Our Final Day

Written by Saili Samoa

We, the July PHLS Members met at the O’Neill Building with Ensign Michitta Andre who briefed us on the agenda for the day.

We finished up the team project to be presented in the afternoon to the leaders of the MRC face to face and the National HOSA on a conference call.  Working with Piyush (N.J), Erin (N.C.), Michell and Advisor Evette (both from Texas)  on this project was like being in an orchestra where everyone knew their parts to play in order to produce a masterpiece.   While busily working Lt. Katie informed us that we will be joining the ASPR Leadership Meeting in the adjoining room.  I sensed this was an important and rare opportunity.  We were introduced by Mr. Ed Gabriel a huge fan of HOSA and asked to talk about HOSA and say a few words about each of us.   I appreciate Piyush and his strong talents in public speaking as well as  Erin, Michelle and Evette. Again it was an opportunity to share our story and the many benefits of HOSA.

Mr. Mike Vineyard and Jessica Fantinato spent time with us and shared what they do in the Office of Emergency   Medicine.  They are full of resources and were able to inform Piyush and Erin of some contacts in the areas they are interested in.

Mr. Ed Gabriel stopped by to say good bye and gave each of us a beautiful coin.  So neat!  I first met Mr. Gabriel in Anaheim on stage when we received our plaques, and it has been a great to see him when we went to meet him and Dr. Lurie earlier and see him this week.  To hear him share about his career as an EMT and all he has experienced including his Disney memorabilia will be unforgettable.

We were introduced and met with Parag Mehta, the Chief of Staff for the U. S. Office of the Surgeon General.  Awesome.  He gave us a history of the Office of the Surgeon General and the 5 pillars in the vision of health that the Surgeon General has for the people of America.  Heard his story and the vast experience he has had in his career and in Washington.  Joining us in the meeting were  CDR Collins, CAPT Denis, LCDR Payne and ENS Andre.

We rode the Metro to Bethesda, Maryland and took a tour of the Uniformed Services University orrof the Health Sciences.  Met several people and toured the cadaver lab.

The last presentation we had was from CAPT Patrick Denis to bring a closure of our experience this week and to reinforce the importance of balance and holistic health.  It was a great way to end the 2015 PHLS and LCDR Skip Payne and him shared words of wisdom and encouraged us to stay in contact with them.   

So grateful to everyone, Piyush, Erin, Michelle, Evette and Michitta.  Love you, Saili.

Day Two

July 7, 2015

By Evette Mumford, Texas HOSA

Today was full of outstanding experiences! We started off the morning with a meeting with Jonathan Ban who serves as the Director of the Division of Policy and Planning for ASPR, HHS. He shared so much about National Heath Security which includes heathy and safe conditions in which to work, live and play before, during and after public health emergencies.

Next we met with Jennifer Hannah Acting Director, Division of National Healthcare Preparedness Programs, ASPR, HHS. She helped us learn more about HCCs (Health Care Coalitions, their responsibilities and mission goals.

Throughout the afternoon we met with multiple state Senators from our home states. We visited the offices of Senator Alexander (TN), Senator Cruz (TX) Senator Cornyn (TX), Senator Tillis (NC) and Senator Booker (NJ). During our meetings at the Senators’ offices we spoke to them about supporting the CTE funding proposal to increase the Perkins/CTE funding back to the pre-sequestration levels. We want to thank George Sifakis for setting up and facilitating the congressional visit. 

 

Day 4 @ PHLS 2015

Day 4: Running Strong

On Day 1, we began a marathon named HOSA Public Health Leadership Seminar. Day 2 we were able to gain speed and distance. Day 3, beads of sweat began to drip down our faces as we continued to run towards the finish line. Day 4, an extra push is needed as we gain momentum and cherish each step.

Today was Day 4 of the Marathon, and we're all running strong! While we're not running an actual marathon, we are a part of a marathon of mental and physical endurance; a marathon that provides the greatest rewards of knowledge and experience.

Our day started off strong as we met up in front of the Koshland Museum and then walked to the Institute of Medicine-National Academies to meet with Mr. Jack Herrmann, the Senior Program officer of the Board on Health Sciences Policy. Mr. Herrmann provided a picture of the diversity of Public Health and the various departments that are involved in ensuring the health and safety of the US population. We also met with the interns at the office who explained how their paths to medicine were ones that were unexpected. Mr. Herrmann also explained how his path to his career was not straightforward. With an initial interest in psychology and sociology, Mr. Herrmann utilized his interests to enter a career in academia which then progressed to developing seven portfolios at NACCHO and ultimately serving in his position today. It was wonderful listening to the various career paths of the individuals at the Institute of Medicine. The most important message we gained was to "pursue your passions and embrace uncertainty".

