Vol. 5. / Is. 02, Mar/Apr 2015 Archives

College of Public Health Delivers Relevant Continuing Education Programs

by COPH Staff | March 30, 2015

Education Highlight – The College of Public Health is dedicated to assuring that our existing public health workforce has the skills and resources necessary to protect and promote the public’s health. Over the past year, the COPH delivered more than 140 professional development opportunities for governmental and nonprofit public health workers, emergency responders, clinicians, community members, and many others. Even more impressive than the number of opportunities is the number of individuals who were impacted by the programs. In 2014, over 500 individuals throughout the state… Continue Reading

Posted in Education Highlight, The GroundBreaker, Vol. 5. / Is. 02, Mar/Apr 2015

Laura Aust

by COPH Staff | March 30, 2015

Student Highlight – Laura Aust Hometown- Omaha, NE Degree program/concentration- Master of Public Health in Health Administration What brought you to public health? – I think my prior experience working as a psychometrist, as well as working in healthcare, inspired me to learn about other ways that I can contribute to the health needs of a community. Before I worked in psychology, I was part of the College of Nursing Smoking Cessation Research. It was there that I first learned about Public Health and the… Continue Reading

Posted in Student Highlight, The GroundBreaker, Vol. 5. / Is. 02, Mar/Apr 2015

Chad T. Wetzel, MPH

by COPH Staff | March 30, 2015

Alumni Highlight – Chad T. Wetzel graduated from COPH in 2013 with a MPH in Epidemiology. Hometown: Grand Island, NE Current Career Position: I am currently an Epidemiologist in the Communicable Disease and Epidemiology section of the Douglas County Health Department (DCHD) in Omaha, Nebraska. My main responsibilities are to investigate and track reportable diseases and outbreaks, prevent further transmission of infectious diseases in our community such as measles, influenza, and tuberculosis, and provide epidemiology reports for the community and public health partners. Because I was… Continue Reading

Posted in Alumni Highlight, The GroundBreaker, Vol. 5. / Is. 02, Mar/Apr 2015

KM Islam, MBBS, PhD: Research on Patient-Defined Treatment Success and Preferences in Stage IV Lung Cancer Patients

by COPH Staff | March 30, 2015

Spotlight on Research at COPH – Dr. Islam is currently conducting a study that compares treatment preferences of patient groups that have been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer living in rural and urban areas of Nebraska and South Dakota. Stage IV lung cancers most often affect the elderly. When the disease is advanced, chemotherapy is the main treatment. There are many chemotherapy combinations that are available for the treatment of late-stage lung cancer that have a similar survival effect for the cancer patient but differ… Continue Reading

Posted in Research, Spotlight COPH Research, The GroundBreaker, Vol. 5. / Is. 02, Mar/Apr 2015

Refugee Health Collaborative of Omaha, Nebraska

by COPH Staff | March 30, 2015

Public Health Community Advisory – According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, 14 million people are refugees and asylum seekers. A refugee is a person “who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her country of origin because of previous persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution, based on the person’s race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” Secondary migrants are those refugees who have originally resettled in one part of the country and have subsequently moved to… Continue Reading

Posted in Community Advisory, The GroundBreaker, Vol. 5. / Is. 02, Mar/Apr 2015

CS-CASH – Educating Farmers About Hearing Loss

by COPH Staff | March 30, 2015

Public Health Practice –Dr. Chandran Achutan in the department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health is hoping that the Nebraska farming community is listening carefully to his message. Dr. Achutan is spreading the word about the importance of using hearing protection to a group vulnerable to hearing loss – farmers. Educating farmers about the causes and prevention of hearing loss is just one part of a four-year study funded by the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health with the goal of reducing occupational hearing… Continue Reading

Posted in Public Health Practice, The GroundBreaker, Vol. 5. / Is. 02, Mar/Apr 2015