This is hard to explain. But sometimes I feel so incredibly lucky for having been endowed with all the resources that have been given to me up until this point, that I don't know if I'll ever be able to accomplish everything I intend to, or everything that would be expected of me for having had so much. I guess it doesn't help that my expectations for myself are probably overly high. And I guess passion and willpower count for a lot. Or are at least good places to start. I guess I work hard and people would agree, but it's difficult to not to think that so much of everything is in large part due to sheer luck and chance and circumstance. I'm bothered by that, because I'm bothered by situations I can't exert complete control over myself, situations where I can't dictate an outcome by virtue of sharp-thinking. Of course, in the end, mullling over all of that doesn't get anyone anywhere. Just like I've decided that most relationships, while fun while they last, aren't really worth the stress or energy investment, either while they happen or afterward. Least of all when nothing is mutual, even if you're deceived into thinking it is.
Anyways, maybe this is just my senioritis-stricken brain trying to fathom everything that's supposed to happen in the next five years, all of that juxtaposed with what is currently probably the laziest, most unproductive, most carefree I-will-do-whatever-I-damn-feel-like-without-caution-to-ANYTHING period of my entire life. And the seemingly inescapable fact that the next major decision I have to make is probably going to dictate a LOT of things in the future.
More of a real post later, probably. After the agonizing/procrastination on thinking about what exactly I want for the next few years starts to drive me up a wall. The good thing is, doors are open, and it's just a matter of making a decision. I don't have anything to rightfully complain about. And that is why my expectations are(perhaps unreasonably to some but not to me) high.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Thursday, November 27, 2008
I'm a nerd and I follow The Lancet
Obama's plans for US and global health, The Lancet, Volume 372, Issue 9652, Pages 1797 - 1798, 22 November 2008
Tough economic times will hamper the ability of Barack Obama, USPresident-elect, to deliver on his many domestic and global health-carep roposals. But experts still see ways for him to quickly make his mark on health policy. Nellie Bristol reports from Washington, DC.
Expanded health coverage for children, reversal of the Bush Administration'spolicies on stem-cell research, and the removal of funding restrictions forinternational family-planning agencies are among health policies likely to be enacted quickly by Barack Obama when he takes office in late January,2009, say experts.
Although Obama campaigned on a promise to expand health-care coverage tomost of the 45 million Americans without insurance, fiscal realities willlikely slow progress on his plan, which some estimate would cost the federalgovernment more than US$75 billion a year. But health policy andcongressional experts see the expansion of the State Children's HealthInsurance Program (SCHIP) as immediately feasible. Both houses of Congress passed expansion bills last year, but they were vetoed by President Bush.
The bill likely to pass next year would be based on legislation that would increase funding by $35 billion over 5 years to a total of $60 billion. Thebill would be paid for through an increase in cigarette taxes. It wouldcontinue coverage for the 6 million children currently enrolled and add 5·8million more children by raising the income eligibility level to 300% of thepoverty line, or $51 510 yearly for a single parent with two children and$61 950 for a family of four. Children make up 20% (8 million individuals)of the uninsured population, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Karen Pollitz, of Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, alsocalled for better insurance access for young adults aged 19—29 years, whomake up 29% of uninsured people and often lose coverage when they becomeineligible for their parents' plans.Other domestic health-care initiatives likely to be enacted early in the newadministration include reversing a federal ban on stem-cell research—a moveObama can make through an executive order.
The Bush Administration limited research to existing stem-cell lines but Obama has been a strong supporter of expanding research.
On Nov 9 Obama's transition team leader John Podesta said that thePresident-elect is reviewing all of Bush's Executive Orders and that therestrictions on stem-cell research will be reconsidered. "There's a lot thatthe President can do using his executive authority without waiting forcongressional action and I think we'll see the President do that to try torestore…a sense that the country is working on behalf of the common good",Podesta told *Fox News*.
Another executive order that could be subject to quick reversal in theso-called Mexico City policy. Instituted by President Reagan in 1984, thepolicy requires non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to "agree as acondition of their receipt of federal funds" that they will neither "perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations", according to White House documents. The policy, also known as the global gag rule, was rescinded by President Bill Clinton in one of his first acts when he took office in 1993. It was restored by President Bush in 2001.
Other possible legislative moves early in Obama's administration include theestablishment of a comparative effectiveness mechanism for medical care anda revamping of the Medicare system for physician payment. Throughout hiscampaign, Obama supported establishment of an independent institute to guidereviews and research on the effectiveness of treatment. Gail Shearer,director of health policy analysis for the Consumers Union, said theinstitute could work similarly to the UK's National Institute for Health andClinical Excellence, which provides national advice and guidance onpublic-health technologies and clinical practice.Although the current fiscal crisis will be an issue, policy experts say alarger overhaul of the US health-care system may fare better this timearound than it has in the past. Several previous attempts at reform wentfamously flat, including a 1992 effort by the Clinton Administration.Working to Obama's advantage are his ties to Capitol Hill. "Obama is goingto relate to the Hill presumably better than his two Democratic predecessors neither of whom had set foot on the Hill as a member of Congress", said EdHoward, executive vice president of the Alliance for Health Reform. BothClinton and the previous Democratic President, Jimmy Carter, came to the office as governors whereas Obama served on Capitol Hill as a Senator from Illinois.
Congressional support for health-care reform is essential since it has to beenacted via legislation. The Clintons hampered their effort by developing acomplex proposal mostly with White House input. Although expected oppositionwas mounted by conservatives and the health insurance industry, essentialsupport from the Hill was lacking because lawmakers felt they had noownership of the plan.
Details of Obama's plan, which pledges to reduce health-care costs through better preventive care and more widely disseminated health informationtechnology, are scarce. For coverage expansion, it would rely principally onthe current system of employer-provided health benefit: employers wouldeither have to contribute to their employees' coverage or towards the costof a public plan. Other people would have access through a National HealthInsurance Exchange.
Despite a host of other pressing issues and lack of funding, pressure tomove on health-care reform is likely to be intense. Four key groupsrepresenting business interests, unions, and older Americans, announced a $1million media campaign on Nov 10 encouraging elected representatives to"keep their campaign promises, break Washington's gridlock and solve ourhealth care and financial security crises". As the US sheds jobs and relatedemployer-based insurance, a sharp increase in the number of uninsured couldalso add impetus for action.
Obama also will face intense pressure to live up to his promises on globalhealth, but fiscal realities are likely to impinge on these programmes too.Vice President-elect Joe Biden commented in October that Obama's promise todouble foreign assistance to $50 billion a year would be slowed givencurrent economic conditions. Global-health experts comment that although newmoney may not be available for programmes, the most important priority is tofully fund the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Although 5 year funding of $48 billion was authorised by Congress for PEPFARand malaria and tuberculosis programmes, actual funding levels aredetermined on a year by year basis through a separate Congressional process.Advocates are pushing hard for full funding of the bill and use of funds toaddress broader health issues, such as food security and health-systemstrengthening, efforts that are supported by Obama. "President-elect Obamarecognises that HIV efforts in the long run aren't going to be sustained ifwe don't continue to build the broader health infrastructure and look atsome of the other issues like maternal and child health", said Helene Gayle,president and chief executive officer of the international NGO CARE and aformer official of the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.Nonetheless, she added, "It's going to be a difficult period to balance thekey economic priorities that face the country along with the things that hewould want to do more broadly."
The Obama Administration also may respond to strong bipartisan calls toreform US foreign assistance structure—a move that would signal a newemphasis in the area without spending a lot of money. A group of highpowered development and humanitarian aid experts calling itself theModernizing Foreign Assistance Network is working on a detailed plan tobring all US development and global-health entities under a commonleadership. The group and other global health and development advocates arepushing for a high-level foreign assistance leadership in theAdministration, a reinvigorated USAID, and better coordination and alignmentof global health and development policies.
"There needs to simply be true comprehensive global-health coordinationrather than disease specific programmes with different reporting mechanisms,different lines of authority", said Laura Barnitz, director of policycommunications for the Global Health Council.
Tough economic times will hamper the ability of Barack Obama, USPresident-elect, to deliver on his many domestic and global health-carep roposals. But experts still see ways for him to quickly make his mark on health policy. Nellie Bristol reports from Washington, DC.
Expanded health coverage for children, reversal of the Bush Administration'spolicies on stem-cell research, and the removal of funding restrictions forinternational family-planning agencies are among health policies likely to be enacted quickly by Barack Obama when he takes office in late January,2009, say experts.
