When Chedeline Dorelus decided to enroll at USF for the fall 2016 semester, she had nearly 30 college credits from high school and a plan to earn an English degree on a pre-law track.

Late that summer, Dorelus experienced doubts. She began feeling uncertain about whether she should attend law school or pursue something in the health field—perhaps a medical degree. She went online, changed her major to undeclared and entered USF’s Exploratory Curriculum (ECM) program. The program offers students the option to complete general education requirements while exploring unfamiliar academic disciplines and career fields.

At the suggestion of an ECM counselor, she took an elective course in public health, sparking an interest that ultimately guided her college and professional path.

“That class really cemented my decision as a major, and from then on I’ve been involved in public health,” said Dorelus, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public health from USF and became a senior human services program specialist for Florida Health.

She is now program director with Champions for Children at Layla’s House, a community-based learning and resource center that supports expectant parents and parents and caregivers of young children.

Exploratory programs, such as ECM, provide students more time and information to make what’s often a crucial decision while staying on track for a timely graduation. Although national data for such programs can be difficult to find due to inconsistencies in the way individual schools report on undeclared majors, USF data show that students who enrolled in ECM have experienced, on average, higher graduation rates than those who previously began their college careers as undeclared majors.

Shane Combs, an ECM advisor and an instructor in the Office of Undergraduate Studies, said the program’s success in improving outcomes for undeclared students helps to combat the myth that they are somehow less academically skilled, less passionate about college or less dedicated to graduating from USF.

For Dorelus, ECM provided the resources and environment to help her find the right fit for a major and a career. Her program counselor worked with her to create a document that helped her identify an academic program “that would be the intersection of my passion and skills,” she said.

Like Dorelus, students who enroll in ECM arrive directly from high school. Many share the same uncertainties about how to make seemingly monumental decisions about their futures amid an evolving employment landscape.

“For me, what’s even more important, is not just teaching them how to choose a major, but how to make a choice,” Combs said. “On the surface level, we know that who we are at 18 years old will not be the person we are at 40 years old. So how do I choose a major now when I can’t predict the future?”

Combs says that’s more true now than ever, with some students likely to land jobs in industries or with companies that don’t exist today, and much more likely than their parents or grandparents to have multiple, distinct careers during their lifetimes.

Students who enroll in ECM are required to select a major after 36 credits, which usually means they are in the program for a full academic year—one fall, spring and summer semester.

They choose from one of five pathways—art and humanities; business; global and social sciences; health and natural sciences; and math and technology—but remain free to register for classes outside of their pathway or, ultimately, select an unrelated major.

At any given time, there are usually 250 or more students enrolled, most of whom have met Combs or another ECM advisor before they visited campus for the first time. Early contact is particularly helpful for students interested in STEM fields, helping to ensure they earn the necessary prerequisites while continuing to explore options.

An important part of their ECM experience is connecting with university resources, such as the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, Education Abroad and the Center for Career & Professional Development, along with research opportunities through USF’s Office of High Impact Practices and Undergraduate Research and learning about student clubs and organizations.

“Students now enrolling in college are starting internships much earlier than before,” Combs said. “They’re interested in networking and shadowing, and also in volunteer work. They come to campus ready to get engaged and make a difference immediately. They feel they can’t afford to wait four years to get a piece of paper before they start making a change in the world around them.”

Combs points out that while some students might arrive on campus uncertain about a major, they are already determined to find ways to affect change in their local and global communities.

“They are ready to learn and ready to make a difference, and now we want to teach them research and critical thinking skills,” Combs said. “That’s the secret sauce of college.”

Allison Crume, USF’s dean of Undergraduate Studies and associate vice president of Student Success, said the ECM program is another example of how forward-thinking institutions can meet the needs of students whose lives have been shaped by their experiences during the pandemic and will enter a rapidly evolving workforce upon graduation.

“We are proud to collaborate with academic programs across USF to offer Exploratory Curriculum Major pathways,” Crume said. “Students have the opportunity to engage in focused areas of interest as well as gain interdisciplinary skills. ECM gives students space to explore courses and careers to help them identify a successful academic plan.”

