Friday, October 23, at 1 p.m., Dr. Sabrina T. Cherry of UNCW and Truman State University’s own Dr. Nancy Daley Moore will be hosting a virtual discussion talking about graduate schools, career paths and pivots, and everything you need to know to navigate your Public Health journey. If your are interested in joining in on the conversation, RSVP at http://bit.ly/pbhchat1.
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HES Student Admitted to Medical School Early
Jaycee Mudd, a sophomore Health Science student, deserves recognition for a major achievement. Jaycee received pre-acceptance to MU’s medical school via the Bryant Scholars Program. She learned about this incredible opportunity through her involvement in AMSA, one of Truman’s pre-medical clubs. Jaycee states that she is already seeing the benefits of the program, writing “the worries of a [medical school] application cycle are no longer existent”. She goes on to say all the “what if” questions about her future are gone, and she now feels that her goals are 100% attainable. Congratulations to Jaycee for her incredible achievement!
HLTH 366 Students Complete CPE Training
Congratulations are in order for 21 of our Health Science Students. Thanks to funding from Partners in Prevention, the state of Missouri’s higher education substance misuse association, HLTH 366 students received Certified Peer Education training. All students in the class successfully completed 12 hours of CPE training offered by NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and passed their certification exams with flying colors. Student Haley Bylina said of the training, “I have learned how Peer Educators can function as an advocate, liaison, and resource for students.” This training included learning how to effectively lead, communicate, develop effective health programs, and how to be inclusive in diverse community settings. Student Breanne Martin stated “I feel that by having these skills, I can work on being the best peer educator I can be.” Way to go to everyone involved, and congratulations to all of our newly Certified Peer Educators!
SPHA Holds COVID-19 Q&A
On Thursday, September 10th the Truman Student Public Health Association (SPHA) hosted an open Zoom meeting to answer questions and have an open discussion regarding COVID-19 education. The event kicked off with a presentation on personal and campus safety practices. A wide range of topics, including background information on the coronavirus, proper mask wearing techniques, campus testing resources, and campus quarantine policy were addressed. Following the presentation was an open Q&A session where students could ask SPHA members any questions or voice any concerns regarding the ongoing pandemic. SPHA plans to host another COVID-19 meeting and Q&A session later on this semester with additional resources and updated information. If you were not able to attend this online event, be sure to watch for updates about future meetings! The best place to check for SPHA information is in the TruToday Newsletter, @truman_spha on Instagram, or on the SPHA website, https://spha.truman.edu/
Special thanks to SPHA education co-chair Amy Kang for providing this story.
ES Alumni Spotlight: Laura Stark (’15)
Alumni Spotlight—
Laura Stark (’15), Exercise Science,
Owner and Sports Performance Specialist, Stark Strong Performance—
“After competing on Truman’s Track and Field team for four years and graduating in May of 2015 with a B.S. in exercise science, I moved down to South Florida to begin my career in Sports Performance. I have since had the amazing opportunity to learn and work under accomplished athletes and coaches ranging from NFL to youth. A year after moving, I opened my own business and especially found my path as a role model to female athletes.
Witnessing first-hand the results of our training on the health of our teams we work with has heightened my passion and enthusiasm for assisting athletes to reach the best of their ability. Improving fundamental principles of speed, strength, power, and agility, we have already experienced a decrease in ACL tears and other injuries.
While training and conditioning are important, it is imperative that these young women develop their characters into confident and socially empowered athletes of next-level potential. Leading by example, these impressionable athletes need a mentor, a cheerleader, and a disciplinarian to prepare them for the competitive behaviors life will challenge them with. This is why we are stellar at what we do. I am confident we will continue reaching a wider scope as I learn more from the amazing athletes and coaches in South Florida.
I’m so thankful for my time at Truman as a student-athlete where I learned to mature, grow, learn, and gain the confidence I would need to step outside my comfort zone and become not only an influential coach and mentor to these athletes but an ambitious businesswoman.”
HS Alumni Spotlight: Michelle (Riefe) Shikles (’11)
“After graduating from Truman, I began working at Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services as a health educator while pursuing my Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in health promotion and policy at the University of Missouri-Columbia. I worked as a health educator focusing on adolescent health, HIV, and health literacy for three years before taking my current position as public health promotion supervisor. In this role, I oversee a team of health educators who work on a variety of prevention strategies. I also serve as an adjunct professor for the University of Missouri MPH program. Truman gave me the foundation I needed to succeed in public health. I use the skills and knowledge I gained at Truman every day. My advice for current and prospective students is to keep an open mind when thinking about your career path. When I entered the HES program, I didn’t think I would end up in public health, but thanks to the guidance and support from HES faculty, I found a career that I love.”