Although Obama campaigned on a promise to expand health-care coverage tomost of the 45 million Americans without insurance, fiscal realities willlikely slow progress on his plan, which some estimate would cost the federalgovernment more than US$75 billion a year. But health policy andcongressional experts see the expansion of the State Children's HealthInsurance Program (SCHIP) as immediately feasible. Both houses of Congress passed expansion bills last year, but they were vetoed by President Bush.
The bill likely to pass next year would be based on legislation that would increase funding by $35 billion over 5 years to a total of $60 billion. Thebill would be paid for through an increase in cigarette taxes. It wouldcontinue coverage for the 6 million children currently enrolled and add 5·8million more children by raising the income eligibility level to 300% of thepoverty line, or $51 510 yearly for a single parent with two children and$61 950 for a family of four. Children make up 20% (8 million individuals)of the uninsured population, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Karen Pollitz, of Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, alsocalled for better insurance access for young adults aged 19—29 years, whomake up 29% of uninsured people and often lose coverage when they becomeineligible for their parents' plans.Other domestic health-care initiatives likely to be enacted early in the newadministration include reversing a federal ban on stem-cell research—a moveObama can make through an executive order.
The Bush Administration limited research to existing stem-cell lines but Obama has been a strong supporter of expanding research.
On Nov 9 Obama's transition team leader John Podesta said that thePresident-elect is reviewing all of Bush's Executive Orders and that therestrictions on stem-cell research will be reconsidered. "There's a lot thatthe President can do using his executive authority without waiting forcongressional action and I think we'll see the President do that to try torestore…a sense that the country is working on behalf of the common good",Podesta told *Fox News*.
Another executive order that could be subject to quick reversal in theso-called Mexico City policy. Instituted by President Reagan in 1984, thepolicy requires non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to "agree as acondition of their receipt of federal funds" that they will neither "perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations", according to White House documents. The policy, also known as the global gag rule, was rescinded by President Bill Clinton in one of his first acts when he took office in 1993. It was restored by President Bush in 2001.
Other possible legislative moves early in Obama's administration include theestablishment of a comparative effectiveness mechanism for medical care anda revamping of the Medicare system for physician payment. Throughout hiscampaign, Obama supported establishment of an independent institute to guidereviews and research on the effectiveness of treatment. Gail Shearer,director of health policy analysis for the Consumers Union, said theinstitute could work similarly to the UK's National Institute for Health andClinical Excellence, which provides national advice and guidance onpublic-health technologies and clinical practice.Although the current fiscal crisis will be an issue, policy experts say alarger overhaul of the US health-care system may fare better this timearound than it has in the past. Several previous attempts at reform wentfamously flat, including a 1992 effort by the Clinton Administration.Working to Obama's advantage are his ties to Capitol Hill. "Obama is goingto relate to the Hill presumably better than his two Democratic predecessors neither of whom had set foot on the Hill as a member of Congress", said EdHoward, executive vice president of the Alliance for Health Reform. BothClinton and the previous Democratic President, Jimmy Carter, came to the office as governors whereas Obama served on Capitol Hill as a Senator from Illinois.
Congressional support for health-care reform is essential since it has to beenacted via legislation. The Clintons hampered their effort by developing acomplex proposal mostly with White House input. Although expected oppositionwas mounted by conservatives and the health insurance industry, essentialsupport from the Hill was lacking because lawmakers felt they had noownership of the plan.
Details of Obama's plan, which pledges to reduce health-care costs through better preventive care and more widely disseminated health informationtechnology, are scarce. For coverage expansion, it would rely principally onthe current system of employer-provided health benefit: employers wouldeither have to contribute to their employees' coverage or towards the costof a public plan. Other people would have access through a National HealthInsurance Exchange.
Despite a host of other pressing issues and lack of funding, pressure tomove on health-care reform is likely to be intense. Four key groupsrepresenting business interests, unions, and older Americans, announced a $1million media campaign on Nov 10 encouraging elected representatives to"keep their campaign promises, break Washington's gridlock and solve ourhealth care and financial security crises". As the US sheds jobs and relatedemployer-based insurance, a sharp increase in the number of uninsured couldalso add impetus for action.
Obama also will face intense pressure to live up to his promises on globalhealth, but fiscal realities are likely to impinge on these programmes too.Vice President-elect Joe Biden commented in October that Obama's promise todouble foreign assistance to $50 billion a year would be slowed givencurrent economic conditions. Global-health experts comment that although newmoney may not be available for programmes, the most important priority is tofully fund the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Although 5 year funding of $48 billion was authorised by Congress for PEPFARand malaria and tuberculosis programmes, actual funding levels aredetermined on a year by year basis through a separate Congressional process.Advocates are pushing hard for full funding of the bill and use of funds toaddress broader health issues, such as food security and health-systemstrengthening, efforts that are supported by Obama. "President-elect Obamarecognises that HIV efforts in the long run aren't going to be sustained ifwe don't continue to build the broader health infrastructure and look atsome of the other issues like maternal and child health", said Helene Gayle,president and chief executive officer of the international NGO CARE and aformer official of the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.Nonetheless, she added, "It's going to be a difficult period to balance thekey economic priorities that face the country along with the things that hewould want to do more broadly."
The Obama Administration also may respond to strong bipartisan calls toreform US foreign assistance structure—a move that would signal a newemphasis in the area without spending a lot of money. A group of highpowered development and humanitarian aid experts calling itself theModernizing Foreign Assistance Network is working on a detailed plan tobring all US development and global-health entities under a commonleadership. The group and other global health and development advocates arepushing for a high-level foreign assistance leadership in theAdministration, a reinvigorated USAID, and better coordination and alignmentof global health and development policies.
"There needs to simply be true comprehensive global-health coordinationrather than disease specific programmes with different reporting mechanisms,different lines of authority", said Laura Barnitz, director of policycommunications for the Global Health Council.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Long-delayed update
My apologies to people who read my blog on a regular basis! I know I said I'd update regularly in Atlanta....and I didn't. Hopefully, as I sort out med school stuff (blogging about it will probably help me make my ultimate decision I think), I'll update more frequently.
So I got back from Atlanta last weekend and have been home for a week. I'm home for one more week before heading back up to Austin. My internship was everything I wanted it to be, and probably one of the more awesome things I've gotten to do in my life. If you want specifics, ask me about it. I could probably talk at you about it for hours. I'm good at that anyways. I definitely miss it, the city, and all the people I've gotten to know, even if I did come home a little heartbroken, disillusioned, and let down, feelings which should soon pass I hope. After this summer, I will have seen or met all three Clintons, Barack Obama, Bush, and Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in one year. That's hard to believe.
I'm sitting in the loft of a cabin in Tucson, where I'm with the familia for the weekend. The scenery is beautiful and the place is so peaceful. My dad and I are going hiking in some canyon really early tomorrow morning, and I'm looking forward to that. He's one of the best people to hike with, and I haven't done anything very outdoors-y all summer, which is making me crave a good day-long hike through desert and mountain. I always find hiking kind of cathartic, and I've always had an affection for desert thanks to El Paso I suppose.
Back home, I've seen some friends, and gotten a few secondaries in, but have so much left to do. I already have three in-state interviews scheduled for September, and they are ridiculously all within the span of one week (Friday Sept 6th, Monday Sept 8th, and Friday Sept. 12th) Yikes. Southwestern is the first one, and I wish it wasn't. UTSW is a big deal, and it would have been nice to have an interview or two before that for practice. Oh well. If I start getting some out of state ones, I can really start celebrating. But I have to get secondaries out first and that's definitely kind of stressing my face off a little cause I want them out before I hit Austin so I can go in with a clear conscience. It probably won't happen as much as I'd like it to. I've applied to too many schools. Some just because I like their school of public health a lot. Others for the normal obvious reasons. One just for location (Georgetown). I would never consider going to Georgetown if it weren't in the DC area. I have no idea where I want to go or what my top is or how competitive I am for some of these schools. I'll just have to find out. I might cut schools if I get a chance to really think about a few of them.
