HOSA OSG Internship Day Five-August 12, 2011

The interns with LT Payne and LTJG Hager

The final day for the interns started with a tour of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). RP2 Ayanfemi Ayanwale gave the three interns an amazing tour of the campus where they got to see the different buildings on the campus, including an opportunity to observe actual medical school classes. Among the students at USUHS was Lan Nguyen, a former OCVMRC staff member, who was excited to see HOSA students on campus.

After the tour of USUHS, the interns returned to the office and finished the final touches on their projects before presenting them. The interns then presented their individual projects to the OCVMRC staff, including CAPT Tosatto who conference called in to hear the presentations. Brittany Ebbing presented her project that focused on different MRC units’ activities that focused on underserved populations. Brittany Woods presented her project on youth and HOSA involvement in MRC. Oregon McDiarmid presented his project on MRC units’ emergency response in the aftermath of the Joplin tornadoes.

The three interns then spent the remainder of the day debriefing with various staff members of the OCVMRC about their experience during the past week. At the end of the day, the staff had a going away ceremony for the interns where they were each presented with a certificate and a challenge coin to signify the completion of the internship. During this past week, the interns gained new knowledge and once in a lifetime opportunities that they will remember for a very long time. The interns would like to thank everyone who they met in the past week, especially the OCVMRC staff that took time out of their busy schedule to facilitate the internship. Also, the interns want to thank National HOSA for providing this opportunity.

HOSA OSG Internship Day Four-August 11, 2011

On the fourth day of their internship, Brittany Ebbing, Oregon McDiarmid, and Brittany Woods went to the Tower Building, which is another office that the USPHS is based out of in Rockville, Maryland.  The first stop of the morning was the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP).  LT McBryde, a Public Health Advisor, educated the interns on Healthy People 2020. This program serves as a structure with measurable objectives on 42 health topics for a healthier population.  Each of the different health topics has a measurable goal that will be checked in 2020 to see if the nations health has improved.

Ms. Deborah Hoyer, a Communication Strategy Fellow in the ODPHP, told the interns about the Leading Health Indicators, which are the twelve most important health issues of the 42 health topics within the original Healthy People 2020 Report.  Another fellow in the ODPHP, Katrina, educated the interns on the new dietary guidelines that came out from the USDA, including MyPlate, the new visual guide for the dietary guidelines.  She also talked about the physical education guidelines that were developed in 2008.

Ms. Linda Harris, the Acting Deputy Director of ODPHP and the Lead of the Health Communication and eHealth Division, educated the interns about the different websites that the ODPHP operates, including healthfinder.gov and healthypeople.gov.  She also talked about health literacy and how the ODPHP makes sure that the information coming out about health is easy to understand for everyone.  Next, Dr. Debra Nichols, Public Health Advisor, talked to the interns about the different agencies within the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS), including the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and educated them on the review process for each agency.

Next, the interns went to the Office of Commissioned Corps Recruitment and Office of Commissioned Corps Operations. LT Kunard, a Recruitment Specialist, led the interns around the office and explained what day-to-day operations took place in the office. During their tour the interns were introduced to many USPHS officers that each shared their story of how they got involved in the Commissioned Corps (CC).  The first was CAPT Aponte, who is a trained Social Worker and has been in the CC for over 20 years, she currently works as a Social Work Administrator in the office.  Next, the interns met CAPT Prince who is the Director of Commissioned Corps Assignments; she started her career as a nurse and has also received her MBA.  Finally, they were introduced to CAPT Stevens, the Acting Director of the Office of Commissioned Corps Operations (OCCO), he is an engineer by training and told the interns about the time he spent at the CDC doing research and how he got to the position he is in today. Each of the stories that the interns heard were unique and exemplified the service minded nature of the Commissioned Corps officers.

After an exciting and informational morning at the Tower Building, the interns returned to their hotel to work on their projects for the remainder of the afternoon.  They worked on finalizing their presentations for the following day.  The interns are surprised at how quickly the week has gone, but they are excited to see what their final day has in store for them.

HOSA OSG Internship Day Three-August 10, 2011

LT Collins, the Surgeon General's Special Assistant, with the interns

Today was a fun and exciting day for the HOSA Interns in the Office of the Surgeon General. They had the opportunity to step outside of the OCVMRC office and head to downtown Washington D.C. Allowing them the opportunity to become familiar with Capitol Hill, the Human Health Services (HHS) Humphrey building, and the Secretary Operation Center (SOC). On the first day of the internship, the students learned that the Surgeon General has three offices and today the interns had the opportunity to visit Dr. Benjamin’s main office in downtown Washington D.C. The Surgeon General is very busy with the role of “America’s Doctor” and while the interns did not have the opportunity to meet with Dr. Benjamin in D.C., they were greeted by her Special Assistant LT Collins. LT Collins attended the 2011 National Leadership Conference this past June along with Dr. Benjamin. She told the interns that she was highly impressed by the enthusiasm of all 7,000 HOSA members at the annual National Conference in Anaheim, California.

Inside the Secretary Operations Center (SOC)

The interns’ next stop in the Humphrey building was the Secretary Operations Center (SOC) where they had the opportunity to explore the many screens and computers that monitor the nation’s health. LCDR Dell informed the interns on the work that is done in the Secretary Operations Center and about the staff that is responsible for everything that happens in the SOC. In this center, all events happening during various national emergencies are monitored, such as hurricanes or forest fires. LCDR Jurkowski, a USPHS staff member of the SOC, was very interested in the three HOSA Interns. He took a break from his daily routine, so he could have the opportunity to inform the students about his experience in the Public Health Service. He asked the interns about their future plans in healthcare and provided each of them with positive insights that will help them on their journey to become future health professionals.

Next, the HOSA interns had the pleasure of meeting with the Acting Director of Science and Communications, Dr. Mary Beth Bigley. This provided an amazing opportunity to see various publications from the Surgeon General regarding the use of tobacco, breastfeeding, and underage drinking and drug abuse. They also learned about the National Prevention Strategy that the Office of the Surgeon General and 17 other governmental agencies came together to create one cohesive strategy.

Oregon McDiarmid, Brittany Woods, and Brittany Ebbing with Congresswoman Giffords' staff member, Ashley

The interns’ day concluded with a walk to Capitol Hill along with HOSA’s Washington D.C representative, Mr. George Sifakis. They had the opportunity to meet with the office of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who suffered from gunshot wounds during the tragic Tucson shooting and was saved by HOSA Hero, Daniel Hernandez. Although, Congresswoman Giffords was not present, the interns had a chance to meet with one of her assistants, Ashley, who expressed a strong interest in HOSA.

The interns then headed back on the Metro to the MRC office. The interns concluded the day by having dinner with the staff of the OCVMRC and had time to reflect on the first half of the week with the staff.

HOSA OSG Internship Day Two-August 9, 2011

Today was a busy second day for the three interns. The day consisted of conference calls with some of the most influential people in HOSA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and there was time for research for each intern’s area of interest for their projects. At the beginning of the day, the interns started research for their individual projects. Brittany Woods searched through activity reports for Junior MRC activity and youth involvement in MRC units within the past seven months, Brittany Ebbing checked through activity reports and looked for MRC units that assisted in projects with underserved populations, while Oregon McDiarmid learned more about the Office of Force Readiness and Deployment from CDR Patrick Denis.

The interns then took a break from their individual project to listen in on a conference call dealing with Seasonal Influenza. First, the interns were educated on how they develop the influenza shot each year and learned that the same three strands from last year were being used for the influenza vaccine this year. Dr. Koh, the Assistant Secretary of Health, was among the several people in this conference call in which they discussed plans for the upcoming flu season. The interns then took a break for lunch but after eagerly returned to their individual projects.

After working on their individual projects the interns regrouped and joined in a conference call with CAPT Tosatto and Mr. George Sifakis. During the conference call, the future plans for the partnership between HOSA and the MRC were discussed and the plans to incorporate the MRC in the HOSA Washington Leadership Conference.  After the call concluded, the interns went back to work on their individual projects.

While working on their projects Ada Dieke, a doctoral student at University of Arizona called and conducted individual interviews with the interns. The interns were asked to express their ideas on youth involvement in the MRC and the consequences and benefits that come with it. After an amazing day of research, project work, conference calls, and interviews the three interns headed back to their hotels excited for what the next few days will hold. 

OSG Interns Brittany Ebbing and Oregon McDiarmid

OSG Interns Brittany Woods and Oregon McDiarmid

HOSA OSG Internship Day One-August 8, 2011

Oregon McDiarmid, Brittany Woods, CAPT Tosatto, LTJG Hager, and Brittany Ebbing during the first day of the HOSA OSG Internship

Today was the first day of the HOSA Office of the Surgeon General Internship for Brittany Ebbing, Oregon McDiarmid, and Brittany Woods. The interns were excited and energized at the start of the weeklong internship. At the beginning of the day, the interns were introduced to the staff of the Office of Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps (OCVMRC), the host office within the Office of the Surgeon General during the internship.

LT Payne and LTJG Hager introduced the basic infrastructure of the United States Public Health Service and an agenda for the upcoming week. CAPT Tosatto then educated the interns about the infrastructure and history of the Medical Reserve Corps. He also shared his personal story about how he became part of the Commission Corps., which interested the interns immensely.

Brittany, Oregon, and Brittany then had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call about Program Operations for the MRC. CAPT Nair facilitated this call with different staff members from the OCVMRC to discuss the schedule and goals for the next week. Next, the interns were introduced to Shadow Acting Chief of Staff, CDR Gregory Davis, who talked to the interns about the definition of public health and how complicated it can be, because public health has many different facets and definitions.

The next conference call that the interns were on was one between HOSA and MRC. CAPT Tosatto, CAPT Nair, LTJG Hager, Dr. Koeninger, Mrs. Koeninger, Mr. George Sifakis, and the interns discussed how to further the partnership between HOSA, OCVMRC, and the United States Public Health Service (USPHS). This call was of great interest to the interns because it gave them ideas of how to facilitate a connection between HOSA, OCVMRC, and USPHS in their local communities.

The final conference call of the day was with Ada Dieke, who is a doctoral student at the University of Arizona doing her dissertation on Youth Engagement in MRC. On the conference call the interns discussed Ada’s project and the ways that the interns could be utilized to help with her dissertation during the next week and in the future.

At the end of the day, the interns discussed and finalized the projects that they will be completing in the next week. Overall, the first day in the Office of the Surgeon General was very exciting and informative. Brittany, Oregon, and Brittany learned a tremendous amount and are looking forward to the next four days of the internship!