www.publichealthexam.org.

ASPH Promotes "Certified in Public Health" Exam

fmebane@email.unc.edu (Felicia Mebane) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:44:45 PST

In an October 2009 letter, leaders of the Associations of Schools of Public Health encouraged graduates to take the Certified in Public Health Exam.

"We are at an important time in our history as large numbers of public health professionals are expected to retire in the next few years and it appears we have insufficient numbers of fully qualified people to replace them. The CPH credential provides a way for you to distinguish yourself as a graduate of an accredited school or program of public health, fully prepared to address the many challenges that will face public health in the coming months, years, and decades."

"The CPH also makes explicit your commitment to ongoing professional development. Maintenance of certification will require you to seek out interesting professional development opportunities to keep current on the rapidly changing field that is public health."

The next exam is

Third round of Gillings Innovation Labs focuses on assistant professors

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:19:56 PDT

The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health is calling for proposals for the third round of Gillings Innovation Lab awards. Assistant professors with primary appointments in the School are eligible to apply for the awards. Proposals are due January 14, 2010.

Gillings Innovation Labs are competitively-selected projects that strive to achieve fundamental breakthroughs and solve important problems in public health. Since the program was established in 2007, 14 GILs have been awarded on topics as diverse as water and the environment, mental health, statistical genomics, and 21st century public health teaching.

Each innovation lab engages in one or more of these areas: high-impact research, demonstration projects and teaching practices that anticipate future public health challenges and accelerate sustainable solutions in North Carolina and around the world. With a UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health faculty member as the principal investigator, the labs are interdisciplinary in

Health policy and management team wins second prize in NAHSE case competition

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:38:59 PDT

Presha Patel, Gregory Mascavage and Jessica Folmar, second-year Master of Public Health students in The Department of Health Policy and Management, have won second place in the 14th annual Everett V. Fox Student Case Competition, held during the National Association of Health Services Executives� annual educational conference on Oct. 14-16 in Orlando, Fla.

The competition offers first- and second-year graduate students an educational experience to enhance their problem analysis and presentation skills. Students are charged with applying their creativity, knowledge and experience to analyze real and diverse issues facing a health care organization.

This year�s conference theme was �Is America Ready for Real Health Care Reform? � The Rewards and Risks for Real Change.�

Patel, Mascavage and Folmar prepared a proposal for UnitedHealth

UNC study: HPV vaccine hurts less than expected

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:36:12 PDT

Injections of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine appear to be no more painful than other shots that prevent disease, according to a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The finding follows anecdotal accounts and news stories that have emphasized the potential side effects of the HPV vaccine, including reports of painful injections. That has prompted concern among public health professionals that vaccine pain may deter parents and young women from getting the vaccine or completing the recommended three-dose series.

Researchers at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, including Drs. Noel Brewer and Jennifer Smith and doctoral student Annie-Laurie McRee, found that most parents of adolescent girls reported their daughters experienced similar or less pain from HPV

Accurate count of physicians critical to health reform debate, Ricketts says

kastlema@email.unc.edu (Linda Kastleman) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:25:46 PDT

"How many doctors do we have, and how many do we need?" These questions are critical in the debate over health care reform now before Congress, says UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health professor Thomas Ricketts, PhD, MPH, in an editorial in the Oct. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Ricketts� editorial accompanies an analysis of estimates of physicians practicing in the United States. Understanding how many physicians are needed, and how many physicians are available, is a critical part of making health care reform work, he explains. The accuracy of estimates of the current and future supply of physicians is very important to understanding what we will spend on health care and how we should invest in training doctors. However, he questions the