Case competitions help students share practical solutions to public health problems

Shayla Brown — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 17:00:54 +0000

Case competitions help students share practical solutions to public health problems Shayla Brown Wed, 12/06/2023 - 12:00

Six graduate students from ��ӽ紫ý’s Department of Global and Community Health and Department of Health Administration and Policy presented a four-pronged solution to address health care and homelessness among Washington, D.C., area women at the D.C. Public Health Case Challenge.

“It was a really exciting day,” said associate professor Debora Goldberg, who mentored them. “The students did an unbelievable job.”

The competition, held at the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine, is a chance for students to use what they’ve learned in the classroom to address a real-world issue, Goldberg said.

Mason’s team used a divided approach, each taking a task that related to their research backgrounds to come up with a pilot study.

Debora Goldberg and the team of Global and Community Health students in D.C. Photo Provided.

First-year health services research PhD student Sravya Vunnam was a member of the team that competed in the case competition.

“Before the actual competition, we did a dry run with six faculty members from HAP and [School of Nursing] who came and listened to our presentation to give us feedback and help us prepare,” said Vunnam.

“[Most] of us are going to be in public health and policy making somehow, so this experience helps to shape our minds and prepare us for that,” she said.

The team’s approach included housing, community and mental health support, developing an app that would provide resources for unhoused populations to find places that provide mental health support, and access peer navigators, as well as an anti-stigma campaign.

Because students bring skills that they learn in the classroom to these experiences, case competitions are also a great opportunity for students to practice in public health courses, said Goldberg.

Public health graduate student Anahita Asghari-Kamrani took the GCH 465 Community Health capstone course taught by adjunct professor Sara Hoffman, where she and her classmates got to compete in hypothetical competitions that are set up to replicate the real ones held by the public health community.

The class breaks into teams and identifies a public health problem for which they must find solutions. At the end of the semester, the student teams present their solutions to a panel of local public health professionals, similar to the official case competitions.

“The capstone course has helped me find problem areas in public health and [potential] interventions,” said Asghari-Kamrani, who is in the epidemiology program. “I would say that having an opportunity like this helps you get out of your comfort zone and [now] I would be comfortable participating in something like this in a real-life scenario.”

Community health alumna Madison Knapp also took the GCH 465 Community Health capstone.

“It's a great way of learning and being able to come up with ideas, especially since the world is changing each year and there are new scientific measures available every day,” said Knapp, who graduated in 2023 and now does community health work for the American Heart Association.

Knapp hopes to one day compete in real case competitions so that she can make a difference in her field and community, she said.

“We got to present to people from the Virginia Department of Health, and hearing their feedback was truly a great experience,” said Knapp, whose team ended up winning the hypothetical case competition. “I still think it's one of the best moments of my college career. I hope it encourages students to do the best they can in their courses because you never know what could come out of it.”

Want to know more about the case study competition? Read more in our earlier article about the event.

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Debora Goetz Goldberg, PhD, MHA, MBA

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Law student’s summer internship combines his love of flight and law

Sarah Holland — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 20:08:32 +0000

Law student’s summer internship combines his love of flight and law Sarah Holland Wed, 09/20/2023 - 16:08

Aviation law comes with a lot of legs, and Mack Freilich says that suits him just fine.

Photo by Ron Aira/��ӽ紫ý

The rising second-year Scalia Law School student has a strong affinity for flight, so he sees his preferred future legal field as a further extension of doing what he loves.

Freilich was able to personally experience as much this summer when he interned for the Washington Aviation Law Group, a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C., that specifically focuses on aviation law. Freilich and other clerks gained valuable firsthand experience by taking part in case reviews and other critical aspects of the legal process, including sitting in on meetings with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“It’s been very cool to work on different parts of the law,” Freilich said. “It’s really opened my eyes to see how much aviation law intersects with other parts of the law. There’s so much more behind aviation law.”

That experience will likely prove useful this fall when he takes the aviation law course at Mason and returns to the Washington Aviation Law Group as an extern.

“I plan on taking what I learned this summer and applying it,” he said.

Anybody who knows Freilich would hardly be surprised to hear that aviation would be in his future. After working his way through Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in paralegal studies with a minor in criminal justice in 2022, Freilich became a flight attendant so he could see the world.

After starting at PSA Airlines, a regional subsidiary of American Airlines in the Midwest and Eastern United States, Freilich moved up to the parent company. He soon lost his job, however, due to pandemic-related cutbacks. After the job loss, Freilich, who had long been interested in law, figured the time was right to pursue a juris doctor degree.

He tries to make a difference wherever he goes and has applied that drive to achieving diversity and inclusivity at Scalia Law by serving on the law school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council. The hope, Freilich said, is to help foster a more diverse community within the legal community.

“The DEI Council works hard to foster a welcoming and enriching environment for learning,” he said. “Interacting with peers from diverse backgrounds has broadened my perspectives and deepened my understanding of societal issues. This exposure has prepared me to approach legal challenges with a more inclusive mindset and a keen eye to the issues LGBTQIA+ community faces in the legal profession.”

Freilich credited his decision to attend Scalia Law School for the tremendous opportunities to have come his way so far, calling it “an immensely beneficial decision that has enriched both my personal and professional journey in profound ways.”

“The unique combination of academic excellence, practical experiences, and a vibrant community has contributed significantly to my growth and development as a future attorney,” he said.

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Case competitions help students share practical solutions to public health problems

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