By: Dr. Anji Buckner

Nearly two dozen Public Health students attended the one-day CSU-Health Policy Conference.  There were about ten different CSU programs and nearly 250 students who attended one of the two regionally hosted events. The SJSU delegation attended the Northern-California conference at CSU East Bay, where we started with a conversation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services for California, Dr. Mark Ghaly and concluded with a panel of leaders from the California Department of Public Health. The afternoon began with an impressive in-person panel of local public health leaders including: the Director of Public Health, Policy, and Planning from San Mateo County, Marc Meulman; the Deputy Public Health Officer for Santa Cruz County and Interim Health Officer for San Benito County, David Ghilarducci; Alameda County Public Health Department Director, Kimi Watkins-Tartt; and Contra Costa County Health Services Director, Anna Roth.  We followed with sessions about careers in policy development, social justice and community advocacy, and applying for graduate school. We wrapped up the day with networking and cross-campus socializing.

Thank you PHR Chair,  Dr. Iwasaki and CHHS Dean Shillington for supporting these events and introducing our NPHW guests. To everyone who participated – thank you for joining and we hope to see you next April for NPHW 2023 and the annual CSU-Health Policy Conference.  Our gratitude to The Career Exploration Committee (Anji Buckner, Josh Bauer, Catherine Doyle, Marcelle Dougan, and Vicky Gomez) of the Public Health and Recreation Department who hosted and participated in two exciting April events.