Classes This Semester!

I don't think I've ever been quite to excited about all of the classes I am taking! It's such a nice feeling to really want to take classes. In fact, my biggest challenge was trying to schedule all the classes I wanted to take. But, here is the final list. The course descriptions are from www.sph.tulane.edu (courses).

Social and Behavioral Aspects of Global Health (Mark VanLandingham, Mai Do)
This course covers the behavioral, social, and cultural aspects of health and disease in both developed and developing countries. Students learn how behavioral and social theories are relevant to health promotion and disease prevention efforts. They also learn how factors that protect or erode health operate at multiple levels (including individual, community, societal, and global levels), and how interventions are developed to improve health by addressing critical factors at each of these levels. The course also addresses the roles of culture, race, and ethnicity in the conceptualization of health and illness. (It's a core class.)

Tropical Virology (Dan Bausch)
This course covers the broad area of virology with an emphasis on viruses of public health concern in developing and tropical countries. Both historically problematic and emerging viruses are covered. Topics include the molecular biology, epidemiology, and pathology of selected viruses. Focus is placed on developing an understanding of the molecular aspects of the viral life cycle that give rise to transmission and pathogenic characteristics, especially in the context of the co-evolution of the virus and host. Additional topics include the interactions between the virus and host immune response, as well as viral control and the development of vaccines and anti-viral pharmaceuticals.

Epidemiology of Infectious Disease (Susan Hassig)
This course provides students with the knowledge and skills required for the investigation, control, and prevention of a variety of infectious diseases. Students will explore the characteristics of a range of specific disease agents, compare their impact on populations, practice approaches used to investigate disease outbreaks, and examine local and global efforts to monitor, control, and/or eradicate selected infectious diseases. Zoonotic diseases are included in the course.

Survey of Environmental Health (Assaf Abdelgani)
Major environmental health problems, including water quality, wastewater, occupational health, trace elements in the environment, municipal and hazardous waste, food protection, vector control, and air quality are discussed. (Another core class.)

Preventative Tropical Medicine (Richard Oberhelman)
This course presents the basic principles of preventive medicine in the context of the special environment (physical, biological, and social) of tropical developing countries. Emphasis is placed upon the prevention and control of infectious diseases of major public health importance. Vaccine preventable diseases are given special emphasis. In addition to presenting concepts and theoretical methods of disease control, detailed examples of actual programs are provided.

Program Skills in Crisis and Transition
This course is designed to equip students with a set of skills related to the assessment and analysis of the social, economic, and policy aspects of complex political emergencies, as well as post-conflict/transitional settings. The course covers selected topics in preparedness, response, and transition in complex political emergencies, and their effects upon the civilian populations and the agencies that seek to assist them. Students develop skills in the following areas: information management, program operations management, and policy and context analysis. In terms of information management, students develop the capacity to adapt surveys to conflict-affected settings and utilize a series of rapid assessment approaches and participatory rural appraisal techniques for data collection. Students also learn to identify and utilize the principal components of crisis prevention and early warning information systems. In terms of program operations management, students develop skills in the construction of a logistics management system appropriate for emergency settings, and learn how to develop key programs of particular importance in post-conflict and transitional settings. In terms of policy and context analysis, students are equipped with analytical skills related to assessing potential harmful effects of humanitarian assistance, international political aspects of humanitarian work, international humanitarian law, and opportunities for promoting conflict resolution, capacity building, and development through humanitarian assistance.

It's going to be a busy, but interesting, semester!

Krewe du Vieux and Football

This weekend was great fun! After a stress-filled week of trying to figure out my life (aka my class schedule), I relaxed, slept, and had fun New Orleans-style. [Don't worry... or get excited... New Orleans-style fun does not always include raucous drinking and/or flashing.]

