|
September
This summer, Andrew Lewis, MPH '12, worked with professors Lindsay Stark and Alastair Ager, on the first comprehensive field-test of the new Child Protection Rapid Assessment (CPRA) toolkit developed by the global protection cluster’s Child Protection Working Group (CPWG). The assessment – conducted in Indonesia - was focused on communities affected by the eruption of the Merapi volcano. The assessment in Central Java was conceived not only as a means to provide feedback on the effectiveness and operation of the assessment tool but to equip Indonesian personnel with the competencies to complete such an assessment in the context of a future rapid-onset emergency. Read more here.
August
Andrew Lewis, MPH '12, talks about the need for public health education in disaster management and how he got his overseas practicum. Watch the short video here.
May 2011
Program graduates Maggie Veatch, MPH 2008, Courtney Blake, MPH 2010, Barbara Magid, MPH 2011 and Layal Sarrouh, MPH 2011, co-Author Journal Articles and Chapters in Forthcoming Books.
Maggie Veatch, a 2008 PFMH graduate and Professor Neil Boothby co-authored shared their evaluation findings of a new decentralized mental healthcare system developed in Aceh, Indonesia, in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami. The article, which appeared in The Psychiatrist (2011, 35, 1-8), describes how forward thinking mental health professionals were able to leverage tsunami emergency funds to raise the status of healthcare in Aceh. Both patients and caregivers reported statistically significant differences when ranking patient well-being in districts where this household to hospital continuum of care has been established. The decentralized mental healthcare system is an example of the opportunity to build back better after an emergency. Read the full article here.
Professor Richard Garfield and Courtney Blake wrote "Common Needs Assessments and humanitarian action" published by the Humanitarian Practice Network in April 2011. Read the article here.
Two of the Program on Forced Migration and Health current students also wrote chapters with Neil Boothby for forthcoming books. Magid’s chapter, “Promoting Resilience in Children of War”, serves as the introduction to a new Handbook of Promoting Resilience in Children, to be published by Springer in early 2012. The book promises to be of practical value to the staff of operational agencies working with children in dangerous and impoverished environments. Sarrouh’s chapter, “Protection of Children in Humanitarian Crises”, will appear in Children and Armed Conflict, edited by Rutgers University faculty Daniel Cook and James Wall. It, too, will be of practical value to practitioners and policy makers. Both Magid and Sarrouh served as Professor Boothby’s research assistants during the academic year, and also participated in summer field work in Colombia and the Philippines respectively.
2011 Program graduate Ihotu Jennifer Ali was selected as a SUPER Education Research Fellow with Save the Children. Her fellowship includes conducting literature reviews on health/HIV, education, and livelihood needs in response to rapid urbanization in Africa, and assessing program gaps.
 Expanding the Knowledge Network through Columbia’s Global Classroom:
This spring public health students in Indonesia and Sri Lanka are tuning in classes at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Read more here.
March 2011
Program student Stephanie Alfaro discusses her passion for public health at Columbia University and urges students to get involved with medical science. Stephanie also talks about receiving a scholarhip from the National Hispanic Health Foundation and her interest in Public Health. Watch the video here.
December 2010
Student Natalie Kwong pens op-ed " Giving without first researching causes can go awry" in the Silicon Valley Mercury News. Read Natalie's article on responsible and effective charitable giving here.
September 2010
Les Roberts and Carolyn Bancroft confer during the mapping exercise
During the first weekend of the semester, the second year Forced Migration track students convened at Professor Les Roberts’ house for a weekend-long mapping exercise. Dr. Roberts has been conducting this exercise since 1995, beginning during his post at Johns’ Hopkins University. Now it is fast becoming an exciting tradition in the Forced Migration Program at Mailman School of Public Health.
The exercise is designed to teach students skills made for field work—the kind of skills that are essential to planning and implementing public health solutions when technology and modern infrastructure fail. During the weekend, the students are given a two-part task: measure the surface area of a field and calculate the population of ‘refugees’ in the field using three different sampling techniques.
In calculating the surface area of the field, students learn to scale their average stride to meters, so that anywhere, anytime, an approximate distance can be gained. Since GPS devices (or their satellite triangulation) might be unavailable in a given situation, they also use basic compasses to find the angles in the field. While modern methods of calculation might be useful for larger areas, Dr. Roberts explains that the margin of error for smaller distances is great enough to prefer a measured gate. Students also learn that angles are much harder to measure accurately than distance, and work to estimate accordingly. They have to account for a pond, swaths of trees, and uneven terrain.
After lunch, the students focus on the real task: finding an accurate population inhabiting the field. A bag of thoughtfully counted and weighed popcorn stands in as the ‘refugees’ and is scattered through the field (hopefully avoiding the mowers!). Students work in small groups and are assigned to one of three sampling methods: simple random sampling, systematic sampling, and ‘haphazard’ sampling. Once finished, the groups gather over dinner to discuss the accuracy, statistical validity and utility of the three methods.
