This week, I had a wild realization. “I actually finished all the requirements for my certificates!” And then there was a drop back to reality when I remembered I still had to finish my capstone… but that’s okay! Being mostly done with my certificates in Injury & Violence Prevention (IVP) and Mental Health felt like a long walk in the park. I don’t say that to be boastful. I say that because I love long walks in the park and I enjoyed every minute of my time in the certificate classes.
My interest in public health spans a broad topic area that happened to all fall under the IVP lens and as a subset related to mental health. I love learning about infectious diseases and social determinants of health, but my calling is to work in the realm of IVP. Whether the topic be about substance abuse, violence against children, or occupational injury, I loved to understand the reasoning behind why injury and violence happen all across the socioeconomic model (individual, relational, communal, societal) and then figure out how it can be prevented.
Mental health is a subset I’m curious about because cases of injury and violence can be related to mental health issues. There can be an increased risk of mental distress which I believe is important to consider in addition to the incident of injury or violence. In children who have experienced violence, this manifests as an ACE or Adverse Childhood Experience. I sought to learn more about this through a certificate experience I’ll describe later in this post.
My favorite IVP certificate class opened my eyes to the many ways we can understand violence on an institutional level and strive to prevent it through public health measures. Violence as a Public Health Problem (BSHES 565) is a class offered in the spring semester that covers a wide range of violence-related topics including firearm violence, human trafficking, child abuse, etc. The course was taught by two physicians who are as much dedicated to their work in violence prevention as they are to their work in the emergency rooms. They brought in speakers, held presentations, and gave us sample grant writing opportunities so we better understood how to apply our public health understanding.
My favorite mental health class was interactive in several respects. Case Studies in Public Mental Health (HPM 592) allowed me to put into practice the theories we had been taught. Every two weeks, we looked at a different mental health scenario and were asked to present a public health solution at the individual, system, or policy levels. This provided me with a stronger understanding of what I had learned while also giving me opportunities to be creative in my approach to mental health programming.
As valuable as my time on the academic side of the certificate programs was, I am most grateful for my certificate’s connection to the Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory (IPRCE). I’ve gotten to know some great people who are eager to support students. It was through the injury center that I found my Applied Practicum Experience at the CDC. I spent my summer focused on preventing global violence against children and eventually presenting my work at the 2023 Safe States Conference. It was through this research that I learned more about CDC’s data called Violence Against Children Surveys (VACS) which are conducted in many countries and offer perspective on the state of violence in each. I used this data to better understand how ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) are not isolated to one country but in fact, affect children similarly as it results in mental distress and more harmful risk factors.
I’d highly encourage anyone who wants to focus their public health education to consider adding a certificate. At the end of the day, it’s an opportunity for you to delve more into the work you are passionate about and meet cool people who will support you in your journey!
Rollins Student Ambassadors 