Friday, after lovely Preventative Tropical Medicine, I headed over to Handsome Willy's for their free hard-shell crabs. No, I did not eat said crabs, but because they were free, everyone was there. Hung out for a bit there until the rain and miserable cold finally forced us inside to Janna's to meet her adorable guinea pig. After much oohing and aahing, TJ, Katherine, Janna, Dawn and I headed to get some food (1. because hard-shell crabs do not fill one up, and 2. TJ and I were frankly disgusted by the smell of crabs). We ended up at Juan's Flying Burrito on Magazine and I don't think a burrito has ever tasted so good. The talking died as soon as we got our food!

Saturday dawned - cold again. I headed with Emily and TJ to a TA session for SPSS. I LOVE SPSS!!! It is quite possibly the coolest program in the world! It's a database analyzer that is Excel times 1,000,000. I don't think I need to say more.

Saturday lunch consisted of my leftover burrito. The burrito lived up to its potential - even half warm and a day old, it was yummy. Lazed around the house for a bit (cleaned my room), then got ready for my first Mardi Gras Parade.

The Krewe du Vieux parades around Marigny and the French Quarter on a Saturday night, so it is not quite as kid-friendly as some of the other parades. But, it is great fun! Although it was FREEZING cold (look at the pictures), Alana, Laura, Megan and I had a raucous time trying to get as many beads and throws as possible. It's true, beads may not be worth 50 cents, but they are in high demand and we fought to get the most and the best (although we didn't do so well - there were 2 adorable kids who got almost every throw and good necklace - but they were adorable and gave us the beads they didn't want!).

After being outside in almost freezing weather, we headed back to my house on the streetcar to warm up. Did I mention that, although we planned on taking the streetcar down to the Quarter, it NEVER CAME, so we walked the whole way, bringing our hours outside up to 4?!? We, needless to say, were very cold and it took us several more hours, some warm pizza, blankets and a heater to finally warm back up again! Emily joined us to watch "Hairspray," although we never actually watched it. But we made plans to watch it on Sunday (which we did).

Sunday dawned, a little warmer, but still cold. The Patriots played the Chargers and won :(. Then, in a most interesting game, the New York Giants beat the Green Bay Packers in overtime! I also managed to get Megan, Alana, and Laura very invested in the game! So, Superbowl Sunday should be very interesting, with an undefeated team and a 10wins in a row team. Go Giants!

The Holidays and Back to Nola

Christmas and New Years - wonderfully exhausting. I went shopping in King 0f Prussia, for myself and my dad (did his shopping...). On the Saturday before Christmas, the family and I headed up to New Jersey for my uncle's surprise 60th birthday party! He was definitely surprised. We drove back home, to turn around on Christmas day to go to Connecticut. I finally met my cousin's son, Eli, who they adopted from Ethiopia in the summer. He's adorable! We had lots of fun watching him and making him laugh. The whole family also had a blast playing Stewart's Wii. Who knew?

Liam and Denis

Dad (even with a cast, he's competitive), Denis, Aunt Margie
Mom, Me, Eileen (I think Eileen just beat me)

Mom, Colette, Me (I think I just beat Colette!)

After Christmas, I headed down to DC (actually NOVA) to visit Tiffany and Arielle, my roommates in college. I took the Chinatown bus from Philly to DC - quite convenient. Arielle, Tiffany and I fell right back into the swing of things (after not seeing each other for over 6 months) by talking non-stop, shopping for shoes, and watching movies. It was great to hang out with some familiar people :)

After crawling all up and down the Northeast (Connecticut, NY, NJ, PA, DC), I flew back to Nola on January 2nd.

January 3rd I began my spring intersession class, Training Methodologies in Developing Countries. A picture of the class:

The class was amazing - I met so many interesting people and feel like I really learned how to use appropriate training methods! Now I just need some practical experience. In the few days between end of the intersession and start of official classes, I'm going to work on finding a practicum for this summer. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Goodnight, goodnight!
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
That I shall saw goodnight,
Till it be morrow.

Shopping in the Quarter

Monday began boringly, as I tried desperately to concentrate on studying for Epidemiology. While I do like the class, I don't find the material all too gripping. So, instead, Holly and I went to pick up materials for a class we're taking in the spring intercession: Training Methodologies for Health Professionals in Developing Counties. It should be a very interesting course. Then, we headed to Mississippi!

