Expertise and experience:
1. Advising and mentoring Amherst College students and young alumni who seek to explore and pursue careers in health.
2. Teaching (until December 2010 at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and as adjunct lecturer at UMassAmherst School of Public Health), mentoring, advising, dialogue, organizing, advocating, and experience to learn, practice, and pursue health in all its dimesnions. Has included courses on health disparities, and cultural and linguistic competence,
internships, independent study, research, seminars to build leadership capacity of young people and future public health work force.
3.
Synthesizing research on social determinants of health, resilience, traumatic childhood experiences, racism, chronic stress, and conditions for productive dialogue that will have a significant impact on future public health practice.
3. Translating this research into humane MCH and public health practice to improve the health of women and children, with systems that honor families, communities, and cultures.
4. Integrating cultural understanding and respect as a key strategy to end health disparities.
5. Changing the language of public health and medicine to better reflect our ideals and purpose.
6. Bringing multiple stakeholders together to untangle complex public health challenges and take collaborative action to solve them.

Service
1. Inspiring a new generation of leaders in public health and service through a wide range of local, national, and global opportunities.
2.
Until January 2011, consultation to individuals, communities, organizations to build capacity in the above, by
a) Inspiring keynotes, presentations, workshops.
b) Organizing forums to build essential but previously unlikely partnerships.
c) Serving as catalyst for intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue.
c) Writing papers and grants.
3. Organization and facilitation of interactive meetings with broad stakeholder participation to unite diverse parties and spark action to create public health equity.

For more information, contact:
raaronson69@amherst.edu


"A smile is the light in the window of your face, which tells people that your heart is at home."
- Kolawole Bankole, M.D, M.S

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Mentoring in Action

By Richard A. Aronson, MD, MPH, Annah Kuriakose, and Jodie Simms,

Mentoring is central to the purpose of Humane Worlds Center. Mentoring college students interested in public health, when done well, can provide the seeds for a lifetime of leadership and service to make the world more just and equitable. Such justice and equity is essential to the optimal health of the public. Students who hunger for real world experience in working for social justice can find a rich variety of options in the public health profession. Good mentoring can have a positive, if not inspirational, impact on a student's life. It can equip the student with tools that she can use to make the decision for what to do upon graduating. Putting a student in contact with people who offer additional help along the way is a vital part of the mentoring process. Students are often filled with many ideas about what they are interested in and how to make a difference. Good mentoring provides the help needed to move forward in specific ways, and to focus one's dreams and ideals into something concrete. Mentoring can help solidify goals, and open new doors to reach those goals.

To that end, with the great help of the Career Center, we have organized a public health dialogue and mentoring session at Amherst College on December 5, 2008. Five Amherst alumni and one faculty member will be available at that time to answer questions, discuss concerns, and provide individual mentoring sessions. The announcement follows.

From the Amherst Career Center:

Get this on your calendar - it's a wonderful opportunity...

A Public Health Dialogue: Multiple Paths to Work for Social Justice and Healing
2-3 PM Friday, December 5th, 2008

Join us for a dialogue with alumni and faculty who will speak about their experience in the public health field. Students are encouraged to bring questions and thoughts about opportunities in public health. After the panel, from 3 - 5:30 PM, some panelists will be available for individual advising/mentoring conversations with interested students. Sign up in the Experience section of the Career Center Website. To sign up you will need to upload a resume (a draft version is fine). If you need assistance, please see a Peer Career Advisor, or contact the Career Center.

No comments: