The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/College Board’
Young Epidemiology Scholars (YES) scholarship competition was
terminated recently (see related article this issue). To help
tally up some of the accomplishments of the program, a special
magazine was published entitled “The YES Experience: Past,
Present, Future”. This publication includes a variety of
observations made by students, judges, and other professionals
involved with the program or the people in it. According to
epidemiologists in attendance, several of these remarks are
inspiring and noteworthy for the insights they provide about
epidemiology and public health. A selection of these comments is
provided below.
“If you truly want to make a difference with your
life, epidemiology can give you the key.”
-Jennifer Schindler, Student at Columbia
University
“The greatest reward you will find in epidemiology
and public health is the incredible satisfaction and influence you
can derive from the ability to think systematically about a range
of societal problems. This will open many, many doors to making
important contributions to society.”
-Shiriki Kumanyika, University of
Pennsylvania
“One of the big challenges to our country is that
many people do not understand the principles of probability,
uncertainty, risk, assessment of the evidence…all of these
principles, they are life skills, not just professional
skills…it’s part of what it takes to be a good citizen, to
understand the role of citizens in shaping choice in our
communities, in our states, in our nation, and even for our
world.”
-Harvey Fineberg, Institute of Medicine
“Probably the most important education program in
public health and epidemiology I have come across in the last 25
years.”
-Lee Riley, University of California,
Berkeley
“I believe health is a matter of agency; it is
health that provides the conditions that enable humankind to
thrive.”
-Kevin Xu, Student at Columbia University
“This YES experience gave me the confidence and
skills to do research. But YES also showed me that what we do in
science matters to people in a deeply personal way—from a mom who
is ill with breast cancer to a teenager with depression.”
-Aman Prasad, Student, University of
Wisconsin, Madison
“ I never really liked science classes in high
school. But after getting involved with the YES competition, I
discovered my passion for epidemiology. The YES competition
provided me with the real world applications of science.”
-Maya Wolpert, Program Manager, Stanford
University
“The YES competition can have a huge impact in
changing people’s lives. It’s one of the most exhilarating and
inspiring events of my professional career.”
-Leonard Syme, University of California, Berkeley
“They will always think like an epidemiologist.”
-Diane Tsukamaki, College Board
“When I confirmed with a nurse that there was not
some sort of error, she grimaced and said, ‘we see these every
once in a while.Remember, these are the people we have to help.’
This will resonate within me for the rest of my life, no matter
what career I eventually pursue.”
-Jeffrey Wang, Student at Harvard University
commenting on an experience he had while working at a local
Planned Parenthood clinic at his county health department.
“Instead of being presented with facts to
understand and retain as in school, research develops one’s
capacity to think backwards, to question the world around you, and
to create methods by which one can solve or answer questions.”
-Sarah Wong,
Student in the 2009-10 competition
“Epidemiology is about critical thinking—taking a
healthy skepticism about the easy conclusions and thinking outside
the box to find the solutions and causes. At its heart,
epidemiology involves building solid argurments about causation
from observations of patterns. All disciplines require analysis of
patterns, probing of causation and building of sound arguments. So
the study of epidemiology is relevant to a wide spectrum of
disciplines, either directly or as good practice in clear
thinking.”
-David Fraser,
University of Pennsylvania
A special commemorative magazine on the YES program
was published in connection with the event in early June. Readers
can access this magazine at
http://tinyurl.com/79buqdu
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