As much as students learn throughout the year in the classroom, it is a unique opportunity to apply these skills in this sort of simulation. Having to weigh advantages over disadvantages, account for errors, and use simple logic leaves the participants with a realistic sense of the work ahead of them. Whether they are calculating how many tents will fit in a space to house displaced population from a flood, figuring out, according to the Sphere standards, how many pit latrines need to be dug, or calculating the area to be covered with insecticide to prevent the transmission of malaria, the students will have these basic skills at hand when the need arises.
August 2010
War Trauma Foundation published Stress and Staff Support Strategies for International Aid Work by recent graduate Kathleen Simmons.
The Mailman School of Public Health website highlights students' summer practicums. Read more.
July 2010
Thalia Sparling is a second-year student who has been working in Aceh, Indonesia for her practicum where she is part of an assessment team investigating the impact of micro-finance loans on families in the tsunami-impacted region. As part of the MPH program, Columbia’s Mailman School Forced Migration students spend two to three months overseas for their internship or practicum experience. Read Thalia's blog.
June 2010
Kathleen B. Simmons (May 2010 graduate) pens an article entitled Addressing the Data Challenge on pages 10-12 in Forced Migration Review's Disability and Displacement issue.
May 2010
Nine days after the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, Mary J. Choi, MD, and Ayman S. Yassa, MD, arrived in Port-Au-Prince to provide medical assistance and hope to injured and displace people. Mary and Ayman are finishing their first year as students in the Forced Migration and Health Program. Read their interview here.
April 2010
Dual degree student (public health and law) Rita Rodriguez assists in human rights case: preparing requests for release for Haitian quake survivors detained in US immigration prisons. The New York Times profiles the story of Haitians evacuated by the US military following the earthquake who ended up in detentions centers for 3 months. Read the story and about their success in releasing the quake survivors.
Brian Hoyer graduated from the Program on Forced Migration and Health in May 2009 and is working as Emergency Response Manager for Americares in Haiti since the earthquake. His job includes developing and monitoring public health programs. Click here to read his interview.
March 2010
 After the Haitian earthquake, six students from the International Emergency Medicine Fellows, a program
 directed by Dr. Rachel Moresky from the Mailman School's Program on Forced Migration and Health and Emergency Medicine, deployed with the International Medical Corps (IMC).
Physicians from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the fellows are trained in international health and disaster mitigation and management.
Second year student Jennifer Schwieger, MD shares her experiences after participating in emergency relief work following the earthquake. Read her reflections. Jeff Kinyon, DO discusses his experiences in the Haitian relief effort here.
February 2010
Mailman School of Public Health website highlights students and recent graduates response to the crisis in Haiti. Click here to read more.
January 2010
PFMH student publishes article in Australian magazine regarding HIV in Ghana. Read more.
PFMH students and recent alumni are among those responding to the Haitian earthquake. Six emergency medicine fellows deployed with International Medical Corps (IMC). The doctors are: Solomon Kuah (2009 alum), Trina Helderman (2009 alum) and current students Jennifer Schwieger, Jeffrey Kinyon, Mary Choi, and Ayman Yassa.
Some of the specific public health and medical activities with which they were involved include:
• Conducting initial needs assessments and determine areas of assistance
• Identifying prevalent epidemic diseases in the area and set up appropriate strategies
• Training and supporting community health workers (CHWs) and staff on primary health care, health promotion, and maternal and child health activities
• Examining, diagnosing, and treating patients in the outpatient clinic according to the guidelines and available protocols
• Supporting monitoring and evaluation of activities and contributing to compilation of activity reports
• Monitoring health indicators such as crude mortality rate, under 5 mortality rate, malnutrition rate, and immunization coverage
• Submiting required activity reports and statistics
• Anticipating changing needs and emergencies
Other recent alumni in Haiti are:
Elisabeth Berger (2009 alum) with Partners in Health
Rebecca Chandler (2005 alum) with IRC
Brian Hoyer (2009 alum) with Americares
Eba Pasha (class of 2010) with Merlin
Joan VanWassenhove (2009 alum) with Partners in Health
Cairn Verhulst (2009 alum) with UNICEF
Haitians line up in city of Leogane hoping to receive aid. Photo by Brian Hoyer
Rebecca Chandler (right) with IRC in Haiti
December 2009
Elisabeth Berger graduated from the PFMH in May 2009 and enrolled in the Medical School for International Health. Liz was among four first-year students selected as an American Medical Student Associan Scholar. See page 3 of the newsletter.
November 2009
This fall, the Program on Forced Migration and Health (PFMH) launched its global classroom initiative with a seven-week child protection course taught simultaneously at the Mailman School of Public Health and in Gulu, Northern Uganda. To connect the two classrooms and encourage discussions among students, the instructors used new and traditional methods of instruction to encourage conversations across cultures. Read more here. |