—Michelle (Riefe) Shikles (’11), Health Science, Minors in Psychology & Biology
ES (’11) Ashley Archer Alumni Spotlight
“I went to Truman from 2007-2011 on a Pershing Scholarship where I studied Exercise Science. Following Truman, I achieved a Fulbright Scholarship to Spain to teach English. I stayed for two years and became fluent in Spanish through playing on a local basketball team in Madrid. Following Spain, I attended graduate school at the University of Kansas Medical Center on the prestigious Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship, where I achieved a Ph.D. in Physiology in the fall of 2018. Recently, I was hired as a Medical Science Liaison for Myriad Genetics, where I can take the skills I have learned from all of my experiences to build relationships with clinicians and communicate science, which I am extremely excited for!
As I reflect back on all of my experiences, I can say with confidence that the opportunities I had in the Exercise Science Department at Truman State are the reason I have gotten to where I am today. At Truman, I was able to become a T.A. and later a Head T.A. in Human Anatomy, which revealed my passion for deeper scientific questions and motivation to pursue a doctorate. I was also supported and encouraged by the administration in the Exercise Science Department to be the first student to design and instruct a student-led course. The Pershing Scholarship also pushed me to think bigger in terms of my future career aspirations. The relationships that I made with other students and with faculty are friendships and mentorships that continue to impact and enhance my career and my life. I can’t thank this university and the Exercise Science Department enough for the path it set me on!”
SPHA students participate in Scholar Bowl
Five students from the Student Public Health Association (SPHA) participated in the Quiz Bowl event during the Public Health Scholar Bowl held at Saint Louis University on April 6, 2019. Braden Zoller, Ashton King, Bansari Amin, Leah Wright, and Amy Kang competed against teams from Johns Hopkins University, Temple University, Emory University, and Brown University for total points in the event. Quiz bowl competition involves knowledge, conviction, and luck. The trick is hear just of the question to answer it before the other team does. Sometimes a question can only be answered if the entire question is read. The Truman team had fun and placed ninth out of the 14 teams competing in the event. Dr. Janice Clark is the SPHA faculty sponsor and took the team to the event.
Emily Bailey (HS ’20) is a Published Author
Emily Bailey, Health Science/Pre-medicine major, is a published author! During her summer 2018 HLTH 350 shadowing experience with Dr. Raghav Govindarajan, MD in Columbia, MO, Emily had the opportunity to write two patient vignettes for the newly published book, Improving Patient Safety. The official APA entry for the book is:
Bailey, E. M. (2019). Clinical Vignette 1 and 2. In Govindarajan, R., Kaur, H., & Yelam, A. (Eds.) Improving Patient Safety (pp. 95-105). New York, NY; Routledge/Productivity Press.
Additionally, Emily was able to assist with four research projects during her HLTH 350 shadowing experience with Dr. Govindarajan. These research projects include:
– Clinical and diagnostic factors of Myasthenia Gravis mimicking stroke
– Diagnostic errors and the implications on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
-The Diagnostic Yield of Repetitive Nerve Stimulation in Myasthenia Gravis
– Hematoma risk after needle electromyography in patients on newer oral anticoagulants
All of these projects are being presented at a national research conference in Philadelphia this week!
HLTH 440 Students Help the Community
This semester Emma Barnett and Shannon Dague continued the five-year tradition of Truman Health Science seniors completing their capstone project as the Buddy Pack Coordinators. Working with Teresa Ross, Regional Coordinator for the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri, Shannon and Emma organized five monthly packing events, and recruited 160 volunteers to pack over 1,288 bags of food each time. The Buddy Packs are delivered monthly to nine schools in eight school districts in Northeast Missouri, with weekly distribution to 322 food-insecure students in those schools.
It’s a big process that starts with cleaning and organizing the food in the warehouse each month, Packing Night jobs include working on the assembly line to place food into the bags, tying bags, stocking assembly line, opening boxes to supply to the assembly line, working on trash detail, flattening cardboard boxes, and organize Buddy Packs. Shannon and Emma supervise the entire process and double-count all the bags packed. The day after the packing, the school representatives arrive to collect the Buddy Packs for their schools. Then, they start recruiting volunteers for the next packing night