This is the Marian Koshland Museum (Contents include Disaster Preparedness, Climate Change, and Public Health)

Picture with the Board on Health Sciences Policy at the Institute of Medicine

Next, with the magic of our amazing Metro Timing, we rode the DC Metro to the Hubert H. Humphrey Building where we were able to enter the Secretary's Operation Center. With ten screens in the front and rows of desks, we learned about the information hub of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response. The Secretary's Operation Center allows for various Public Health Departments to communicate with each other during emergency events including natural disasters and disease outbreaks. One example provided to explain the communication network was the recent Ebola Outbreak. For the first case of Ebola in Texas, the patient's information was transferred to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for testing and then transferred to the Secretary's Operation Center to prepare for the disease outbreak. Similar to the Incident Command System, we also discovered that there is a central person in the operation center, and that person is the Emergency Response Manager. Similar to the information room in the movie Jurassic World, the Secretary's Operation Center allowed us to understand the need for cooperation and communication during emergency situations. 

This is the Secretary's Operation Center

We then headed towards USUHS (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences) to meet with Ms. Joan C. Stearman, director of admissions. USUHS allows students to gain a graduate education (M.D. degree, masters, Ph.D) without paying tuition while receiving a salary and benefits of a uniformed officer in exchange for a seven-year active duty service commitment. We were given a tour of the amazing USUHS facilities including the library, cafeteria, study room, and most importantly....the Cadaver Lab!!! We learned about how the cadaver is used for biomedical research. Viewing nursing students working diligently in the cadaver lab gave me a taste of what a gross anatomy lab in medical school would look like. Our tour of USUHS concluded with a discussion on the benefits of an USUHS education. 

Right Outside of the Cadaver Lab at USUHS

Picture with our tour guide at USUHS

The last event of the day was a surprise. We were notified yesterday that the office of American Samoa was eager to meet the HOSA PHLS group! An even bigger surprise was in store for us! We were extremely lucky and honored to meet the DELEGATE of American Samoa, Congresswoman Amata Coleman Radewagen. As each of us, including our very own advisor Ms. Saili Samoa who's an American Samoan constituent, shared our stories regarding our experiences in HOSA and the importance of the HOSA-CTE Partnership, we were delighted and enthralled by the support Congresswoman Radewagen demonstrated in expanding the impact of HOSA in American Samoa. Congresswoman Radewagen arrived from American Samoa yesterday and was willing to meet with our group in person today. Her words gave each of us hope and fueled our great passion for HOSA! Our meeting with Congresswoman Radewagen was a wonderful conclusion to Day 4 of our PHLS adventures!

Picture with Congresswoman Radewagen of American Samoa

Picture of Ms. Saili Samoa with Congresswoman Radewagen who is signing our pictures

Today was a day of learning and interaction! We learned not only about Public Health but also about the career paths of various individuals as we interacted with those who contribute to the health of the US population. Now, we look forward to Day 5: The Finish Line of the HOSA PHLS Marathon! 

Day Three at the HOSA PHLS: Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Our day began at the O’Neill building with a discussion about One Health, zoonotic diseases, veterinary roles in public health, and international health collaboration.  The speakers were Joseph Annelli, DVM, MS, Director, One Health Coordination Center; Senior Advisor for Agriculture and Health Systems, Office of the Associate Deputy Administrator, Veterinary Services, APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service), USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and Lieutenant Cody Thornton, MPH, MBA, International Health Regulations Program Manager, Division of International Health Security.  Two veterinary student externs, Sam and Meghan, joined us for the entire day.  Dr. Annelli described his career path from his electronics interest in high school to his biology teaching experience, his masters research, his completion of veterinary school, his small animal practice, to his USDA food safety inspection job and to his current USDA position.  Within his description, Dr. Annelli shared fascinating stories about his involvement with the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009, his research with pseudorabies in swine, and his involvement with the Ebola outbreak.  LT Thornton expanded upon the infectious disease issue among countries by using examples about Ebola, MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), and exotic pet trade.  LT Thornton explained how health is global and how international assistance for disease outbreaks have the potential to solve more local issues than solely the problem disease.  Perhaps one of his lasting remarks was delineating the important difference between parietal presence and peer presence in underdeveloped countries, where peer presence forms greater collaborative efforts between host countries and assisting countries.  Overall, the discussion highlighted the importance of One Health, which involves interdisciplinary collaboration to improve human health, animal health, and environmental health.