I'm really looking forward to traveling on weekends. It's going to be fun, and it'll keep things constantly interesting, although it's not like they wouldn't be otherwise. Senior year is going to be fabulous, I feel it. I have big plans for DS (and have a feeling that will take up a lot of my time). Then there's OJs and other orgs I've somehow gotten sucked into taking exec positions for, my 21st birthday, med school interviews and (hopefully!) jet-setting some, thesis stuff (which I really am looking forward to just sitting down and writing), taking Hindi (!!) for real, having a nicer courseload than I've ever had at UT, and just hanging out with friends for this final year. I want to have next summer figured out (it's way early of course), but I am thinking about doing Texas4000. It's just a thought right now, and I need to really sit down and evaluate stuff before deciding on anything.
It's good to have my career sort of lined out, degree-wise. And to know exactly (or somewhat exactly) what I want to do with those degrees. It's a good source of peace of mind, and drive. And it's comforting to have that figured out, especially while it seems as though a lot of other things in life have no such stability.
Well, hopefully I'll get stuff done while I'm home. I'm so ready to get back to Austin in the meantime. It will be worth the wait though, as long as I'm productive here and able to sort of block out all the criticism my mom seems to enjoy throwing at me lately...
Peace.
So I got back from Atlanta last weekend and have been home for a week. I'm home for one more week before heading back up to Austin. My internship was everything I wanted it to be, and probably one of the more awesome things I've gotten to do in my life. If you want specifics, ask me about it. I could probably talk at you about it for hours. I'm good at that anyways. I definitely miss it, the city, and all the people I've gotten to know, even if I did come home a little heartbroken, disillusioned, and let down, feelings which should soon pass I hope. After this summer, I will have seen or met all three Clintons, Barack Obama, Bush, and Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in one year. That's hard to believe.
I'm sitting in the loft of a cabin in Tucson, where I'm with the familia for the weekend. The scenery is beautiful and the place is so peaceful. My dad and I are going hiking in some canyon really early tomorrow morning, and I'm looking forward to that. He's one of the best people to hike with, and I haven't done anything very outdoors-y all summer, which is making me crave a good day-long hike through desert and mountain. I always find hiking kind of cathartic, and I've always had an affection for desert thanks to El Paso I suppose.
Back home, I've seen some friends, and gotten a few secondaries in, but have so much left to do. I already have three in-state interviews scheduled for September, and they are ridiculously all within the span of one week (Friday Sept 6th, Monday Sept 8th, and Friday Sept. 12th) Yikes. Southwestern is the first one, and I wish it wasn't. UTSW is a big deal, and it would have been nice to have an interview or two before that for practice. Oh well. If I start getting some out of state ones, I can really start celebrating. But I have to get secondaries out first and that's definitely kind of stressing my face off a little cause I want them out before I hit Austin so I can go in with a clear conscience. It probably won't happen as much as I'd like it to. I've applied to too many schools. Some just because I like their school of public health a lot. Others for the normal obvious reasons. One just for location (Georgetown). I would never consider going to Georgetown if it weren't in the DC area. I have no idea where I want to go or what my top is or how competitive I am for some of these schools. I'll just have to find out. I might cut schools if I get a chance to really think about a few of them.
I'm really looking forward to traveling on weekends. It's going to be fun, and it'll keep things constantly interesting, although it's not like they wouldn't be otherwise. Senior year is going to be fabulous, I feel it. I have big plans for DS (and have a feeling that will take up a lot of my time). Then there's OJs and other orgs I've somehow gotten sucked into taking exec positions for, my 21st birthday, med school interviews and (hopefully!) jet-setting some, thesis stuff (which I really am looking forward to just sitting down and writing), taking Hindi (!!) for real, having a nicer courseload than I've ever had at UT, and just hanging out with friends for this final year. I want to have next summer figured out (it's way early of course), but I am thinking about doing Texas4000. It's just a thought right now, and I need to really sit down and evaluate stuff before deciding on anything.
It's good to have my career sort of lined out, degree-wise. And to know exactly (or somewhat exactly) what I want to do with those degrees. It's a good source of peace of mind, and drive. And it's comforting to have that figured out, especially while it seems as though a lot of other things in life have no such stability.
Well, hopefully I'll get stuff done while I'm home. I'm so ready to get back to Austin in the meantime. It will be worth the wait though, as long as I'm productive here and able to sort of block out all the criticism my mom seems to enjoy throwing at me lately...
Peace.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
It's going by too quickly.
Summer has been SO much fun so far, I am loving every single second of work and things non-work and all the awesome people here.
I need to decide ASAP if I'm going to DC for a conference next week right before the Plains trip next weekend...and anyone who knows me knows how indecisive I am. Then the weekend after that is Hilton Head in South Carolina.
Which means...I need to work on apps like a madwoman this weekend and make sure I have things solid because I definitely do not right now. Time to freakin work my ass off, for real, even though all I wanna do is play. Ah well. Life is still pretty awesome.
Peace out.
I need to decide ASAP if I'm going to DC for a conference next week right before the Plains trip next weekend...and anyone who knows me knows how indecisive I am. Then the weekend after that is Hilton Head in South Carolina.
Which means...I need to work on apps like a madwoman this weekend and make sure I have things solid because I definitely do not right now. Time to freakin work my ass off, for real, even though all I wanna do is play. Ah well. Life is still pretty awesome.
Peace out.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Rejection from Dr. David Satcher, but otherwise a good day.
A while ago while I was in one of my crazy neurotic modes, I sent an email to the office of Dr. David Satcher, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Satcher, Surgeon General appointed by Bill Clinton, basically my hero), to see if he would be interested in speaking at UT for DLSC, and I got my sad rejection letter today. It was super sad. But CRAZY because HE'S currently in Atlanta at Morehouse and I'M in Atlanta and he's done stuff with The Carter Center in the past before, and I was like, whoa, mad coincidence, because I think I sent him that email BEFORE I even knew I was going to be here. But yeah this email titled "From the Office of David Satcher," popped into my mailbox, and you can tell I freaked out a lil.
The sad, sad, letter:
Anywho, today was a fabulous day. I spent the day in a session with my staff to pick the Rosalynn Carter Journalism Fellows in Mental Health. It was a blasty blast. I met a this very genial professor on staff at the Rollins School of public health at Emory, an MD/MPH, he practices clinically, teaches, AND specializes in health policy, and I was just like, dude. I want to be you in ten years please. He gave me his card, so IF I get into Emory Med/Rollins, he's the first guy I'm contacting. oh myjeezy.
I feel like I'm finally getting into the groove of things with work, I just really need to get my ass into gear with med school apps. Good.ness. It's really starting to stress/freak me out. And it's like my internship is a constant reminder of why I'm applying to med/grad school in the first place and then I get home after work every day and I'm like, crap I should be working on med school apps, but I am sooo freakin lazy and they are taking me forever and my personal statement is nowhere near what I want it to be. Ugh. I'll get it done if I keep hacking at it, is what I tell myself over and over. And I think it's kind of nice that I'm working on apps while I intern, because this internship is seriously ALL the motivation in the WORLD to do these applications really well. I think I actually enjoy filling them out once I get in one of my neurotic "fill-this-out-NOW-because-you-want-to-change-the-world" kind of moods, and knowing that these things are just the first step in the long process of getting me started on working on the kinds of things I want to work on for the rest of my life.
___________________________________
Quick EDIT:
I would like EVERYONE to know that according to my staff director at TCC, (who was an officer in Health and Human Services when Bill Clinton was president and Hillary Clinton tried to get universal healthcare in 1993), told me his expert opinion on her healthcare plan yesterday. He said that hers was one of the most well-thought out, well-formulated plans ever, and that it had some of the brightest minds in this country working on it. And the only reason it failed was not because of the plan itself, but rather because it did not get the political support or public support that it needed. Just like it is today where you have major health industry players like insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies lobbying SO HARD against getting these kinds of plans implemented, on top of conservatives who sadly love calling universal healthcare "socialized medicine" and giving it that kind of reputation. So in summary, its failure really had little to do with Clinton or her way of handling things, but more to do with a lack of support politically and from the public.
Just had to put that out there. Even though I totally support Obama for the good he's going to do in improving the image of the U.S. abroad, Clinton had some of her domestic policies straight.
The sad, sad, letter:
June 10, 2008
Ms. Richa Gupta
Junior, The
B.S. Biology Honors
B.A. Plan II Honors
Dear Ms. Gupta:
First, our sincere apology for the time it has taken for this office to reply to your request. Thank you for the invitation to Dr. Satcher to be the Speaker at your Dean’s Scholars Program. Dr. Satcher unfortunately regrets that he will not be able to honor this request.
