APHA student members to focus on disease prevention.

Public health students can increase their knowledge of emergency preparedness during a daylong forum at APHA's 135th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., Saturday, Nov. 3.

Sponsored by the APHA Student Assembly, the event--made possible by a $7,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--is offered free to APHA Student Assembly members. The event marks the third consecutive year that the Student Assembly has held a national conference for public health students on the Saturday preceding the APHA Annual Meeting, said Darren Mays, MPH, chair of the APHA Student Assembly.

"The goal of the conference is to provide students who attend with knowledge, insight and skills relative to a particularly salient public health issue," said Mays, a doctoral student majoring in behavioral science and health education at Emory University in Atlanta. "We have been very fortunate to find outside support for all three years."

The 2007 conference theme, "Get Ready: Improving Public Health Infrastructure and Infectious Disease Prevention," will focus on emergency preparedness, infectious disease prevention and improving public health infrastructure. As in the two previous years, the meeting will feature a keynote speaker, an in-depth panel discussion, presentations from students and public health professionals, student research presentations and hands-on training focused on advocacy, "so that students who attend leave with an applicable set of skills," Mays said.

Mays said event planners selected this year's theme to align with APHA's Get Ready campaign, which is helping Americans prepare themselves, their families and their communities for pandemic influenza and other emerging infectious diseases. The campaign includes a Web site, blog, podcast, news page, fact sheets and other resources, which can be accessed via www.getreadyforflu.org.

"It's a positive way to kick off the Annual Meeting," Mays told The Nation's Health.

Attendance continues to grow each year as more students become aware of the event, said Student Assembly meeting director Bryn Bird.

"With the CDC grant, we are able to expand the budget, and I would like to see 100 to 150 students attend," said Bird, a graduate student majoring in environmental occupational health at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

Bird expects this year's panel of experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to be a big draw.

"I'm very excited," Bird said, noting that representatives from the department's Office on Disability will be on hand to speak about new initiatives that have emerged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"Even if students can't make it to the rest of the Annual Meeting, they should try to come to this event because it's focused toward students, and it's a great place to connect with other students and connect with professionals in public health," Bird said.

Last year's student conference, held in conjunction with the 134th APHA Annual Meeting in Boston, highlighted the theme "Translating Research into Practice" and drew about 40 participants. Students took a closer look at public health research during the day-long event and heard from experts in the field who provided resources, tools and examples of practical applications.

For more information about the Student Assembly meeting, visit www.aphastudents.org.