Monday, December 3, 2007
Week 15: Evaluation and Career Opportunities
Post your comments here! IMPORTANT-
FYI- Here is the order of the presentations on Monday (and respective clients):
1:15 Shakti Rising (w/Angela)
1:45 Global Warming (w/Teresa & Kristin)
2:15 Walking School Bus (w/Maureen)
2:45 Food Stamps (w/Mark & Ida)
3:15 Immunizations (w/Kimberly)
Please bring the food items your group agreed upon! Best of luck!
FYI- Here is the order of the presentations on Monday (and respective clients):
1:15 Shakti Rising (w/Angela)
1:45 Global Warming (w/Teresa & Kristin)
2:15 Walking School Bus (w/Maureen)
2:45 Food Stamps (w/Mark & Ida)
3:15 Immunizations (w/Kimberly)
Please bring the food items your group agreed upon! Best of luck!
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22 comments:
Hey everyone - Today was a little sad....being our last lecture. I have really enjoyed a lot of the discussions that we have had. I really wish I had taken this class my first year in the program since I think its brings a lot of practicality to other areas of hp. If I walk away from this class learning nothing aside from the importance of better understanding "them" (which I won't...) then I still think that is a whole lot. It is very easy to be consumed with your agenda, your values, etc. But when we realize that to better understand our audience, our patients, our research participants, we better understand what our agenda should be... that is an awesome thing. I know that I will carry what I have learned in 663 into my professional future and I am happy to have taken this class.
As for today, I enjoyed talking about program evaluation and the idea of ROI. Although many of us in public health are in it for what we consider the "right reasons", it is important to appeal to what motivates business $$. Perhaps a type of "wrong reason" hp if you will. And I absolutely loved, "The answer is money. Now what is your question?"
Our group "The 3's!" had fun with the evaluation game...and man was I impressed by group 4, good rationale for each of your choices. I thought it was also neat how all groups picked a couple of the same answer choices (shows great minds think alike!). Hope everyone has a good rest of the week and good luck with finals!
Wow...I can't believe it's December already! This semester has flown by!
I too enjoyed the little lesson: "The answer is money. Now what is your question?" Isn't that the truth?!?!
The evaluation game was interesting. I kept reflecting back on all the meetings I've sat in on where PIs have presented their progress to a funding agency. In all of these meetings, the PI has requested more money and an extension on the project-- whether they had great results to report or not. I'm thankful for their persistence. If they didn't ask for more money, I may not be employed! So, I don't think it's a negative thing to ask for money...as long as the PI is doing responsible research. But, as always, you have to keep the boss happy which means that your results are top priority.
On a final note...I'm really looking forward to all the polished projects next week...and, most importantly, the yummy food!!
Oh so sad that this was our last class:(. I have learned a bunch of new important information that I can for surely use at my job and in the future. The other day at work I was even thinking about 663 while I was providing feedback on a parent questionnaire. I wanted to say, hey...why don't we ask our target population what they think since they are filling it out?? I really enjoyed the lecture on the different career options in health communication(s). I feel many professors leave this important portion out of their classes. I didn't really mean that 666 is evil everyone!;) Its just when people would ask me what class I had in the god awful late Friday afternoon, I would say 666 and it just sounded funny. You know how 666 is associated with evil haunting stuff. So from the beginning of the semester on I would just refer to it as my evil class. At least next semester it will not be offered on Friday afternoon. That was the hardest part of it all. Good luck on your presentations everyone! See you then!
I echo the sadness already expressed. This has been a wonderful course.
On my blog http://mikawi.blogspot.com/ I posted reflections on 3 quotes about evaluation that inspire me. If you don't get a chance to read my reflections, I offer you the bare quotes:
“Data! Data! Data! I cannot make bricks without clay.”
-Sherlock Holmes
“Not everything that counts can be counted; and not everything that can be counted counts.”
-Albert Einstein
"I’d make such a good statistic, somebody should study me now, somebody's gotta be interested in how I feel, just 'cause I’m here, and I’m real."
-Ani DiFranco
And did you all get an email from me about job announcements from the consulting firm where I work? I sent them out via Blackboard earlier today.
So... one week left...
So, I came to school late... Parking is a bitch.
Anyways, I had a meeting that went longer than it should have, but it was worth it. I am getting HIV research work done. I like the topic. I feel that it really impacts people - even though in the U.S. our prevalence has remained the same for years... incidence is not going down. Especially globally.
Anyways... onto class.
Dr. M discussed career options in Health Communications.