Holly's friend is stationed there for a bit doing training, so we went to visit. And went gambling! For the first time ever! It was so much fun! However, Tuesday I began studying for Epidemiology. Then I went shopping!

Christmas shopping in the Quarter with Alana lead to some shopping and lots of eating beignets and drinking hot chocolate. How to explain how delightful beignets are? Well, start with the physical description: fried dough balls smothered in powdered sugar. While you can't laugh, talk or breath with one close to your mouth, they're warm and delightfully sugary and overall will make your day. After loading up on sugar, Alana and I headed out on Decatur to peruse the tourist shops for Nawlins things. I ended up with several types of masks, beignet mix, and a picture of the St. Charles streetcar. Although we ended up getting soaked in the rain, it was well worth the trek into the French Quarter just for the beignets. :)

Wednesday - Epidemiology final :( Watching Chicago with Alana :)

Thursday began early as I started surveying for a local clinic. The clinic, which serves mainly uninsured people, is monitoring and evaluating it mammography referral system. Throughout the semester, I've been pulling charts in my clinic and in the mammography clinic (which is free of charge) and talking with various people all in preparation for a phone survey to determine the barriers to getting a mammogram. With any luck, it will go well and we'll be able to determine why there is such a low rate of mammograms. Although phone surveying is no fun, I think the information I'm gathering will help the clinic and the people it tries to serve.

Thursday - more surveying....

Then, fun times tree trimming. Chris, my roommate, had a party to decorate his Christmas tree with eggnog and cookies. Chelsea and Laura came. Great fun :)

Friday, after my tedious surveying, I headed back to the Quarter to do more shopping with Chelsea and Laura. I didn't buy much but it was fun to look at the art on Royal Street and the kitchy tourist items on Decatur. Then I headed back to pack and babysit for Booboo (aka Malachi Gerard Sheahan IV). Slept over at Mal and Claudie's so I could get a ride to the airport but, alas, Delta changed my flights (something about my plane being stuck in St. Louis). Ended up going through Cincinnati instead of Atlanta, but luckily, despite the dire nor'easter warnings, I had no weather trouble. And I learned a fun fact! The Cincinnati airport, despite what you might think, is not in Ohio. It's in KENTUCKY! So, I got a new state on my map of those visited. Now, I'm back home, looking forward to some rest, good food, and fun times.

Celebration in the Oaks

This weekend was so much fun! After the crazy studying for Complex Emergencies and Biostats, it was a relief to be able to relax, sleep and have fun.

Friday, after Biostats, I took a long, luxurious nap... I didn't even set an alarm! It was delightful. Then, I headed to Frenchman Street for some live jazz with Megan and Alana. Have I told you how much I enjoy live jazz? It's incredible and so different from recorded jazz (which sounds like elevator music to me). But live jazz has energy and life and humor, wrapped up in good music. This weekend, I went to Snug Harbor and heard Ellis Marsalis. With a piano, drums, bass, trombone, and - get this - a xylophone! Who'd have though you could play jazz xylophone? Nevertheless, the concert was great.

Saturday, I moped around the morning, then went to a late lunch with Chelsea to get a po boy. So, this whole time I thought a po boy was more exotic than it actually is - I imagined some kind of weird meat (alligator, for example), in some kind of weird dressing/sauce with some unknown other meat. That's been my past experience with New Orleans food and I expected a po boy to be no different. I was sadly disappointed when a po boy turns out to be a type of hoaggie/sub. Yes, slightly different bread but, in essence, it's a fancy term for a hoaggie. Not that it wasn't good - it was very good - and now I can wow my Northern friends with my experiences with a po boy!

Continuing on - After the po boy experience, Chelsea and I headed toward City Park for their Celebration in the Oaks. We ran in the 2mile Run/Walk to get access to the park first! Along with Blessing, Jen, Emily and Brian, we made it through to end with hot chocolate, cookies, and iced tea. Then the lights - walking through Storyland, the Botanical Gardens and the park... everything was covered in lights and fun. There was even a Cajun Night Before Christmas! Here are some pics...