Dr. Satcher is trying to finish a book and develop the Satcher Health Leadership Institute here at Morehouse School of Medicine requiring him to take a sabbatical from speaking except to raise funds for SHLI.
Thank you again for the invitation.
Sincerely,
C.C. Matthews
C.C. Matthews
Program Assistant II
The Satcher Health Leadership Institute
at
Email: ccmatthews@msm.edu
Anywho, today was a fabulous day. I spent the day in a session with my staff to pick the Rosalynn Carter Journalism Fellows in Mental Health. It was a blasty blast. I met a this very genial professor on staff at the Rollins School of public health at Emory, an MD/MPH, he practices clinically, teaches, AND specializes in health policy, and I was just like, dude. I want to be you in ten years please. He gave me his card, so IF I get into Emory Med/Rollins, he's the first guy I'm contacting. oh myjeezy.
I feel like I'm finally getting into the groove of things with work, I just really need to get my ass into gear with med school apps. Good.ness. It's really starting to stress/freak me out. And it's like my internship is a constant reminder of why I'm applying to med/grad school in the first place and then I get home after work every day and I'm like, crap I should be working on med school apps, but I am sooo freakin lazy and they are taking me forever and my personal statement is nowhere near what I want it to be. Ugh. I'll get it done if I keep hacking at it, is what I tell myself over and over. And I think it's kind of nice that I'm working on apps while I intern, because this internship is seriously ALL the motivation in the WORLD to do these applications really well. I think I actually enjoy filling them out once I get in one of my neurotic "fill-this-out-NOW-because-you-want-to-change-the-world" kind of moods, and knowing that these things are just the first step in the long process of getting me started on working on the kinds of things I want to work on for the rest of my life.
___________________________________
Quick EDIT:
I would like EVERYONE to know that according to my staff director at TCC, (who was an officer in Health and Human Services when Bill Clinton was president and Hillary Clinton tried to get universal healthcare in 1993), told me his expert opinion on her healthcare plan yesterday. He said that hers was one of the most well-thought out, well-formulated plans ever, and that it had some of the brightest minds in this country working on it. And the only reason it failed was not because of the plan itself, but rather because it did not get the political support or public support that it needed. Just like it is today where you have major health industry players like insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies lobbying SO HARD against getting these kinds of plans implemented, on top of conservatives who sadly love calling universal healthcare "socialized medicine" and giving it that kind of reputation. So in summary, its failure really had little to do with Clinton or her way of handling things, but more to do with a lack of support politically and from the public.
Just had to put that out there. Even though I totally support Obama for the good he's going to do in improving the image of the U.S. abroad, Clinton had some of her domestic policies straight.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Revelation/Life Goal #652
On top of everything else I want to do with my life in the years after my education (having a practice, doing global epidemiological/public health field research, working on policy, staffing for an NGO, and teaching/lecturing), it would be my dream to also go into medical journalism of some sort.
Friday, May 30, 2008
november nervousness
So every time I read a bio about John McCain, I have this crazy reaction to him. I get this new kind of respect for the guy and then all of a sudden get this rush of feelings and feel really sorry for him. He was such a tough guy, going through everything he went through in Vietnam. That's had to have left some sort of serious emotional trauma on him....
We were talking about wars and such in my office today when I had lunch with my staff (my director was drafted during Vietnam, served as a medic). But with this whole McCain thing, I mean you have a man who's seen what war is like, (especially as atrocious as it must have been in Vietnam. It has scarred the man both physically, and I'm sure, mentally/emotionally). And YET even though you have this guy who's been through all of this, you have to stop and ask yourself how the hell he's so committed to let Iraqfiasco continue! I can't understand it! And I think a big big big reason why people are buying into his argument that we should be in Iraq still, and why people are kind of legitimizing it in their head and supporting McCain for this, is because they've read this about McCain's background and about his OWN experiences with the war. And they think that if a man who's gone through so much suffering in a Nixon war says that we should continue with this Bush war, then he's the best person to say we should do it because he knows what it's like on front lines. He is John McCain, toughguy, macho, war hero extraordinaire.
And that is SO totally WRONG. I also get the feeling that he's doing this just to save face with the Republican party, because he does depart from Republican ideals in a few other areas, despite his generally rugged Conservatism.
I need the Democrats to win in November. I don't care if it's Hillary (it won't be). I don't care if it's Obama. I just want blue in the White House. Enough is enough. We have so many other priorities that this government is not addressing, including the disastrous state of healthcare, America's schools, this economy, and much more. Healthcare right now in the U.S. has gone to shit. And private insurance companies are eating people alive. EATING. And rolling disgustingly in a sick amount of profit.
Speaking of healthcare, the more and more I read about healthcare in America, the less and less optimistic I am about either Hillary or Obama's health plans. The more I read, I realize how unfeasible BOTH of them are in today's America. I think part of the reason the United States hasn't achieved universal health care is because it's so quirk-ily capitalistic, if that makes sense. But anyways, the important thing is that even though their plans are unrealistic, both of them are progressive steps in the right direction. The distinctions between them will ultimately not matter (because I'm sure both will fail), but both candidates will make it a point to give this country's healthcare system the kind of funding it means so more people are insured, health plans are more comprehensive, and quality of care doesn't suffer. And that is definitely what we need right now. Not a president who's willing to continue to minimally fund healthcare, and to continue to let insurance companies that have become so "corporate-ized" dictate who gets insurance, who doesn't, and who gets to pay an arm and a leg to get the care they need.
We were talking about wars and such in my office today when I had lunch with my staff (my director was drafted during Vietnam, served as a medic). But with this whole McCain thing, I mean you have a man who's seen what war is like, (especially as atrocious as it must have been in Vietnam. It has scarred the man both physically, and I'm sure, mentally/emotionally). And YET even though you have this guy who's been through all of this, you have to stop and ask yourself how the hell he's so committed to let Iraqfiasco continue! I can't understand it! And I think a big big big reason why people are buying into his argument that we should be in Iraq still, and why people are kind of legitimizing it in their head and supporting McCain for this, is because they've read this about McCain's background and about his OWN experiences with the war. And they think that if a man who's gone through so much suffering in a Nixon war says that we should continue with this Bush war, then he's the best person to say we should do it because he knows what it's like on front lines. He is John McCain, toughguy, macho, war hero extraordinaire.
And that is SO totally WRONG. I also get the feeling that he's doing this just to save face with the Republican party, because he does depart from Republican ideals in a few other areas, despite his generally rugged Conservatism.
I need the Democrats to win in November. I don't care if it's Hillary (it won't be). I don't care if it's Obama. I just want blue in the White House. Enough is enough. We have so many other priorities that this government is not addressing, including the disastrous state of healthcare, America's schools, this economy, and much more. Healthcare right now in the U.S. has gone to shit. And private insurance companies are eating people alive. EATING. And rolling disgustingly in a sick amount of profit.
Speaking of healthcare, the more and more I read about healthcare in America, the less and less optimistic I am about either Hillary or Obama's health plans. The more I read, I realize how unfeasible BOTH of them are in today's America. I think part of the reason the United States hasn't achieved universal health care is because it's so quirk-ily capitalistic, if that makes sense. But anyways, the important thing is that even though their plans are unrealistic, both of them are progressive steps in the right direction. The distinctions between them will ultimately not matter (because I'm sure both will fail), but both candidates will make it a point to give this country's healthcare system the kind of funding it means so more people are insured, health plans are more comprehensive, and quality of care doesn't suffer. And that is definitely what we need right now. Not a president who's willing to continue to minimally fund healthcare, and to continue to let insurance companies that have become so "corporate-ized" dictate who gets insurance, who doesn't, and who gets to pay an arm and a leg to get the care they need.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Day 1
The first day of my internship is over. It was both fabulous and overwhelming. It's weird to be living alone in a completely strange city, but I think this kind of experience will be a good thing for me, even if I do miss Austin and home and Texas and everyone there. I'll be plenty busy. And I'm going to try to make sure I keep this thing up while I'm here.
I'll have so much to work on at the office, from new global health initiatives in Africa, to helping fact-check/edit Rosalynn Carter's new book, to planning a mental health symposium for the Fall, to working on White House initiatives for mental health insurance (apparently Bush has promised to veto the bill that my office is trying to get passed that provides more equity in mental health care. Ted Kennedy's newly discovered glioma is a huge problem because he was originally the Democrat in the Senate spearheading the effort to get that bill passed, and now he's going to be MIA. And even though Rosalynn Carter got Pelosi to get the bill on the ground, it hasn't gotten very far....politics is always like that. I remember back when literally a majority of the bills I worked on in Shapleigh's office in Austin didn't even make it to the freakin floor...).