It'd be great to be a professional TV watcher for The Soup.
This clip cracks me up EVERY TIME I WATCH IT:
STICKY? hahahahahaha
Anwyays... for my career, I want to move onto my PhD. I am getting frustrated with the application process, but I have to do what is best for my future. I am interested in global issues. I want to create programs and find new information about health because health affects all of us. We can't get away from that. Imagine we go to a island... just four people... no need for politics. no need for law. no need for engineering. no computer science.... but we always have our health and that changes.
I'm working on different research projects to become more experienced and hopefully - PHD Prepared. I want to get into the Global Health program SO badly. It's painful to think if I don't because I've worked so hard to better myself and prove myself to a program.
A lot of people think I'm really young to try a PhD program. I don't think that is true. Age is just a number. It's how much knowledge you take in. My cousin is only 21 years old and he's in a PhD program. He's a smartie, that one. :)
I feel that I am ready for that challenge. I'm ready. I'm mentally prepared to be a PhD candidate. I just need to get in. That's the hard part.
Anyone willing to read my Personal Statement?
CLASSMATES! WATCH THE VIDEO ON MY PAGE! IT'S THE FUNNIEST CLIP EVER!!!!!!!
lsirikul.blogspot.com
Hey! You can be a professional TV watcher!
JIMMY KIMMEL SHOW!
Well I definitely feel the same as everyone else...a little sad the class is over but hopefully Moshe will have a class on Entertainment Media next semester - imagine how fun that will be!
I was really impressed yesterday that Moshe took the time to talk about career options related to Health Communications. I think it's always helpful to hear that there are options and I loved that he reiterated the fact that you don't have to be POOR to have a career in Public Health. I'm sure most people have an idea of their career direction but I definitely feel up in the air right now; PhD or work experience?? Who knows? I really wish that more professors who took the time out to cover this topic; it really helps!
As for evaluation…Bah, Humbug! I don’t know if we just covered it too quickly but I feel like I’m still trying to find the “fun” in that game.
I can't quite believe i've been in this class for an entire semester - probably seems much shorter as we kept getting mondays off:-) I must say that I loved the information about career opportunities in the field of health communication - I can actualyl see myself doing such work - it seems to be quite a lot of fun.
Evaluation is know is important but I'm really not too into it. There was not much time for in depth information about evaluation but I guess that was not really needed for our class. I need to pay more attention to it though as I think I need to evaluate the project i'm working on pretty soon.
Thank you Dr. E for the insight in types of potential jobs. I wish every class would do that. It is so helpful to learn what is out there that maybe you haven’t heard of before. I think informational interviews are a great idea; I plan to do some myself in the Spring. I have had friends in the past who did informational interviews and pretty much were offered a job. Takes a lot of the pressure off you, but if they like you, they may ask you to come back, perhaps at that point they have already made up their mind about how much they like you.
I also thought the ROI was interesting. I liked the tip for an interview, “if you invest $50,000 in me in your first year, this is what I’ll do for you…” Also, it is funny how there is this stigma that there is no money in the P.H. field. Just last week I was out in the field conducting measures for my job and a mom asked me what I was getting my degree in. When I told her P.H. her immediate response was, “you know you’re not going to make any money, right.” Now I know, my response can be, “just because we may not make a lot of money, doesn’t mean what we do isn’t a lot.”
Playing the “game”, I learned that before you ask for more money or resources, your employer is going to want to see a product. So, I feel it is best to show them what you are able to put together with the buget and time available and then you can tell them, if you want more detail or more info, we’re going to need more money or time or resources. Also, it is important to use own skills within the business before hiring out, unless maybe it will take much longer and you’re in a time crunch.
Where did all the time go? It seemed like yesterday when we just started our group projects and next week we're already presenting it to the class! It will be exciting to see the final outcomes of all the group projects as well as meeting the key contacts to all the projects. It's almost like a mini-networking class!
I want to thank Dr. Engelberg for talking about possible careers for future Health Communicator specialists. It was great to learn more about the specific jobs and industries of health that we are able to utilize the skills we've learned in class. Before taking the class I always thought of Health Communication as promoting healthier practices through direct promotion, word-of-mouth, community advocacy, and through the typical channels we're accustomed to (ex: billboards, flyers, etc.), but after this class, I feel more informed. Especially because there is so much more to health communication then the channels I mentioned above. I feel like I've learned a lot and can recognize more ways of communicating health messages to a larger audience. Whether it be in movies, various channels, and methods.