Story reposted from USF Newsroom

The post USF’s Exploratory Curriculum program helps put undecided students on a path to success appeared first on College of Public Health News.

Four USF College of Public Health undergraduate public health majors are finishing up a new internship program with Planned Parenthood.

The students have been serving as chat/text health ambassadors, answering questions about sexual and reproductive health from adults and adolescents who text or instant message the organization.

“Planned Parenthood reached out to us to partner on this internship,” said Dr. Alison Oberne, director of the college’s BSPH program and an Instructor III. “It’s a perfect fit for our students and for public health.”

This remote internship spans two semesters and is open only to those students majoring in public health. The students receive a $1,500 stipend for each semester of the internship.

“Planned Parenthood serves a vital purpose in our society, and I wanted to be a part of it because I have always felt strongly about reproductive rights and the importance of sexual health education,” commented Emily Rodhouse, a second-semester senior who said she found out about the internship through the USF Public Health Announcements and Opportunities page on Canvas. “Access to care and access to information are extremely important in order to make informed decisions about one’s health.”

“I missed my birth control pill. What should I do?”

As chat/text health ambassadors, the students went through five days of training with Planned Parenthood staff learning about sexual health topics and practicing mock chats.

“One of the training exercises focused on adolescent brain development and how it can impact our younger clients,” Rodhouse noted. “My coworker who ran the training themed the whole presentation around the Netflix show ‘Wednesday’ because it was popular at the time. It made the training really fun and helped solidify the concepts that we discussed by relating them to the show.”

With training complete, the students took on real questions from real-life clients. Most questions, they said, centered around birth control, emergency contraception, abortion, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), pregnancy testing and other reproductive health concerns.

“An example of a question could be ‘I missed my birth control pill. What should I do now?’ ” added Sophie Doffegnies, who’s also in her final semester at USF.

“We were taught to be nonbiased and open-minded,” explained Cheyenne Charles, another senior graduating this spring. “Our job has been to help people no matter where they are in the world and what situation they’re in. Yes, we’ve been trained on how to educate people on birth control, contraception, pregnancy, abortion, etc., but it’s our job to make the chatter [the person who asks the question] feel calm in a judgment-free environment.”

Hundreds of chats, thousands of questions answered

The students say it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how many questions they’ve answered, as each chat can involve several questions. But they do estimate that they’ve each taken part in hundreds, if not thousands, of chats.

“One highlight I had was when a chatter thanked me graciously for all the help I had given her,” said Charles. “It makes me happy knowing that the chatters appreciate what I and the other ambassadors are doing. It makes me feel like I am making an impact in someone’s life, even though we aren’t face to face.”

Impacting change

The students say they didn’t just impart knowledge—they gained some, too.

“This internship has helped me tremendously,” said Doffegnies, who hopes to work in a research capacity for a government, nonprofit or nongovernmental public health agency after graduation. “I got to work, for the first time, in a national 501(c) organization and I’ve developed so many professional skills from doing so. It’s taught me a lot about how advocacy and spreading the right information can impact someone’s life, and I plan to utilize that in my future career.”

Charles says the internship has shown her the importance of health literacy.

“Some people are confused about their own health and what they can do to protect themselves,” she said. “I want to create change and help inform people about public health practices they can use in their daily life. If we can educate people on topics such as safer sex, STI testing, emergency contraception, etc., they can keep that information for the future or inform their friends/family.”

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

The post BSPH students serve as chat/text health ambassadors for Planned Parenthood appeared first on College of Public Health News.

This year’s USF Health Research Day set new records as more participants than ever filled the USF Tampa campus Marshall Student Center on March 3 to showcase the best of their scientific work.

The 33^rd USF Health Research Day included 457 research poster presentations by students, postdocs, residents, faculty and staff across all health disciplines.

Research Day is the largest research-oriented event of its kind at USF and remains the largest celebration of health sciences research collaboration across all four USF Health  (medicine, nursing, public health and pharmacy) as well as with colleagues in other USF colleges, including social work and engineering.

The event kicked off with the Annual Roy H. Behnke, MD, Distinguished Lectureship featuring speaker Kim Orth, PhD, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Following Dr. Orth’s presentation on bacterial effectors, judges reviewed the posters that lined the Marshall Center Ballroom. They asked students for more detail and clarifications about their research projects. Presentations ranged from pilot, preliminary, empirical and case studies to system reviews and reviews of literature or charts.

