Laura Congelio of Venetia, members of Public Health Student Association at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, plan National Public Health Week activities

2017 Apr 4

Laura Congelio of Venetia and other members of the Public Health Student Association (PHSA) at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (Geisinger Commonwealth) planned a series of events to help celebrate National Public Health Week, April 3 through April 7.

Events included "Generation Public Health," on Monday, April 3, exploring how Geisinger Commonwealth students can participate and work to create conditions where everyone has the opportunity to be healthy. On Tuesday, April 4, students held a "Make Your Own Trail-Mix" event intended to help attendees learn how to make the healthy choice the easy choice. On Wednesday, April 5, Dr. Felix Rwabukwisi, assistant professor of public health at Geisinger Commonwealth, discussed community collaborative partnerships and the APHA's Healthy People 2020 initiative, which aims to provide quality healthcare for all while strengthening the nation's public health infrastructure. The week continued with an exploration of "Gendered Health" on April 6. The discussion examined ways in which gender affects health and gender bias in medicine, as well as important community resources and the April 10 Geisinger Commonwealth Transgender Awareness Conference. The week concluded on April 7 with the "1 Billion Steps Challenge," launched with a walk around Scranton.

The planning committee included first-year medical students Erin Connolly of Shickshinny; Laura Congelio of Pittsburgh; Sarah Schreiber of Pittsburgh; and Rebecca Thiel of Bensalem.