I spent most of the day after my orientation reading applications for a Journalism Fellowship/grant that the program provides to journalists and freelance writers to cover mental health issues and reduce stigma. It was interesting.
I feel like I've learned a ton in just one day.
The Carter Center and the Presidential Library/Museum that joins it are absolutely beautiful. The Carters' offices are stunning. The artwork is ridiculously awesome (President Carter was bff with Andy Warhol!) The gardens are magnificent. The foreign dignitary meeting room is probably my favorite room. The staff I work for is wonderful. The director of my program (former assistant surgeon general might I add) is my new hero, I met with him for something like an hour today and we just talked. The other interns seem amazing, so much more well-travelled and culturally literate than I am... seriously. I have a ton of respect of Rosalynn Carter. I learned today that Jimmy Carter won a Grammy (what!), which is on display in one of the halls, among a hodgepodge of numerous other random Carter memorabilia. Holla.
I'll have so much to work on at the office, from new global health initiatives in Africa, to helping fact-check/edit Rosalynn Carter's new book, to planning a mental health symposium for the Fall, to working on White House initiatives for mental health insurance (apparently Bush has promised to veto the bill that my office is trying to get passed that provides more equity in mental health care. Ted Kennedy's newly discovered glioma is a huge problem because he was originally the Democrat in the Senate spearheading the effort to get that bill passed, and now he's going to be MIA. And even though Rosalynn Carter got Pelosi to get the bill on the ground, it hasn't gotten very far....politics is always like that. I remember back when literally a majority of the bills I worked on in Shapleigh's office in Austin didn't even make it to the freakin floor...).
I spent most of the day after my orientation reading applications for a Journalism Fellowship/grant that the program provides to journalists and freelance writers to cover mental health issues and reduce stigma. It was interesting.
I feel like I've learned a ton in just one day.
The Carter Center and the Presidential Library/Museum that joins it are absolutely beautiful. The Carters' offices are stunning. The artwork is ridiculously awesome (President Carter was bff with Andy Warhol!) The gardens are magnificent. The foreign dignitary meeting room is probably my favorite room. The staff I work for is wonderful. The director of my program (former assistant surgeon general might I add) is my new hero, I met with him for something like an hour today and we just talked. The other interns seem amazing, so much more well-travelled and culturally literate than I am... seriously. I have a ton of respect of Rosalynn Carter. I learned today that Jimmy Carter won a Grammy (what!), which is on display in one of the halls, among a hodgepodge of numerous other random Carter memorabilia. Holla.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Also
I'm not sure why an administration that had no qualms about unilaterally invading another country can't seem to find it in itself to intervene in Burma to give it the kind of humanitarian aid it so badly needs. Isn't not helping them out kind of a human rights violation in itself, even if Burma's military dictatorship is acting idiotically incompetent?
Of course, it's probably dangerous to invade Burma with all its xenophobia and volatility....but then how many people have died in Iraq again?? Seriously.
Umm, oh well I guess? At least China's got good sense?
And what's up with Barack Obama shirking away from Hamas? Doesn't that sort of contradict everything he's stood for foreign-policy-wise throughout his entire campaign? Or is it possible that Obama's started regretting his statements about meeting with hostile nations without preconditions, and that he's seen how much crap Jimmy Carter's gotten for his Hamas dealings? Not that I'm sure we should even be talking to Hamas in the first place (I still need to do more research on that), but there's kind of a discrepancy there.....
Of course, it's probably dangerous to invade Burma with all its xenophobia and volatility....but then how many people have died in Iraq again?? Seriously.
Umm, oh well I guess? At least China's got good sense?
And what's up with Barack Obama shirking away from Hamas? Doesn't that sort of contradict everything he's stood for foreign-policy-wise throughout his entire campaign? Or is it possible that Obama's started regretting his statements about meeting with hostile nations without preconditions, and that he's seen how much crap Jimmy Carter's gotten for his Hamas dealings? Not that I'm sure we should even be talking to Hamas in the first place (I still need to do more research on that), but there's kind of a discrepancy there.....
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Hello summer
Junior year is over. I don't think that's hit me quite yet. It was such a good year, academically and otherwise. It was a lot of work, and I was busy all the time, but I wouldn't be happy any other way. And the best part is, next year is going to be even better. I've been home for a day after a nine hour drive from Austin and have realized that I'm not going to be in Austin for an entire three months. And my family kind of hates me for hardly being home this summer at all so I'm trying to spend as much time with them right now as I can. Of course, it doesn't help that my mom works 11-12 hour days, so it's not like I can really hang out with her other than evenings and partly weekends when she's not cooped up in the office. Brother is still in school. So I end up watching good old Bill-O at night with dad (it's how we bond), which inevitably turns into huuuuge arguments as you can imagine (but it's all in good fun! have I mentioned how much he can't STAND what I'm doing this summer? ah well...my dad is still pretty great, even if he is Republican.).
Speaking of summer, it's going to be freakin AWESOME. (My schedule is posted on Facebook for reference). Atlanta in just 9 days or something ridiculous like that, with a few trips here and there while I'm in Georgia. East coast trip this weekend for my cousin's graduation from UPenn. I wish I could be in two places at once to see the seniors graduate in Austin though :(
I have yet to start my apps, after taking my last final on Tuesday afternoon, I've been sooo lazy. Hopefully I'll get on that soon. I have, however, started working on some things for next year which I am wayyy excited about, and better come through. I really hope I'll have time to do work on all this in Atlanta as well.
And I'm going to keep this blog going for the summer, especially during my internship. I anticipate that this is going to be one of those career-defining, introspective, "a-ha! moment" type experiences. I've had two of them so far during my college career. This will be the third.
Right now, I'm reading Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease and Building Hope. (http://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/beyondwhitehouse.html). It's Jimmy Carter's memoir on his post-presidency and philanthropy. holler.
This summer is going to fly.
Speaking of summer, it's going to be freakin AWESOME. (My schedule is posted on Facebook for reference). Atlanta in just 9 days or something ridiculous like that, with a few trips here and there while I'm in Georgia. East coast trip this weekend for my cousin's graduation from UPenn. I wish I could be in two places at once to see the seniors graduate in Austin though :(
I have yet to start my apps, after taking my last final on Tuesday afternoon, I've been sooo lazy. Hopefully I'll get on that soon. I have, however, started working on some things for next year which I am wayyy excited about, and better come through. I really hope I'll have time to do work on all this in Atlanta as well.
And I'm going to keep this blog going for the summer, especially during my internship. I anticipate that this is going to be one of those career-defining, introspective, "a-ha! moment" type experiences. I've had two of them so far during my college career. This will be the third.
Right now, I'm reading Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease and Building Hope. (http://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/beyondwhitehouse.html). It's Jimmy Carter's memoir on his post-presidency and philanthropy. holler.
This summer is going to fly.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I've pretty much planned out the rest of 2008 in the month of April.
My week is officially over, sorta, after turning in a 15 page paper on Tuesday and taking a test today.
And among the bazillion million things going on and one full week of school left, I can't believe I've finally succeeded in planning out my entire summer and most of Senior year, and it's going to be absolutely fabulous.
Between now and summer workwise and otherwise, goes a little something like this:
This weekend...plans still up in the air....(I am so great at being last-minute), then a test next Thurs I don't need to worry too much about, and a 25 page paper, of which I have 20 pages written. thank. god. Plus lots of loose ends to tie up.
Then dead week and two finals to take, one on Friday, one on Tuesday, very nicely spaced.
Drive home to El Paso on Wednesday. I can't wait to see my family.
Start med school apps in the meantime (current target = the best five year MD/MPH program I can get).
Spend the weekend in Philly with my mom for my cousin's graduation from Penn.
Come back home for a week and then head to Atlanta, a city I pretty much know nothing about and nobody in. It's going to be great. I've secured a 1 bedroom apartment in a pretty nice neighborhood. I can't wait to meet all the other interns and get started at TCC. I also need a bike.
10 weeks in Atlanta, full-time interning, working on med school apps, and exploring as much of the city as I can (throwing in visits to Emory, the CDC, the Carters' hometown, FDR's warm springs, maybe Charleston or something? oh and the rents/brother are coming up for 4th of July weekend to go to Savannah, should be fun!).