Research Day culminated with an awards ceremony in the Oval Theatre announcing the winners in 29 competitive categories – including 18 monetary awards totaling $8,600.

research award. (Photo by Sara Stubben)

The USF College of Public Health had a total of six students with winning posters and another three who were invited to be oral presenters. Those students and their awards are:

• Best Poster the field of Other Research: Brooke Broxterman (COPH master’s student)
• The Basic Science, Clinical & Translational Research Award COPH: Doctoral Student Research – Rafaella Stein Elger
• The Basic Science, Clinical & Translational Research Award COPH: Master’s Student Research – Paula Hernandez
• The Community Research Award COPH: Doctoral Student Research – Suman Chowdhury
• The Community Research Award COPH: Master’s Student Research – Bence Nagy
• The USF Health Dean’s Interprofessional Research Award: Romina Beltran (COPH master’s student)
• Invited Oral COPH Presenters: Anthony Nguyen (COPH doctoral student), Marshara Fross (COPH doctoral student), Pradeep Annamalai Subramani (COPH postdoctoral scholar)

For the full USF Health Research Day story, click here.

Excerpts from USF Health Communications and Research. Written by Sarah Worth. 

The post COPH students win big at record-breaking 2023 Research Day appeared first on College of Public Health News.

Two USF College of Public Health (COPH) undergraduate students walked away with awards after presenting their research at USF’s 2022 Undergraduate Research Conference. 

The annual event, held virtually and in person this past April, is open to all USF undergraduates on all campuses. The purpose of the conference, say its organizers, is to expose students to student-faculty mentored projects and give students experience in presenting research in a professional setting.

Samantha Deveaux received the Undergraduate Research Scholar Award for her work on health care disparities among low-income populations. Her research earned her an induction into the USF chapter of the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society.

“While attending USF, I worked at a children’s hospital where I witnessed the disparities among lower-income families and the difficulties they face with basic health care needs,” said the 2022 COPH health sciences grad with plans to conduct health policy research while applying to law schools. “Many times, the families would have difficulties scheduling appointments [because of] their work schedule or lack of childcare and transportation. Or they would have financial issues that prevented them from buying nutritious foods or refilling prescriptions. Although social workers attempted to provide as much assistance as they could, they simply had an overload of families. The research I conducted found that those who are lower income are at an increased risk of adverse health effects because of a lack of primary and preventative care, mental health resources, financial stability and access to reliable health insurance.”

Deveaux said she’d like to expand her research to include more local populations and neighborhoods and eventually get the work published. You can read the abstract of her poster here.

Evelyn Spiller, who graduated from the COPH in the spring with a BSPH, received the General Disciplinary Award in Social Sciences for her work on eating behaviors and nutrition interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

“My research was on mealtime problems observed in young children with ASD from around the world,” explained Spiller, who plans on pursuing an MPH with a concentration in epidemiology. “It was a review of empirical literature published over the last 10 years on problematic mealtime and eating behaviors among children with ASD. I also shared the ongoing development of social media components that are being used to supplement a nutrition intervention developed for children with ASD by [COPH professor] Dr. Heewon Gray and her team. I began my research to expand my own understanding of the need for nutritional interventions in this group while I assisted with Dr. Gray’s research.”

One of those social media interventions, Spiller said, is a Facebook group for parents enrolled in the nutritional intervention. The group gives parents additional information and support in fostering healthy eating habits in their children.

Spiller, who has hopes of publishing the research, noted that because of issues like sensory sensitivity, obesity and nutritional deficiencies have become a growing concern among children with ASD. “Our findings highlighted the unmet need of data from underdeveloped countries and the [importance] of social media components to supplement a nutrition intervention,” she said.

You can read the abstract of her poster presentation here.

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

The post COPH undergrads recognized for outstanding research appeared first on College of Public Health News.

USF College of Public Health (COPH) students in Elizabeth Dunn’s service-learning “Disaster by Design” course culminated their semester-long class in disaster management by designing, teaching and evaluating disaster-training exercises.

