Contagion

I watched the movie ‘Contagion’ the other night.  It was pretty good – and what I really enjoyed was the global health issue.  It got me really pumped up about public health work (I’m a total nerd, I know).  It all started with my job at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment – I didn’t have any real direction in my career at that point, I just knew that I wanted to work in public service.  I was only in the Immunization Program for a year, but it was such a great experience and I learned so much that I decided to take the next step (or leap, depending how you look at it) – I joined Peace Corps to gain some field experience (which is usually required for these jobs).

Unfortunately, my work in Uganda is more related to education than health.  I teach computing (i.e. Microsoft Word and Excel); I work on school databases; and I do clerical work for the office administration.  I know that I am not qualified to go out into the villages and give immunizations or deliver babies, but I was hoping for a hands-on experience with Uganda’s health systems and management.

After watching ‘Contagion,’ I realized that no matter what kind of work I do in the Peace Corps, I am still going to need to further my education.  I know very little about disease control, surveillance and response, epidemiology, etc.  (I did, however, gain a great deal of knowledge about immunizations and vaccines during my time at CDPHE.)  My bachelor’s degree is in Communication (interpersonal/group communication, not broadcasting) but that won’t get me very far in this career – I’ll have to get a Master’s in Public Health. 

Thankfully, one of the many benefits of being in the Peace Corps is receiving grad school credit and/or tuition reimbursement.  Yay!  I’ve only just started looking at programs, but there is a concrete timeline that may delay my admissions: I need to take the GRE (and need time to study for it!), I need to submit my grad school applications by a specific deadline depending on the semester, I need to finish my Peace Corps service (October 2013), etc.  So grad school may not happen right away, but I might as well start planning for it.

After thinking about work, grad school and my future, I’ve decided that I will do the (education) work that Sister Anne asks of me at Kuluva School of Nursing.  It's still international field work with the Peace Corps.  There is potential for me to work (for a day or two) on health projects at other PCVs’ sites (nutrition classes, food distribution, life skills classes, etc.) and my camp experiences also covered a few health topics (reproductive health, nutrition, HIV, etc.).  So here’s what I see for the next 12 months:

• Teach computing at the nursing school
• Create student records database for Kuluva
• Gender and Development Committee
• More camps?
• Health projects with other PCVs?
• Study for GRE
• Apply to grad schools

I also want to go around Kuluva Hospital with the nursing students and talk to them about healthcare in Uganda.  Even if I can’t work in the hospital, at least I can learn about it.

Looks like a pretty good year. 

(Yes, this all started from watching a movie.  Thank you Hollywood for giving me an epiphany regarding my Peace Corps experience.)