New Mexico student recently reflected on her R6 traineeship; her thoughts are listed below.

"I am honored to have been awarded a graduate student traineeship funded by the Division of Public Health Workforce Development at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), through the Region 6 South Central Public Health Training Center at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and University of New Mexico. I was assigned to work closely with the New Mexico Public Health Association (NMPHA) co-presidents to provide assistance and support to their annual conference planning process. Within a short six months , I have learned practical and technical skills that are relevant and useful to my future profession. I have also had the opportunity to network and meet professionals across disciplines, organizations, and areas of the state. I have also had the pleasure of learning about different public health topics, services, and areas of the profession that I was not aware of. Specifically, I learned about the steps necessary to plan a state-wide conference and how to execute a successful abstract submission process. Under the leadership and guidance of my preceptors, my hands-on experience throughout the conference planning process has been, without question, invaluable . I am grateful to have been able to contribute to the improvement of the planning process for a successful conference that is vital in connecting multidisciplinary public health professionals from across the state to improve the quality of life of New Mexicans.

 

The traineeship has taken me directly from a textbook experience to a practical real-life professional experience that revealed to me a public health perspective that I would otherwise not have had nor could have imagined. During graduate school, it is often easy to imagine that others are the "movers and shakers" within public health and that they develop ideas that come alive for the greater good of the public. However, this time, I was able to be one of those movers and shakers due to this opportunity and the incredible mentorship from my preceptors. I was given the responsibility to accomplish tasks that I have never accomplished before and I have come away from this experience with a great sense of professional self-efficacy.

 

Now that I have successfully completed this traineeship, I will now pursue my profession in New Orleans, Louisiana with an extra layer of confidence and set of skills. Thank you to everyone for making this possible for me!" -    Lauren Freeman, MPH Candidate 2018, MSW Candidate 2020