The training exercises were presented (in-person) by the students and others to members of Hillsborough County’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) during the annual CERT exercise at the Hillsborough County Emergency Operation Center in April.

The county’s CERT team, made up of volunteers, supports full-time responders in emergency situations, such as hurricanes, floods and wildfires.

Teaching Disaster Response

The college teamed with community partners from the Hillsborough County Office of Emergency Management, the City of Tampa Office of Emergency Management, the Florida Department of Health Region IV, Zoo Tampa Emergency Management, TECO Emergency Management, Walt Disney World Global and Disaster Response Ministries International to develop the exercises. 

The exercises involved emergency-management procedures such as:

• Mass casualty triage
• Setting up operations at a point of distribution (POD) for food and water
• Intake for a family reunification center
• Working with dogs in a pet shelter & pet first aid
• Crisis communication in a disaster call center
• Infection control during biological threats
• Damage assessments

“Disaster exercises help businesses, hospitals, government agencies, disaster-response organizations and communities prepare for potential threats and hazards by providing a low-risk environment to test and validate existing plans, policies and procedures,” said Dunn, an Instructor I and a disaster-preparedness expert. “Through this process, teams can identify gaps in their plans and determine existing strengths and areas for improvement and what resources are needed.”

Students grouped together to work on developing and implementing their training exercises. One group, for example, developed a tabletop exercise (a discussion-based session in which team members talk about their roles, responsibilities, etc.) that revolved around what to do if an EF 5 tornado touched down in a town in Kentucky. That same group of students later teamed with the Florida Department of Health to create an exercise/drill for local CERT personnel, training them in proper handwashing and how to use personal-protection equipment (PPE) in the event there was a tuberculosis outbreak in a hospital emergency room.

“An Unexpected Gift”

Students say the course taught them more than disaster management.

It taught them about themselves, their unique skills, teamwork and the important roles they can play in their communities.

“This course was an unexpected gift,” Kayla Long, a senior majoring in biomedical sciences, said. “It was not a course I had to take for my major, but rather a substitute for another course I needed to complete my second minor in environmental health. I was, frankly, confused as to how this course would be a suitable class to complement courses like principles of toxicology—it seemed out of place, an unnecessary addition. I came to find, however, that PHC 4376 [Disaster by Design] was more than just a course on emergency management—it was ultimately a lesson in mindfulness.”

How so? 

“I learned to view things from a dozen different angles, to consider how varying perspectives can be used to adapt creative solutions,” elaborated Long, who has plans of pursuing a career as an infectious disease physician. “I was able to create plans that reflected my unique knowledge and skill set while embracing those things in my peers. Our final exercise felt like reaching the top of a mountain. The way I see it, this course is a starting point—it’s a call to action, to embrace my role in my community and the potential positive impact my efforts can have when joined with those of my peers.”

Expanding Career Options

According to Dunn as well as the CERT teams and students themselves, the exercises were successful. 

“When one of the groups asked if they could use the project we designed,” Jordan Bentivenga, a recent USF graduate with hopes of getting both an MPH and medical degree, said, “We felt like we accomplished our goal of effectively designing and communicating [a disaster-management] exercise.”

Elyshaluz Day Gonzales, a senior public health major concentrating in infection control, said the course gave her more than hands-on learning—it opened a whole new career path for her.

“The course not only taught me about creating, planning and facilitating an exercise, but it taught me more about what I want to do with my future. It taught me how intricate and interesting the field of emergency management and planning is. It taught me that there should be no boundaries in what you can do to help people, and also that there are endless amounts of opportunities to do so if you look for them and put yourself out there. And with all the knowledge and skills I have gained, and the people I have met through my experiences this semester, I have been able to explore the field of public health and explore myself and what I want for my future occupation. I’m very excited to see where this path takes me.”

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

The post Course gives students hands-on experience in emergency management—and a lot more appeared first on College of Public Health News.

Mask wearing has been a hot topic—with lukewarm popularity.

To better understand which subset of people are most inclined to follow mask-wearing guidelines, several USF College of Public Health (COPH) students set out to observe people over several weeks last year, from midsummer to early fall. The students conducted their research at a variety of places around Tampa Bay, including the Westshore Mall, a Publix in Tampa Palms, a Target in Brandon and even the Marshall Student Center on the USF campus. 