Come home in early August, possible trip in the works, otherwise chill at home, and then head back to Austin mid-late August. Start Senior year.
And things for Senior year and looking absolutely fantastic as well, I have sooo much to look forward to. Everything is shaping up so nicely! It's hard to believe that just three weeks ago, I had no idea what the hell I'd be doing this summer or next semester. Today, it all looks SOLID.
Just gotta make it through these next few weeks!!
And among the bazillion million things going on and one full week of school left, I can't believe I've finally succeeded in planning out my entire summer and most of Senior year, and it's going to be absolutely fabulous.
Between now and summer workwise and otherwise, goes a little something like this:
This weekend...plans still up in the air....(I am so great at being last-minute), then a test next Thurs I don't need to worry too much about, and a 25 page paper, of which I have 20 pages written. thank. god. Plus lots of loose ends to tie up.
Then dead week and two finals to take, one on Friday, one on Tuesday, very nicely spaced.
Drive home to El Paso on Wednesday. I can't wait to see my family.
Start med school apps in the meantime (current target = the best five year MD/MPH program I can get).
Spend the weekend in Philly with my mom for my cousin's graduation from Penn.
Come back home for a week and then head to Atlanta, a city I pretty much know nothing about and nobody in. It's going to be great. I've secured a 1 bedroom apartment in a pretty nice neighborhood. I can't wait to meet all the other interns and get started at TCC. I also need a bike.
10 weeks in Atlanta, full-time interning, working on med school apps, and exploring as much of the city as I can (throwing in visits to Emory, the CDC, the Carters' hometown, FDR's warm springs, maybe Charleston or something? oh and the rents/brother are coming up for 4th of July weekend to go to Savannah, should be fun!).
Come home in early August, possible trip in the works, otherwise chill at home, and then head back to Austin mid-late August. Start Senior year.
And things for Senior year and looking absolutely fantastic as well, I have sooo much to look forward to. Everything is shaping up so nicely! It's hard to believe that just three weeks ago, I had no idea what the hell I'd be doing this summer or next semester. Today, it all looks SOLID.
Just gotta make it through these next few weeks!!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Had to post this because it meant a lot to me
Probably one of the few people who makes it a point to read other's blogs sent me the sweetest, most heartwarming message that it warranted a post, and I hope the writer of this doesn't mind that I posted it! I just felt so floored after getting it, it meant so much to me:
"I know email is incredibly informal, unpersonal, and implies that the writer lacks the time to tell you something in person, but believe me when I say this isn't the case.
I wanted to just tell you-- sometime, in the last couple of weeks or so, I don't know when it hit me, but I had this realization. I realized that I'm so incredibly glad I got to know you better this semester. You and I kind of run in the same circles, but kind of not the same circles [because we're different years, therefore we're in different classes, and we've never lived near each other either], and you've been one of those people that I tell myself "wow, I'd really like to get to know her" because you are awesome, and I'd like to hope that people look up to me like I look up to you.
It's been by slightly-serendipitous, a bit of plans-gone-awry, but all sorts of awesomeness that you and I have gotten the chance to hang out this semester, and I'm so thankful for it. I really feel like I can say "yeah, I know Richa Gupta, she's MY friend", and say it meaningfully [not that "acquaintance" type crap that you get with a lot of people you're just facebook friends with, if you get what I mean].
As things are for people like you and me, I'm sure the end of the semester will all of a sudden become jam packed with things to do in the next few days [despite the fact there are already a million things to do before the semester ends], and so I wanted to remember to write this to you and let you know that you are awesome, and I can't wait to get to see you even more next year.
You definitely inspire me Richa :)"
Can't even begin to say how much this made me feel like I must be doing something right. And how I am so lucky to have the best friends in the world.
"I know email is incredibly informal, unpersonal, and implies that the writer lacks the time to tell you something in person, but believe me when I say this isn't the case.
I wanted to just tell you-- sometime, in the last couple of weeks or so, I don't know when it hit me, but I had this realization. I realized that I'm so incredibly glad I got to know you better this semester. You and I kind of run in the same circles, but kind of not the same circles [because we're different years, therefore we're in different classes, and we've never lived near each other either], and you've been one of those people that I tell myself "wow, I'd really like to get to know her" because you are awesome, and I'd like to hope that people look up to me like I look up to you.
It's been by slightly-serendipitous, a bit of plans-gone-awry, but all sorts of awesomeness that you and I have gotten the chance to hang out this semester, and I'm so thankful for it. I really feel like I can say "yeah, I know Richa Gupta, she's MY friend", and say it meaningfully [not that "acquaintance" type crap that you get with a lot of people you're just facebook friends with, if you get what I mean].
As things are for people like you and me, I'm sure the end of the semester will all of a sudden become jam packed with things to do in the next few days [despite the fact there are already a million things to do before the semester ends], and so I wanted to remember to write this to you and let you know that you are awesome, and I can't wait to get to see you even more next year.
You definitely inspire me Richa :)"
Can't even begin to say how much this made me feel like I must be doing something right. And how I am so lucky to have the best friends in the world.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Can't wait til summer.
It's so funny how distressed my Republican dad is about the fact that I'll be at The Carter Center this summer, and how my mom thinks he's insane.
I also think it's interesting that practically the only friends I have that have any idea about what The Carter Center is and what working there would mean, are OJs.
I also think it's interesting that practically the only friends I have that have any idea about what The Carter Center is and what working there would mean, are OJs.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Life Update again
Two life updates in a row. Get excited.
I haven't had a full night's sleep (6 hours or more) all week. I slept 4 last night, like 4 the night before, and then something like 5 and 4 and 5 for the rest of the week. And I have a no-napping policy in place right now which I'm seriously reconsidering. I feel like so many things are happening that I'm having serious problems keeping track of everything and to the point where if I don't write things I need to do down immediately, it just slips out of my mind like I've got premature Alzheimer's or something. Not sleeping doesn't help any.
Madness all started on Wednesday at the Disease Detectives thing. Which was awesome. Not only did I spend like three hours dwelling on what exactly I want to do in life education-wise (Do I want an MD/PhD instead of an MPH?? Do I need a PhD instead of an MPH?? Am I really going to take a year off after I graduate?? etc. obsessing over stuff like I normally obsess over), but I also got the chance to talk to the keynote speakers after the event, Dr. Susan Fisher-Hoch and Dr. McCormick, about working in their lab on epidemiological border-health issues, obesity/diabetes/TB, and the like, in Brownsville. That's totally something I'd want to do.
Ok. Brownsville, right? Not exactly the place I want to be this summer. BUT, all my housing would be paid for, I'd still be semi-close to Austin for weekend visits if I wanted (or a trip home by air), and I'd get a stipend, AND I'd be working for two of the most famous/amazing global epidemiologists in the world, who just happen to be in a not so great city. When I asked them what brought them to Brownsville, Susan Fisher-Hoch told me it was because it was like "being in an underdeveloped country again "where resources weren't there and so there was a real calling." Noble, yes. No resources, yes duh I'm from El Paso, I know how that goes. Border towns unite, right? Go where the need is.
And then...on Thursday I took a biochem test, went on with class, etc., and in the afternoon, I found out that I was accepted to intern at The Carter Center. And now, I have to make a decision about what I want to choose by Monday. MONDAY. Freakin A, that's two days from today. I don't know how the hell I should choose something. I guess I shouldn't be complaining because I have choices, and I was so worried I wouldn't have any choices. The Carter Center is so appealing because it's an international organization, has a big name (obviously), would have the kind of intellectual atmosphere that I would love to experience, would be an awesome chance to network, and get to really know staff (some pretty big people), and meet the other 30 or so interns. I'd probably find a place to live at Emory or something. And woo, Emory. I can visit the med school/the Rollins school, the CDC, see everything.
So I stayed up all Thursday night emailing people about possible funding opps just to cover basic cost-of-living expenses (it's an unpaid internship, NGO/nonprofit work of course interns are unpaid...the Brownsville thing got CDC funding to pay its interns...), and Cline responded to my email in like 5 mins (I love Cline), and was like, yeah I'll talk to Laude about some college pot of money. So, I have no idea if this would work out and shouldn't get optimistic, but if I can't get something from UT, I'll have to try somewhere outside? In like the next month or so that I have? Oh man.
So I spent my Friday in lab since I skipped Wednesday. God I was tired. I ran back home, showered/changed, went to OJ/Blazer Formal (which was fun to see everyone, even though I was freakin tired), came back home, crashed, got up at 4:30 AM, papered, turned it in by 9 AM, answered emails....and then proceeded look for housing in Atlanta.
