Public Health-Global Health Major
University of Washington School of Public Health
Public Health Core Classes
Reflections and Work from Public Health Classes
SPH 380 History and Practice of Public Health
SPH 380 was one of the first classes I took after transferring into the Public Health-Global Health major. It was also one of the first classes I took online during the advent of the COVID-19 public health crisis. As I reflect back, this class brought me certainty at time where everything in the world was so unpredictable. I was introduced to important public health frameworks that provided me with a base line to understanding current events.
SPH 381 Science in Public Health
SPH 381 is the second class in the Public Health Core Series. It focuses on teaching students frameworks to recognize preventable disease, identify causal factors, design interventions to prevent illness or injury, and assess the efficacy of those interventions. I found this class very interesting because it incorporated environmental health into its materials, which allowed me to draw on what I learned as an undergraduate researcher and previous Environmental and Occupational Health Major. One of the core assignments was to write a science blog based on new research surrounding a public health issue. Take a look at one of the blog posts I wrote below.
SPH 480 Research Methods in Public Health
Research Methods in Public Health was designed to teach students important aspects of public health research. During the quarter students are placed in groups where they work collaboratively on a cross-sectional research study. My group decided to research the association between social media usage and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in undergraduate students at the UW. The project involved designing research methods, a research protocol, conducting surveys among UW students, and analyzing data. I was also able to conduct a second research study in this class through Public Health Departmental Honors on the association between gender and perceptions of safety among undergraduate and graduate students at the UW. To learn more about that study check out my Departmental Honors page.
SPH 481 Ethics, Social Justice and Public Policy in Public Health
The Spring quarter of my senior year was a busy time. I was thrilled about completing my college education and, at the same time, apprehensive about what was to come next. SPH 481 focused on analyzing the social justice implications of public policy. I learned how public policies are passed through the legislative process in Washington state and how to research unforeseen impacts of policies. Students worked in groups to analyze a policy throughout the quarter. I would have loved to have seen a more global or national view on public health policy instead of focusing on a singular Washington state policy the whole quarter. Nevertheless, I appreciated learning the analysis process and believe it can translate to any policy, including smaller school or employment policies.
Undergraduate Research
Institute for Risk Analysis & Risk Communication
I participated in Undergraduate Research from January - August 2019. I worked in a toxicology lab run by Dr. Elaine Faustman in the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. The project I worked on looked into how the toxicity of metals and pesticides affect neurodevelopment. This experience was so fascinating because I had the chance to take care of hNPC (human neural progenitor cells). I learned a ton about how research labs operate and how scientific research, in general, is conducted. Ultimately, this experience showed me that laboratory work was not something I am passionate about, however, I enjoyed learning about grant writing and how research can influence policy and have taken this interest into other jobs. This formative experience also helped me transition from Environmental Health into a Public Health major at UW.
ENV H 447
Environmental Change and Infectious Disease
When I saw this class was being offered I was immediately fascinated! The class aimed to take a multidisciplinary approach to assess the impact of environmental change on emerging infectious diseases. Students got to study climate change works and analyze how the consequences of climate change will affect infectious diseases across the globe. I really enjoyed this class because I was able to build off of knowledge from an Honors course I took the quarter before on climate science. This class also looked at other aspects of environmental change such as migration, urbanization, land use changes, antibiotics and population growth. This class gave be a strong base of knowledge of how the worlds current environment affects how new infectious diseases spread. I was able to use a ton of information from this class to make sense of the COIVD-19 pandemic.