Introduction Blog

My name is Kiara Doss and I am currently a Neuroscience major. However, I will be declaring Public Health as my official major. I love to write and I really enjoy listening to music. My favorite music would have to be smooth jazz. I think it really helps to ease my mind from all the reading and studying that I do. I also enjoy sports. My favorite sports are tennis, basketball, and football. I have been playing tennis for the past 3 years and I was also co-captain of my high school varsity team.
I created this blog in regards to my Introduction to Public Health course. I think that this blog will give readers and myself a better understanding as to what public health really is. I will blog about readings that we cover in class, class lectures, current events, and news stories that are related to public health.
Well I am currently taking this course because I would like to go into the medical field. I want to be a heart surgeon. I think this course will provide a in depth display of health dealing with the population as a whole. From what I've learned so far public health does not have a distinct definition. No matter where you look, you'll never see the same definition to describe what public health is. However, in class we did discuss a few definitions. The first definition comes from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mission statement. Based on the CDC, public health is "To promote the health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability." The second definition comes from a report by the Institute of Medicine. They said "Public Health's mission is create the conditions within which people can be healthy." I think that both of those quotes coincide with each other. They both mention the protection in keeping the people healthy and providing good health conditions.
I thought the first two classes were really interesting. The material that we covered gave me insight on what public health really means in terms of health as a people. We discussed health policy, environmental health, prevention pathways, and poverty. Dr. Kahan and Dr. Alexander had my full undivided attention. I really think this course will help prepare me for not only for the medical field, but also learning how to prevent diseases and outbreaks for the population.
As I learn more, I will update my blog with more information. Until the next time, stay healthy!

-Kiara