The evaluation portion of class seemed to go by a little too quickly for me. I think I'm going to have to refer to the readings as well as my group member's notes and discussion to better evaluate how our group project can successfully tackle that portion of our write-up.
of all the classes i've taken this first term of grad school, i'll miss this one the most. i've learned so many concepts that will help me not only in future work, but also just in life. keeping your audience central to any campaign: whether it's designing a novel health campaign, convincing your friends/family to live healthier lives, or helping someone through troubles, it's so important to always keep them at the focus of the discussion... otherwise we wind up talking to ourselves as their eyes glaze over and heads start nodding, just waiting for a pause so they can change the subject!
talking about evaluation and return on investment was very interesting this week. i was surprised to hear that running and hiding really is a route that some people take! i really thought that was a joke when we were first introduced to the evaluation game. i guess that's politics though... there's always some lame way for people to avoid their responsibilities. i'm betting it's easier to run and hide when you're in the public/government sector since there is so much red tape, and so many hoops to go through before someone can be fired. in the private sector, they watch the moola more closely. if someone is not living up to their promises, and refuses to justify themselves in a review, money goes away and jobs vanish.
it was great to hear about career options in various areas, and see how the skills and tools we've learned in this class can be huge assets to so many different programs.
Like Crystal, I do wish I had taken this earlier since it could have given me a lot of direction. I definitely could have used it this past summer when my job threw me into creating educational materials for the State. Then I had to do 4 focus groups. PH 666 helped a little with that, even though that was more of a Key Informant Interview. And my humble opinion, Danette, 666 earned it's evil numbers. I took it last semester and have not fully recovered since then.
The other reason I wish I had taken this earlier is that this semester has been overwhelming. A lot has gone wrong with school, and I'm just hoping I have absorbed enough and done well in my classes.
I wish everyone luck on the group projects! And since this week was also about career development-- good luck in your careers too! I would definitely recommend working with the County. It was very hard to get in- 9 months of volunteering- but it was so worth it. I wish I had more client contact and the bureacracy is tough to deal with at times, but the opportunities can't be beat. My program in particular is a pleasure to work for. And the pay is great-- just throwing that out there since "the answer is money".
Its hard to believe that the semester is wrapping up. This is my first semester at GSPH and I finally feel like Im getting adjusted to being back in school, hopefully 5 weeks off wont set me back to far!! This class provided a great learning experience and very important concepts regarding working with the community and how to truly reach the target audience. I have so many take home messages from this class its hard to narrow it down. Several that stick in my mind are:
"wrong reason health promotion"
Health Literacy: I really enjoyed that one..
And of course all the group work leading up to our final presentations!! See you all Monday
I would have to agree with Tiffany. I too was impressed with the talk about career opportunities...I think this is probably the first time in my college career that a prof. actually took the time to consider our options. I think schools need to consider that school and career are very differnt things. Hopefully I will gain the knowledge and the skills to hold a career with confidence, but so far in my college career that really hasn't happened.
I appreciate the talk about career options and I took notes and shall take it to heart, but I am not ready to totally commit to one thing at the moment.
Unlike most of you, I am so happy for this semester to be over!! I feel like I have worked really hard and I have learned so much my first semester of grad school, but I am ready to kick back and read a couple of novels of my choice and not have something due in a week. I will be ready to come back and work hard again in January, but until then I just want to get these finals and presentations overwith and enjoy some time without school.
I will miss this class however. I have had a nice semester and I really feel like I learned something and didn't just have to memorize. I feel that if I needed help it was available and I think I attended every class! Woo Hoo! But I will miss you all and hopefully I will see some of you in my classes next semester.
Laura...Dr M or Dr E? :) It's funny how all our classes start to blend together like some melty ball of crayons...I would really like to spend time coloring because that would mean I don't have anything else to do which is not the case right now...Can anyone empathize?
I had a good time playing The Game with my fellow 3s!. It was interesting to listen to everyone's different take on why one option is better than another. I must admit I felt a little dejected when Dr E thought we were copping out by trying to hire someone to do the evaluation for us...Um, now that I write this it does kind of sound like copping out, but I haven't had evil 666 yet!
It is interesting to note how certain things we learn permeate into other classes...e.g. Laura using segmentation in her mock thesis defense yesterday and a group working two different theories as well as segmentation into their HSA presentation today.
Dr. E also made me realize how I need to organize and put into words what I am good at, i.e. what I can do for an employer or organization. Usually I just think of it in terms of what I like to do and will it pay the bills and do I have to dress up every day. Now I need to grow up a bit and actually use the tools I have gathered from my time in school, work and internships to promote what I can bring to a job...As I am starting a mini-job hunt it is overwhelming, yet exciting to see how many different jobs are out there in health communication and in the general public health field.