Their findings were summarized in a series of three posters, presented at USF Health Research Day in February.

“Throughout the state of Florida, masking policies have been modified at various stages of the pandemic, which has led to mixed messaging,” said Mae Horne, a senior majoring in public health and microbiology who presented the “Local Signage as a Factor in Determining Community Masking Behavior” poster. “The objective was to understand more about the populations that adhere to masking recommendations and those who don’t. Using the data collected during three different periods throughout Tampa [late July, late August and late September] we aimed to identify observable differences in perceived demographic (age, gender, race/ethnicity) and neighborhood adherence to mask and social distancing guidelines.”

In the first poster, “Trends in child masking behaviors in the Tampa area surrounding the start of the 2021-2022 school year,” the students compared child mask wearing around the start of the school year (Aug. 23-29, to be precise) to the two other observation periods in July and September. The poster was presented by Alexis Robinson, who graduated in May with her BSPH.

Not surprisingly, said the researchers, mask wearing among children was up during the period in August.

“Factors contributing to the significantly increased odds of children wearing a full-coverage mask seen at the end of August likely includes local messaging related to masking recommendations, such as the Hillsborough County School Board mandating masking for students on August 18, 2021,” said recent COPH MPH graduate Jessica Pecoraro, who concentrated in epidemiology and mentored the students involved in all three posters through the research process. “Additionally, at this time, children were also not yet able to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, and the Delta variant was surging.” 

With the second poster, presented by COPH undergrads Catherine Moreau and YaMaya Barley, the students looked at mask-wearing behaviors among different racial and ethnic groups and found that non-White racial and ethnic groups “maintained a statistically significantly increased odds of fully wearing a mask, compared with whites.”

“This finding was in line with what was being seen in other locations, and it, too, wasn’t necessarily surprising,” said Pecoraro. “The reason why masking rates could vary between groups might be cultural norms, living with older family members (thus taking extra precautions to avoid bringing the virus home to especially susceptible family members) or working jobs that require interaction with the public (such as a customer service role) that increases potential exposure and a feeling of susceptibility that could carry through to their daily lives.”

Lastly, the students wanted to see how mask-wearing signage influenced whether people wore masks. Across all three observation periods, the odds of people wearing masks increased when there was signage recommending or requiring masks versus when no signage was present. Interestingly, there were decreased odds of people wearing masks when there was signage saying masks weren’t required compared to when there was no signage at all.

“These results allowed us to draw the conclusion that positive public health messaging can directly impact the behavior of the generalized population,” Horne noted.

The studies are important, said the students, because understanding patterns, gaps and determinants of prevention measures helps public health practitioners understand what populations follow public health guidance as it’s provided and who would benefit from a different approach in how guidance is delivered.

“To effectively prevent infection in a situation such as SARS-CoV-2, widespread adherence to prevention strategies is needed to effectively reduce morbidity and mortality rates,” Pecoraro explained. “Understanding where the gaps are helps us know where to focus our outreach efforts on the future. Our studies provide evidence that 1.) The public might have needed to better understand the role children can play in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to see better mask adherence amongst the younger ages. 2.) Groups with lower masking rates would likely benefit from focused outreach and public health awareness to increase masking adherence and 3.) Clear and unified public health messaging is important in implementing widespread public health strategies, such as masking.”

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

The post Who adheres to mask-wearing guidelines—and who doesn’t? appeared first on College of Public Health News.

Laura Rusnak, a USF College of Public Health (COPH) faculty member, along with some of her fellow COPH colleagues, recently published a paper entitled, “Integrating diverse study abroad opportunities into public health curricula: Three distinct strategies to address common barriers.”  The article was published in the March 2019 edition of Frontiers in Public Health.

“In public health, we know that a global health perspective is required to prepare students for emerging challenges,” explained Rusnak. “I was inspired by my fellow undergraduate faculty colleagues who were developing study abroad courses around the world. As a department, we began to offer more and more opportunities for students to gain the skills they’ll need in our global public health workforce.”