Pictured left to right:  Saili Samoa, Piyush Puri, Erin Beasley, Meghan Erickson, Dr. Annelli, Michelle Park, LT Thornton, Evette Mumford, Sam Grossberg, LT Hager

The next speaker was Cheryl Levine, PhD, At-Risk Team Lead, Division for At Risk Individuals, Behavioral Health and Community Resilience (ABC), Office of Policy and Planning.  Dr. Levine first presented about two different types of needs:  access and function.  She then explained the CMIST framework (communication, maintaining health, independence, services and support, and transportation).  By utilizing the CMIST framework and identifying access and functional needs populations through three phases, at-risk populations can be better served.  An example of a tool to reach this integration is a fact sheet.  A situational example presented was improving service to pregnant women during disaster and public health emergency preparedness, response, and recovery.

We traveled quickly via Metro to the NACCHO headquarters building.  NACCHO (National Association of County and City Health Officials) represents and supports the local health departments.  We met Tahlia Gousse, MPH, CHES, Senior Program Analyst, NACCHO and three NACCHO interns.  Ms. Gousse is also a HOSA alumna from Florida.  She discussed the role of NACCHO with local health departments and her career pathway.  The interns also shared their background experience and their involvement in their respective internships.  We learned that NACCHO partners with the MRC, and we also viewed some GIS work by one of the interns.  After our brief visit, we traveled on the Metro to the Humphrey building.

Pictured above is our meeting with NACCHO.

After security check at the Humphrey building, we met Edward Gabriel, MPA, EMT-P, CEM, CBCP, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.  Mr. Gabriel gave us a tour of his office, which included showing his Disney pins and nametags from his previous job at Disney.  We then met with Mr. Gabriel along with Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), RADM, US Public Health Service.  Since our Public Health Leadership Seminar is partnered with the office of the ASPR, it was a great honor to meet Dr. Lurie and Mr. Gabriel.  At the recent HOSA National Leadership Conference, Mr. Gabriel presented our plaques for the seminar program and also delivered a speech at the Opening General Session.  At our meeting with Dr. Lurie and Mr. Gabriel, we first introduced ourselves and then discussed how the office of the ASPR can partner with HOSA for mutual benefits.  We were excited about the potential opportunities with our partnership.

Pictured left to right:  ENS Andre, Mr. Gabriel, Evette, Dr. Lurie, Saili, Michelle, Erin, Piyush, Sam, Meghan, LT Hager

After taking pictures with Dr. Lurie and Mr. Gabriel, we ate lunch at the building’s cafeteria.  We then walked back to the O’Neill building to listen to insights on government innovation and acquisition by Richard Hatchett, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Strategic Sciences, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and Javier Lopez, MSA, Deputy Director for Management Assurance, Office of Financial Planning and Analysis.  Dr. Hatchett and Mr. Lopez described their career pathways and also discussed the process of product research and development.  Dr. Hatchett explained how testing and regulation interplays with the function and safety of the medical product.  For example, drug development involves phases of research and trials before acceptance into the market.  Both speakers emphasized the importance of economic influence on medical innovation.  Also, Dr. Hatchett discussed the engineering and science integration needed for medical innovation.  Mr. Lopez stressed the importance of financial planning in medical product development and briefly described funding pathways.  Overall, the collaboration between different organizations and various professionals is required for medical innovations to reach the market.

Our last speaker of the day was Deb Nichols, MD, MPH, Public Health Advisor, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP).  Dr. Nichols described her career pathway, which included her experiences as a geriatrician.  She also presented the Healthy People 2020 framework for improving health by the year 2020.  Healthy People 2020 consists of a consortium of over 2,900 organizations.  There are 1,200 objectives/measures for Healthy People 2020 with 42 topic areas, which includes achieving health equity.  Dr. Nichols also discussed the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and explained the collaboration of agencies, which included a federal interagency workgroup, required for Healthy People 2020.  Additionally, there is a Spotlight on Health webinar series on the Healthy People website.  Dr. Nichols also stressed the importance of minority health and the need for disparities data.