While I was writing my paper this morning (I'm writing it on the Gates Foundation, and global health philanthropy), I wrote a segment of my paper on this major public health guy, Dr. William Foege who is a senior health advisor to the Gates Foundation's global health team, influenced Gates to get involved with global health and now plays a major role in directing the Foundation's global health goals, used to be the director of the CDC, ran programs that virtually eliminated smallpox in India and river blindness in Africa, and....get ready for this....used to be director of The Carter Center's Global 2000 program (what, what). This TC paper I'm doing for Dr. Oshinsky is a SIGN. Can't pass this up, right.
I just got off the phone with Dr. Field, (I don't know how she manages to find time to talk to her students over weekends about stuff), and we talked about what I wanted to do. I still have no idea. Atlanta vs. Brownsville. Carter Center vs. CDC descendants. Lab/epi project vs. health/policy research and programming. World renowned epidemiologists vs. world renowned health officers and philanthropists. Meh this is hard.
I shouldn't complain. I a pretty lucky girl.
I haven't had a full night's sleep (6 hours or more) all week. I slept 4 last night, like 4 the night before, and then something like 5 and 4 and 5 for the rest of the week. And I have a no-napping policy in place right now which I'm seriously reconsidering. I feel like so many things are happening that I'm having serious problems keeping track of everything and to the point where if I don't write things I need to do down immediately, it just slips out of my mind like I've got premature Alzheimer's or something. Not sleeping doesn't help any.
Madness all started on Wednesday at the Disease Detectives thing. Which was awesome. Not only did I spend like three hours dwelling on what exactly I want to do in life education-wise (Do I want an MD/PhD instead of an MPH?? Do I need a PhD instead of an MPH?? Am I really going to take a year off after I graduate?? etc. obsessing over stuff like I normally obsess over), but I also got the chance to talk to the keynote speakers after the event, Dr. Susan Fisher-Hoch and Dr. McCormick, about working in their lab on epidemiological border-health issues, obesity/diabetes/TB, and the like, in Brownsville. That's totally something I'd want to do.
Ok. Brownsville, right? Not exactly the place I want to be this summer. BUT, all my housing would be paid for, I'd still be semi-close to Austin for weekend visits if I wanted (or a trip home by air), and I'd get a stipend, AND I'd be working for two of the most famous/amazing global epidemiologists in the world, who just happen to be in a not so great city. When I asked them what brought them to Brownsville, Susan Fisher-Hoch told me it was because it was like "being in an underdeveloped country again "where resources weren't there and so there was a real calling." Noble, yes. No resources, yes duh I'm from El Paso, I know how that goes. Border towns unite, right? Go where the need is.
And then...on Thursday I took a biochem test, went on with class, etc., and in the afternoon, I found out that I was accepted to intern at The Carter Center. And now, I have to make a decision about what I want to choose by Monday. MONDAY. Freakin A, that's two days from today. I don't know how the hell I should choose something. I guess I shouldn't be complaining because I have choices, and I was so worried I wouldn't have any choices. The Carter Center is so appealing because it's an international organization, has a big name (obviously), would have the kind of intellectual atmosphere that I would love to experience, would be an awesome chance to network, and get to really know staff (some pretty big people), and meet the other 30 or so interns. I'd probably find a place to live at Emory or something. And woo, Emory. I can visit the med school/the Rollins school, the CDC, see everything.
So I stayed up all Thursday night emailing people about possible funding opps just to cover basic cost-of-living expenses (it's an unpaid internship, NGO/nonprofit work of course interns are unpaid...the Brownsville thing got CDC funding to pay its interns...), and Cline responded to my email in like 5 mins (I love Cline), and was like, yeah I'll talk to Laude about some college pot of money. So, I have no idea if this would work out and shouldn't get optimistic, but if I can't get something from UT, I'll have to try somewhere outside? In like the next month or so that I have? Oh man.
So I spent my Friday in lab since I skipped Wednesday. God I was tired. I ran back home, showered/changed, went to OJ/Blazer Formal (which was fun to see everyone, even though I was freakin tired), came back home, crashed, got up at 4:30 AM, papered, turned it in by 9 AM, answered emails....and then proceeded look for housing in Atlanta.
While I was writing my paper this morning (I'm writing it on the Gates Foundation, and global health philanthropy), I wrote a segment of my paper on this major public health guy, Dr. William Foege who is a senior health advisor to the Gates Foundation's global health team, influenced Gates to get involved with global health and now plays a major role in directing the Foundation's global health goals, used to be the director of the CDC, ran programs that virtually eliminated smallpox in India and river blindness in Africa, and....get ready for this....used to be director of The Carter Center's Global 2000 program (what, what). This TC paper I'm doing for Dr. Oshinsky is a SIGN. Can't pass this up, right.
I just got off the phone with Dr. Field, (I don't know how she manages to find time to talk to her students over weekends about stuff), and we talked about what I wanted to do. I still have no idea. Atlanta vs. Brownsville. Carter Center vs. CDC descendants. Lab/epi project vs. health/policy research and programming. World renowned epidemiologists vs. world renowned health officers and philanthropists. Meh this is hard.
I shouldn't complain. I a pretty lucky girl.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Life Update
I feel like a perpetual workhorse.
I guess it's not a bad thing. It means I'm generally being productive at any given time (or I'm sleeping things off. Every week after Spring Break, I've had or will have, an exam every Thursday, which is lame). But that also means I'll be having ridic weekends like the one I'm having right now. I took my test Thurs, spent Friday in lab til like 6 PM, came home, ate dinner, papered well into the night, got up this morning to fix the paper and turned it in before the 9AM due-time, and then slept some more. Then I got up at around 10:30, helped out Dr. Field for the Disease Detective Event this week (on Wednesday....I'm really looking forward to it....AMAZING speakers, schools of public health (Hopkins, Emory, UT system, etc. (woo Emory, that's the one out of state school I'm for sure applying to)), free books (literally all of the books being given out are on my summer reading list, how badass is that), graduate school fair, basically my career dreams come true). I'll be working the Public Health Internship booth/volunteering wherever Dr. Field puts me. And I hope to get a chance to chat with a few speakers, like Dr. McCormick and Dr. Sanchez, pretty much my heroes.
So anyways, that was nice, got to have lunch with her, and then helped out a bit in Painter, now I'm sooo sleepy. But, Swing Out interview for DS at 4 (holla), and then I can call it a Saturday/sleep/do something productive. And then get up tomorrow and Capture the Forty Acres is all day, which should be fun as long as I sleep tonight.....
hooray weekends, kinda.
Oh and I also STILL, have NO IDEA what I'm doing this summer and it's DRIVING ME UP THE WALL. I've gotten rejected from one place for not having any international experience, had two interviews last week (one of which I'm not sure went so well...another one was with a Harvard epidemiologist with Partners in Health who works on clinical XDR-TB outcomes (AMAZING! I died talking to her), and then one this Monday. I've kinda decided I think I want to be either in DC or Atlanta. I just really really really hope I get in to SOMETHING. Or, I can always ask Dr. Field to hook me up with the epi Texas-Mexico border health project in Brownsville with Dr. McCormick (but Atlanta/DC>>>>>>Brownsville!)
ughhhhhhhhh
Also, if you haven't noticed from my posts, I'm kinda more obsessed with election politics still, even as much as most of my friends are obsessed with March Madness...can't help myself
I guess it's not a bad thing. It means I'm generally being productive at any given time (or I'm sleeping things off. Every week after Spring Break, I've had or will have, an exam every Thursday, which is lame). But that also means I'll be having ridic weekends like the one I'm having right now. I took my test Thurs, spent Friday in lab til like 6 PM, came home, ate dinner, papered well into the night, got up this morning to fix the paper and turned it in before the 9AM due-time, and then slept some more. Then I got up at around 10:30, helped out Dr. Field for the Disease Detective Event this week (on Wednesday....I'm really looking forward to it....AMAZING speakers, schools of public health (Hopkins, Emory, UT system, etc. (woo Emory, that's the one out of state school I'm for sure applying to)), free books (literally all of the books being given out are on my summer reading list, how badass is that), graduate school fair, basically my career dreams come true). I'll be working the Public Health Internship booth/volunteering wherever Dr. Field puts me. And I hope to get a chance to chat with a few speakers, like Dr. McCormick and Dr. Sanchez, pretty much my heroes.