Then, I raced back to the house to go out with Mal, Claudie and Uncle Mal. We went to a wonderful steak house that I've walked past almost every day (it's at the corner of Josephine and St. Charles). Then we went to the Column's Hotel (also along St. Charles, also very fancy!).

Sunday was a relaxing day of rest and some studying!

Back in the Northeast

I'd forgotten how much I love fall! Not just the months between September and December... but the colors, smells, feeling of fall.

Over Thanksgiving (and a little before and after), I went back to the Northeast - NYC, Newark, Audubon, PA, to be exact. On Friday, I flew to Newark, NJ. When I left my house at 4am, the temperature was around 65 degrees. When I left the Newark airport at 11:30am, the temperature was around 40 degrees. Talk about a shock! When I finally got to NYC (Penn Station, to be exact) it was flurrying! Once I got over the initial shock of freezing, I remembered how much I love fall. As I walked around Fordham's campus, visiting my sister, I couldn't help but breathe deeply, walk in crunchy leaves, and shiver. When I got home on Tuesday, the realization hit me further. I took Ceili for a walk around 1am and the cold crisp smell - the pinpoint clear stars - the smell of rotting leaves - the sounds of fall - overwhelmed me. I didn't realize how much I'd missed the northeast.

(That's Ceili, in her new sweater!)

But, past the reminiscing... on Saturday, Eileen and I went to the Fordham v. Bucknell football game, the (last) home game of the season. I froze and the team lost. :( After sitting under several blankets and drinking hot chocolate, I was ready to head back out. Taking Metro North into Manhattan, we met up with Colette to try Burgers and Cupcakes, a restaurant Eileen wanted to try out... because who can resist burgers and cupcakes. The burgers were great, the cupcakes not so much. Next, we headed to Bryant Park to go ICE-SKATING!!! Again, I forgot how much fun ice-skating is. After wearing ourselves out, we headed back to Aunt Kate's for some warmth and movies.

Sunday we met up with Chrissy and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and took the Staten Island Ferry - four boroughs in one day (stupid Queens). It was great to catch up with Chrissy! After a long (and cold, wet day), Eileen and I finally headed back to Fordham with a taxi driver who didn't know where to go! We got there safely though.

Monday - colder and rainier. We planned on going to the Bronx Zoo but my lack of warm clothes (and thicker blood) prevented it.

Tuesday - I putzed around while Eileen went to class then met up with Dad to go visit Aunt Peggy. She faithfully sat through my pictures of New Orleans (only someone who truly loves me could do that) and then we went out to dinner with Eileen on Arthur Avenue. Finally, we headed back to good ol' PA.

Wednesday - hmm... what did I do? Much of nothing.

Thursday - Thanksgiving... headed BACK to NYC for a Sheahan family gathering... all 24 of us! (Mom, Dad, Eileen, Katie, Aunt Kate, Michael, Maria, Santiago, Megan, Jim, Tommy, Dennis, Jenn, Kyle, Patrick, Brendan, Uncle Mal, Aunt Danielle, BreeAyn, Scott, Connor, Mal, Claudie, M4) A true nut house!

Friday - stupid NY parking laws! I had to get up early to go sit in the car until the street cleaner came by, drive around the block, and sit in the car again. Then we headed home. That night, I met up with Jess and we talked :)

Saturday - hung out with Smelli Muscelli! I went over to her house and we talked for a while then went to a furniture show at Chelsea Smith's house. I haven't seen her since graduation. It was a little weird but nice to hear how she was doing. Then, that night, we went to Applebee's and met up with Liz, Andy, Govind, Kyle, Jon, Andrew, Melissa, and some other people. It was REALLY weird seeing people from high school but also a lot of fun. Then we went midnight bowling. Fun day!