Oh, and I promise to read the newspaper every single day during the break--especially the editorials as they are a hoot-and-a-half in Utah!
Good luck next week!
Last week...last blog!! Hooray! Sorry to say, but I'm still not a blogger. I have had fun writing and gotten a good laugh out of it sometimes, but I guess I usually prefer to read things other people have written rather than write my own thoughts. I am stuck with my own thoughts 24 hours a day - why not read what others have to say instead??? So I hope everyone else keeps blogging so I can keep reading - ha, ha, ha!
If anyone is applying for a PhD program and would like any advice/help, feel free to contact me. Granted, my program is in Psychology, but it's similar enough, I think. Applications suck, as someone else wrote, but all the work pays off in the end - I promise! You have job security for the next 5-6 years if you get in...they just can't guarantee a top-notch starting salary :)
I've enjoyed getting to know y'all this semester, and I hope to have you guys in classes in the future! Good luck to everyone on presentations next week!
As usual, this week's class was great. The cycle of evaluation-- Will this campaign work? Is it working? and did it Work?-- was straightforward and easy to understand. I enjoyed learning about ROI and loved when Dr. Engelberg touched on the fact that although most public health specialists work to "make the world a better place," we shouldn't be afraid to admit we want to make money. My thoughts exactly! My goal--- help others by preventing obesity but make a ton of money doing it :)
I enjoyed learning about employment opportunities after graduation-- so helpful and exciting! I was interested in all the possibilities that Dr. E discussed. I never ever thought I'd say it, but even continuing to work in research sounded appealing!! (Oh how SDSU has changed me!) Next lecture is our very last class. Tear.
Shelby :), I say Dr. M... for Dr. Moshe because I think Moshe is a cool name.
Yup. I used segmenting in my thesis mockdefense. Funny how the smallest things stick with you for the rest of your life.
Thanks Dr. M for your teachings. I did use it when the other Dr. M for Dr. Mary Mulvihill asked me questions.
I probably will use it in my pop culture life too. The hidden messages behind things.
I'm going to miss talking to everyone in class. I like talking. Even if it doesnt make sense. :) Sometimes I'm so out of it, I'm not sure if this makes sense.
Our last lecture was today….this whole semester went very fast! This class was the most enjoyable class I’ve had this semester. What I take away from this class is that when implementing a program I need to learn as much as I can in order for it to successful. The evaluation game was bit hard to do, however as everyone went through the process I learned that as program coordinators we need to be clear for what we are asking for and if there no available resources for help we have to clearly state (to our bosses) what we can do with what we have and go on from there….Personal relevance coupled with hard data can also make our program evaluation successful and perhaps can help with program maintenance. By getting more grant money and convincing the stakeholders that a program is worth investing in, as the 1 to 4 return on investment we talked about in class (ROI).
Anyway, I like that fact that Dr. E mentioned that as public health professional we don’t HAVE to be poor! I mean I’m not ashamed to say that I like having money and I like earning it. Money does consume me, but it’s nice to have it.
The semester is winding down and I’ve learned a lot from this class. I have many tools to choose from, many techniques of health communication to “muddle” through and excited to try some stuff out at my work place. So I want to wish everyone good luck with careers, finals, and our presentation on Monday.
Well I have to say that I don't think I have ever been sad for a class to end. I really enjoyed coming to this class each week and have found it to be a valuable part of my education. I echo some of the other responses that I wish I had taken this class earlier. It has given me a lot of tools that will be very useful for the rest of grad school and in my future career. Now as I am preparing presentaions for other classes I find myself thinking aout how to make it more than just a boring, typical power point presentation.
I enjoyed the lecture this week mostly because I never thought of having public health professionals at PR or advertising firms. It is a career path that I have never thought of and something to think about.
I am looking forward to the presentations and of course the food! I have enjoyed my group and think we have all work very hard on these presentations. Hope everyone has a wonderful, restful, much deserved break and a Happy New Year! See you in 2008!
Okay...I almost forgot to post a comment on this blog and my own. Just like everyone else, I'm consumed with end of the semester projects and studying for finals! I will definitely be working less next semester. This class has definitely been insightful and will be very useful in my job. Especially when it comes to putting together a proposal for some new position within the company and implementing programs. Who knew there were so many opportunities out there?
Good luck with finals everyone!
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