So anyways, that was nice, got to have lunch with her, and then helped out a bit in Painter, now I'm sooo sleepy. But, Swing Out interview for DS at 4 (holla), and then I can call it a Saturday/sleep/do something productive. And then get up tomorrow and Capture the Forty Acres is all day, which should be fun as long as I sleep tonight.....
hooray weekends, kinda.
Oh and I also STILL, have NO IDEA what I'm doing this summer and it's DRIVING ME UP THE WALL. I've gotten rejected from one place for not having any international experience, had two interviews last week (one of which I'm not sure went so well...another one was with a Harvard epidemiologist with Partners in Health who works on clinical XDR-TB outcomes (AMAZING! I died talking to her), and then one this Monday. I've kinda decided I think I want to be either in DC or Atlanta. I just really really really hope I get in to SOMETHING. Or, I can always ask Dr. Field to hook me up with the epi Texas-Mexico border health project in Brownsville with Dr. McCormick (but Atlanta/DC>>>>>>Brownsville!)
ughhhhhhhhh
Also, if you haven't noticed from my posts, I'm kinda more obsessed with election politics still, even as much as most of my friends are obsessed with March Madness...can't help myself
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
strangelings
A Gallup poll released Wednesday found that 19 percent of Mr. Obama’s supporters said they would vote for Mr. McCain in the general election if Mrs. Clinton were the nominee. More startling, 28 percent of Mrs. Clinton’s supporters said they would defect to Mr. McCain if Mr. Obama were the nominee.
Weeeeird. Of course, Gallup polls can never be trusted. Asking something about opinions in a Gallup poll is like asking if it's going to rain in eight months.
Weeeeird. Of course, Gallup polls can never be trusted. Asking something about opinions in a Gallup poll is like asking if it's going to rain in eight months.
Monday, March 24, 2008
STupid
"In truth, I don’t expect much from John McCain, who has both admitted not knowing much about economics and denied having ever said that. Anyway, lately he’s been busy demonstrating that he doesn’t know much about the Middle East, either." Um, yeah.
So wait a minute, why hasn't the media been ON this?? Last week John McCain said that Iran was training Al-Qaeda operatives and sending them into Iraq, and good 'ol Joe Lieberman had to point out to him that he was muy incorrecto. And this man wants us in Iraq until the end of time. Great scenario we got here.
Well, Richa, it's because the media is still reeling from Obama's speech on race, (which I really, really enjoyed......but it is, of course, infusing race into the election (almost to the point where I feel like many individuals, of all races, are just DYING to vote for Obama because he's black), which it's totally detracting from ISSUES yet again.....which is again and again the most frustrating thing about this entire primary.....absolutely. NO. focus. on. policies. whatsoever.....).
So the speech was awesome, even if it did turn race into an even bigger issue in the election. But what it also did, was spark Bill Richardson's endorsement of Obama. James Carville (one of my favorites) makes me laugh: "Mr. Richardson's endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing if appropriate is ironic."
Wowwww, didn't the Clintons, like, make his career? Oh well. An Obamaphile is an Obamaphile is an Obamaphile. OR, Richardson is vying for that VP spot, and he was like "Oops Hillary is losing this, and damn, Obama says some good stuff about race, and I want VP, so time for an endorsement, sorry Hillary, ADIOS CHICA."
In other words, I have an inkling that Bill Richardson, since he (and all of us) know that Obama is virtually going to be the nominee, made this endorsement because he wants Obama to consider him for VP.
We'll see what happens. In the mean time, I continue to hate on the media, and it's style of either overlooking McCain's blunders or ignoring the things that should be important on the policy front. And for Hillary, things are looking more and more dismal every day, even though she definitely won't back out before Pennsylvania, and I'm not sure that she will even after that, which is just going to prolong this entire parade.
So wait a minute, why hasn't the media been ON this?? Last week John McCain said that Iran was training Al-Qaeda operatives and sending them into Iraq, and good 'ol Joe Lieberman had to point out to him that he was muy incorrecto. And this man wants us in Iraq until the end of time. Great scenario we got here.
Well, Richa, it's because the media is still reeling from Obama's speech on race, (which I really, really enjoyed......but it is, of course, infusing race into the election (almost to the point where I feel like many individuals, of all races, are just DYING to vote for Obama because he's black), which it's totally detracting from ISSUES yet again.....which is again and again the most frustrating thing about this entire primary.....absolutely. NO. focus. on. policies. whatsoever.....).
So the speech was awesome, even if it did turn race into an even bigger issue in the election. But what it also did, was spark Bill Richardson's endorsement of Obama. James Carville (one of my favorites) makes me laugh: "Mr. Richardson's endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing if appropriate is ironic."
Wowwww, didn't the Clintons, like, make his career? Oh well. An Obamaphile is an Obamaphile is an Obamaphile. OR, Richardson is vying for that VP spot, and he was like "Oops Hillary is losing this, and damn, Obama says some good stuff about race, and I want VP, so time for an endorsement, sorry Hillary, ADIOS CHICA."
In other words, I have an inkling that Bill Richardson, since he (and all of us) know that Obama is virtually going to be the nominee, made this endorsement because he wants Obama to consider him for VP.
We'll see what happens. In the mean time, I continue to hate on the media, and it's style of either overlooking McCain's blunders or ignoring the things that should be important on the policy front. And for Hillary, things are looking more and more dismal every day, even though she definitely won't back out before Pennsylvania, and I'm not sure that she will even after that, which is just going to prolong this entire parade.
Monday, March 17, 2008
I love it when stuff I'm writing about pops up in the news
Yeah. 100%. This editorial is totally what my paper for my grad class at the school of public health is on. How awesome is that. And a huge chunk of it: "why abstinence-only interventions DO NOT WORK." Ahem dear Bushie. Ok, so yes President Bush has done a few good things for Africa. He really has. I admire him for what he's done with PEPFAR, and that needs to be said. He's done good, in his last-ditch attempt to leave some sort of legacy as his time (thankfully) comes to an end. Yes, I just said I admire W for something.
BUT not distributing condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, not giving people access to contraceptives and only promoting abstinence is reeeally not his brightest idea.
Face the research, Bushie . . . it DOESN'T work.
And I'm getting my HPV vaccine. As mandated and paid for by my crazy mother who tells me story after story after story about all the cervical cancer/STD nightmares she gets to see everyday. Yeah, literally, see. Scary things. Merck will get my dinero.
Not that I'm sexually active, you sillies!!
Anywho read:
Editorial
BUT not distributing condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, not giving people access to contraceptives and only promoting abstinence is reeeally not his brightest idea.
Face the research, Bushie . . . it DOESN'T work.
And I'm getting my HPV vaccine. As mandated and paid for by my crazy mother who tells me story after story after story about all the cervical cancer/STD nightmares she gets to see everyday. Yeah, literally, see. Scary things. Merck will get my dinero.
Not that I'm sexually active, you sillies!!
Anywho read:
Editorial
One in Four Girls
Teenage girls and their parents need to read the latest government study of sexually transmitted diseases. The infections are so prevalent they are hard to avoid once a girl becomes sexually active. One in four girls ages 14 to 19 is infected with at least one of four common diseases. Among African-American girls in the study, almost half were infected.
The data, drawn from a sample of 838 girls who participated in a broad national survey in 2003-4, was presented last week by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By far the most common of the four S.T.D.’s was the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which infected 18 percent of the girls. Chlamydia infected 4 percent, trichomoniasis — a common parasite — 2.5 percent, and genital herpes 2 percent.
The study did not look at such feared diseases as H.I.V./AIDS, syphilis or gonorrhea, but the four it did look at are worrisome enough. Although most HPV infections cause no symptoms and clear the body in less than a year, persistent HPV can cause cervical cancer and genital warts. S.T.D.’s can cause infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease and other painful symptoms.
It will not be easy for sexually active teenagers to avoid any danger. Even among girls who said they had had only a single sexual partner, 20 percent were infected. With more than three million teenage girls infected, it is imperative to find ways to protect others.
The new findings strengthen the case for providing HPV vaccine to young girls and for regular screening of sexually active girls to detect infection. There is also a clear need to strengthen programs in sex education. Exhortations to practice abstinence go only so far.
Teenage girls who are sexually active need access to contraceptives and counseling. They need to understand that the numbers are against them and that a serious infection is but a careless sexual encounter away.
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