Sunday - oh the day of craziness! Started uneventfully with the Thomas's coming over to say hi. Molly and Kate are so big now and adorable. Riley, AJ, and Reagan are also growing... it makes me feel old 'cause Reagan's almost in middle school! I was her first babysitter! Anyway, shortly after, my dad was outside, slipped down the hill and broke his ankle (although we didn't know it at the time). Rising to the occasion by bringing out some true McCarthy stubbornness (of which every McCarthy, myself included, has varying degrees of), he decided it wasn't broken and that he could take the Thomas's family picture while kneeling! When he finally got inside and I pointed out the swelling that was occurring despite the super-tight socks he wears, he finally decided it might be a good idea to stop walking on it and go to the hospital to get it checked out.

Poor Eileen was left to leave without saying a real goodbye and I was left home alone on the last night I'd be there. Luckily, Nicole came by to keep me company and we mercilessly made fun of and gossiped about almost everyone in our high school yearbook.

Monday I flew back to Nola. Miserable flights, but I finally made it back, only 2 hours or so late. Since then, I've been doing work and being boring.

Pictures to come!

A Tale of Two Cities

I'm sure you've all heard about the Chocolate City speech. The now famous (or infamous) mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, spoke on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day about how he wants New Orleans to be chocolate at the end of the day, and he didn't care what those people in Uptown thoughts. While I don't necessarily agree with what Mayor Nagin said, he did get one thing right - New Orleans is two separate cities. There's the tree-lined, Katrina-undamaged, posh, wedding-cake house Uptown area and there's the rest of the city. And while the Garden District and the Uptown area is beautiful, it doesn't represent all of New Orleans. There's the 9th ward, the Hoffman triangle, Center City, downtown, Canal Street, New Orleans east - interesting places, but still in need of some determined help.

Last night, in celebration of finished a horrible biostats test, I went with some friends to the NOLA Healthcare Townhall Meeting - a "candid discussion with industry leaders." The meeting, taking place in one of Tulane's uptown campus buildings, was composed of about 10 healthcare professionals, all with beautiful letters after their names, as if trying to outdo each other. MB.BS, MSW, MD, M.P.A., Ph.D.,... so many letters. There wasn't one RN, community member, or volunteer. The first speaker, who will remain nameless, said that New Orleans healthcare did not suffer from a lack of money but from a lack of resources. He argued for an improvement of the current facilities, making them cutting edge, rather than focusing on primary healthcare. Has the man seen the people who need healthcare?!

While Nola does need to develop its tertiary healthcare system, it needs to start with the basics. How can a truly equal system be constructed without starting from the bottom, building a firm foundation of primary care? Charity Hospital, now closed, provided care to those with no insurance but how many of those problems could have been minimized with primary care months earlier. Many people without health insurance wait until a problem is severe enough to interfere with daily life to do something about it. They have little or no prior relationship with a healthcare worker and often lack the basic foundation of information necessary to make an educated decision. Now, you might be thinking that my comments are derisive and demeaning - that only uneducated people lack health insurance. However, that's not the case. In many places, the majority of uninsured or underinsured are people in their 20s - those who could afford insurance but don't see the necessity of it. In this case, Nola's healthcare problem is not a lack of money. But in many cases, it is. People lack the monetary flexibility to take a day off from work to wait in line at a free clinic to hopefully get an appointment. If they can get an appointment, they can't always make time to fulfill the referrals or they can't afford the recommended treatment. So even while charity clinics are becoming all the rage, they aren't the solution - they're a poor band aid that you hope stops the bleeding.

With 47% of the New Orleans population living under 200% of the poverty line, money is a problem. So how do you change this? Several solutions were proposed. While these solutions are time and money consuming, they may be the only way to help Nola healthcare.

• improve access to TIMELY, QUALITY, AFFORDABLE care;
• increase prevention and wellness events/activities/education - it costs 4-5 times more to cure problems than to prevent them;
• create a safe environment with access to healthy lifestyle choices - when it's cheaper to buy high calorie, low nutrient fast food, it's hard to make healthy lifestyle choices;
• improve and maintain continuity of care - Katrina messed up a lot of people's lives - continuity is critical.
• create a holistic health care system.

New Orleans should not be two cities - one chocolate, one vanilla. Let's go for the happy, soft-serve swirl.