Pictured left to right:  Michelle, Evette, Meghan, Erin, Dr. Nichols, Piyush, Sam, Saili, ENS Andre

Following the last presentation, CAPT Tosatto gave us MRC coins, which is a tradition.  We greatly appreciated his support during this week and his guidance for our project.  At the end of the day, we ate dinner at Potbelly’s and discussed our project plan.  We continued to work on different sections of our project.  The day was full of interesting speakers, and their presentations inspired us to fulfill our project’s goals.

Above:  Piyush and Michelle received MRC coins from CAPT Tosatto.

Pictured left to right:  CAPT Denis, Piyush, Erin, Michelle, CAPT Tosatto, Saili, Evette, ENS Andre

Pictured left to right:  LT Hager, Piyush, Erin, Michelle, CAPT Tosatto, Saili, Evette, ENS Andre

Day One @ HOSA PHLS 2015

Bright and early on a rainy Monday morning, our team of 5 HOSA Public Health Leadership Seminar participants made our way to the Thomas O’Neil building. The beautiful Health & Human Services building greeted us with a thorough security checkpoint, a process that our Potbelly sandwiches also had to experience later that day.

After security Lieutenant Katie Hager, a Program Officer for the Division of Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps, gave us a quick tour of our work space — a conference room in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). As this division needs to be ready for disaster situations, the area is designed to accommodate several teams for 24/7 work — including a kitchen area and showers. 

Immediately the day took off with four meetings introducing us to connected facets of the Department of Health & Human Services. First, we met with Captain Robert Tosatto, who serves as Director of the Division of the Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps and is the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the Director of the Office of Emergency Management. With a huge smile on his face, Captain Tosatto shared with us the history of the HOSA-MRC partnership and his vision for future collaboration and development. As a HOSA member, it was thrilling for me to learn how our pipeline for Future Health Professionals could feed into the MRC and truly allow us to focus on community health. It’s very fitting that right across the wall in our conference room it says: ASPR — Resilient People. Healthy Communities. A Nation Prepared. 

Next up, we met with three individuals from the Office of Emergency Management. Fusion Director Nancy Nurthen and Emergency Management Specialists from the Operations Division Ted M. Kennedy  and Deborah Knickerbocker. This meeting was defined by rich discussion around the National Incident Management System and Incident Command System — as the representatives from the Operations Division shared with us the importance of adhering to these established systems during times of crisis. A major takeaway was that whenever the Federal Government sends people to help with a disaster, the local authorities are always the ones in charge. To illustrate, during the response to the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon — a building full of high-ranking officers, the Arlington County Fire Chief was the one calling the shots. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion around Fusion - a part of ASPR that is leveraging Healthcare Information Technology to provide analysis and reporting. The tools they provide are listed here, it’s definitely worth checking out! http://www.phe.gov/about/oem/fusion/Pages/tools.aspx

After a quick lunch break, we went right back to our meetings - picking up with Lieutenant Commander Skip Payne. Through his personal anecdotes (which were hilarious), he gave us insight into what he does as a Program Officer for the MRC, history of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and Office of the Surgeon General. In the end, he left us with the message of being ok with the uncertainty of the path ahead. Often times, we encounter obstacles that seem like the end-all, however the experiences he shared with us proved that if you take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way - things will work out. 

Finally, we had a chance to meet with two lovely communications officers Elizabeth Jarrett and Elleen Kane. They walked us through the use of social media in varying emergency and educational situations, and strategic messaging and communication in the government. 

As the meetings came to an end, we had the incredible opportunity to check out the incredible interactive displays at the Koshland Museum. This relatively new museum surprisingly packs A LOT of information through their creative displays in a small location in DC. I personally recommend the distracted driving, climate change and disaster management simulations! 

Perhaps the most relaxing part of the day however, was when Captain Tosatto pulled up in his minivan and took the team around Georgetown and the National Mall. Devouring some famous cupcakes, we went around town walking and exploring. Following this, Captain Tosatto gave us a personal night tour of the monuments, sharing spectacular fun facts along the way. 

Through our excursions we truly got to bond within our team - it really began to feel like more of a family. I look around and I see an advisor from American Samoa, an island that is a 20+ hour flight away, a passionate CTE teacher from a brand new Texas school and two brilliant HOSA members. This week is an opportunity to explore Public Health alongside diverse and talented individuals, I cannot wait to see what the next few days hold.