By: Gabe Gan
On Saturday, November 15th, the first annual Atlanta Undergraduate Conference on Health and Society took place at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA. This year’s conference was titled “Healthy People, Healthy Societies,” and drew student speakers from Agnes Scott, Emory, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State. The conference began with a keynote address, given by Dr. Denise Koo of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who also serves as an adjunct assistant professor in the Rollins School of Public Health. After the keynote, students broke up into four panels and presented on their research, internship experiences, and other public health related topics.
Dr. Koo, who serves as the Senior Advisor for Health Systems in the Office of Public Health Scientific Services (OPHSS), shared her personal story and journey from scientist, to physician, to public health practitioner. She outlined some of her key accomplishments at CDC, including working on the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System, writing privacy rule guidance (HIPPA), and developing “A Practical Playbook—Public Health and Primary Care Together.” While her primary training is in epidemiology, Dr. Koo discussed her current focus on health systems transformation and its importance. Lastly, Dr. Koo highlighted the changing nature of public health and the directions she predicts the field taking in upcoming years.
Dr. Koo, who serves as the Senior Advisor for Health Systems in the Office of Public Health Scientific Services (OPHSS), shared her personal story and journey from scientist, to physician, to public health practitioner. She outlined some of her key accomplishments at CDC, including working on the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System, writing privacy rule guidance (HIPPA), and developing “A Practical Playbook—Public Health and Primary Care Together.” While her primary training is in epidemiology, Dr. Koo discussed her current focus on health systems transformation and its importance. Lastly, Dr. Koo highlighted the changing nature of public health and the directions she predicts the field taking in upcoming years.
Dr. Denise Koo of the CDC addressing conference attendees in the opening keynote
This past summer, I served as an Emergency Care Policy Intern at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). Working with the Division of Health System Policy and the Emergency Care Coordination Center, I met with public and private stakeholders in emergency care to discuss research and current programming on topics including EMS data use, opioid/opiate surveillance, and active shooter preparedness. In addition, I assisted in document drafting and the creation of visual and information flowcharts for data collection.
At the conference, I presented on Mobile Integrated Healthcare, a concept that I am passionate about and discovered during my summer internship. Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH), also known as community paramedicine when delivered by an EMS system, serves a wide range of patients in the out-of-hospital setting by providing 24/7 needs-based at-home integrated acute care, chronic care and prevention services. My presentation, entitled “Mobile Integrated Healthcare: The evolving role of EMTs and Paramedics in community health,” shared an overview of the problems with the U.S. emergency care system and benefits of implementing community paramedicine programs on both cost and quality of care. After presenting the general principals and components of Mobile Integrated Health, I profiled two notable MIH programs: the CHF Readmissions Prevention Program at MedStar Mobile Healthcare in Fort Worth, TX and the Mobile Upstream Crisis Intervention Unit out of Grady EMS in Atlanta.
At the conference, I presented on Mobile Integrated Healthcare, a concept that I am passionate about and discovered during my summer internship. Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH), also known as community paramedicine when delivered by an EMS system, serves a wide range of patients in the out-of-hospital setting by providing 24/7 needs-based at-home integrated acute care, chronic care and prevention services. My presentation, entitled “Mobile Integrated Healthcare: The evolving role of EMTs and Paramedics in community health,” shared an overview of the problems with the U.S. emergency care system and benefits of implementing community paramedicine programs on both cost and quality of care. After presenting the general principals and components of Mobile Integrated Health, I profiled two notable MIH programs: the CHF Readmissions Prevention Program at MedStar Mobile Healthcare in Fort Worth, TX and the Mobile Upstream Crisis Intervention Unit out of Grady EMS in Atlanta.
A student speaker presents on cultural competency as it relates to health in West Africa. Both photos courtesy of Dr. Rachel Hall-Clifford of Agnes Scott College.
There were many other outstanding student presentations at the conference. In the panel I participated in, student speakers presented on the intersections of Western medicine and folk medicine, health disparities in Peru, the impact of medical NGOs in Guatemala, and the importance of cultural competency in international public health. In the afternoon, I attended the session on health disparities and chronic conditions. Three of the presentations in this session focused on local public health problems in Georgia, including diabetes, nutrition and obesity, as well as food insecurity.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed my experience at the conference. In addition to furthering my knowledge of public health topics, I relished the opportunity to meet students interested in health from other schools nearby in the metro Atlanta area. I look forward to presenting again next year, and hope that more students and faculty members from the Center for the Study of Human Health will participate in this amazing opportunity.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed my experience at the conference. In addition to furthering my knowledge of public health topics, I relished the opportunity to meet students interested in health from other schools nearby in the metro Atlanta area. I look forward to presenting again next year, and hope that more students and faculty members from the Center for the Study of Human Health will participate in this amazing opportunity.
| Gabe Gan is a junior at Emory University majoring in Human Health and History. He aspires for a career combining emergency medicine, health policy, and public health. |  |
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