From 2014 to 2018, the number of USF undergraduates who participated in a public-health focused study abroad program increased 275 percent, noted Rusnak. Today, the COPH offers undergraduates programs in Japan, London and Canada. “I figured other public health programs could benefit from the lessons we learned throughout this growth process,” said Rusnak, explaining how the journal article came to be.

Rusnak and her colleagues came up with strategies to circumvent common barriers students and universities face when they attempt to set up study abroad programs.

What advice does the article give?

1. Add public health coursework to already-established study abroad programs. According to Rusnak, this allows for seamless planning and logistics; it also offers a level of security and stability.
2. Use an academic travel company. Such a company can take care of the budget, logistics and administrative tasks.
3. Utilize existing international/university partnerships. Rusnak and her colleagues advise universities to look at connections made through professional conferences, sabbatical-host universities, Fulbright programs, etc.

The study abroad programs the COPH offers to undergraduates are all short term, lasting just several weeks or less. Rusnak says the short duration is intentional.

“Of all the barriers to studying abroad, one of the biggest is cost,” said Rusnak, who explains that many students go to school while working full time. “Limiting travel time reduces this barrier. As long as students engage with course content before and after travel, we’ve found that we’re able to ensure learning outcomes while increasing access.”

In addition to their increased global outlook, Rusnak notes that studying abroad has other benefits as well, including increasing a student’s career focus, goals and future employability.

“Learning about global issues in the classroom is like opening a door,” Rusnak said. “Studying abroad is like kicking open that door. Being immersed in a culture and learning about public health issues in another country changes students forever. Being able to facilitate and witness that transformation is incredibly rewarding.”

Read more about COPH undergraduate study abroad programs here.

Watch a video about the undergraduate Quebec City study abroad program here.

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

The post A world of good: COPH professor and colleagues publish article on public health study abroad programs appeared first on College of Public Health News.

Rather than taking a much-needed rest after finals this past semester, a group of committed students from the USF College of Public Health spent the beginning of winter break diving headfirst into the public health arena.

As part of this year’s Public Health Live on Tour, students were able to escape the classroom setting and expand upon their public health knowledge by visiting several public health agencies and facilities in the Tampa area.

The tour included visits to Metropolitan Ministries, DACCO Behavioral Health, the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and the Pinellas County Waste-to-Energy Facility.

As part of this year’s Public Health Live on Tour, students were able to escape the classroom setting and expand upon their public health knowledge by visiting several public health agencies and facilities in the Tampa area. The tour included visits to Metropolitan Ministries, DACCO Behavioral Health, the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and the Pinellas County Waste-to-Energy Facility.

Dr. Alison Oberne, a COPH alumna and instructor of the course, believes that the tour is a great complement to what students learn in class.

“For example, in the core course, students learn about the process of water treatment,” Oberne said. “However, during the tour students visited a water-treatment facility and saw each of the treatment stages.”

“By visiting these unique sites, I was able to take the education I received in the classroom and use it in the field,” said Christiana Zimmer, a BSPH student with an interest and concentration in health education.

“Upon arrival to each site, we toured the facility, interacted with vulnerable populations, heard from public health professionals and engaged in interactive discussion,” Zimmer said.

Brandon Von, a public health undergraduate senior at USF, noted how public health seemed to find the professionals who worked in the field—rather than the other way around.

“We spoke with a former massage therapist, several nurses, a lawyer and a few people involved in the business aspects of their respective organizations,” Von said. “I found it surprising that these site representatives did not actually choose public health as their first career.”

This type of real-life experience helped students recognize issues that they may not have thought about in class and use what they learned in the classroom to brainstorm solutions to important public health problems.

The experience helped Von consider the role that proper teamwork plays in reaching many public health solutions.

“I believe that government, private organizations and [the general public] all need to work together to influence health care solutions and policy,” Von said.

Overall, the experience was extremely important to the students who were involved, helping them to develop many professional qualities and inspiring them to move on to careers in public health after graduation.

“Above all, this course was an unforgettable opportunity that has fueled [my] passion for public health as I continue my education,” Zimmer said.

Story by Cody Brown, USF College of Public Health

The post Public Health Live on Tour gives COPH students first-hand experience appeared first on College of Public Health News.