In collaboration with UW Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (UW CIPE), on Tuesday, March 29th, two UW-Madison health science students presented Careers in One Health at Oregon High School (OHS) in Oregon, WI. Emma Svenson, DVM, MPH, a veterinary resident and PhD student in Epidemiology in the UW Department of Population Health Sciences, along with Ritika Punathil, first-year medical student at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health as well as an IPE PoD student, spoke to the OHS Junior/Senior Seminar class which helps students plan and prepare for life after high school, including career exploration.
Dr. Svenson and Ms. Punathil focused on the One Health framework, defined by the CDC as “a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach—working at the local, regional, national, and global levels—with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.”
The OHS students engaged in discussions on different career options in health care, as well as local volunteer opportunities. The interconnectedness theme supporting the One Health concept brought to light how students can contribute and impact our larger health care systems in any field they choose to study as well as future careers.
Several students commented afterward about the presentation and how they feel it may help plan their future.
• Student planning on Vet School at UW – Madison – I didn’t think about or know about the volunteering and clubs / organizations that are options to expand my experiences and learning outside of taking classes.
• Student planning on Nursing School at UW-Madison – I had heard about One Health before and knew about the concept but it is very different (in a positive way) to have people in front of you speak about it rather than reading about it or watching videos. I learned about more of the details of One Health.
• Student planning on majoring in Business – I learned about One Health and how so many different things are interconnected and that our health isn’t just our health but animal health and environmental health.
If other school districts are interested in having health science students present on One Health or other health care career planning, please contact Roberta Rusch at rrusch@wisc.edu.
References:
www.cdc.gov/onehealth
Oregon High School communication
www.oregonsd.org