In commemoration of National Public Health Week (April 1st to 7th), BingU News highlights two Master of Public Health (MPH) students at Binghamton University who are committed to using their skills to make a difference in their communities.
Bolanle Olatunji and Brooke Traver are AmeriCorps members in their final year of the MPH program at the Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Through this experience, they gain valuable professional skills, positively impact the health of their communities, and fulfill their fieldwork experience requirements.
Ms. Bolanle Olatunji began her one-year term with AmeriCorps VISTA in July 2023. She participates in the Rural Health Service Corps program administered by the South Central New York Rural Health Network. Olatunji’s project includes working with Guthrie Lourdes Hospital to assess the region’s medical needs. The goal of her needs assessment is to understand why people in rural areas lack access to health care and identify ways hospitals can better serve residents of Broome, Tioga, and Delaware counties. .
Ms. Olatunji earned a bachelor's degree in health services management from Lehman College in the Bronx, New York. She said her experience at AmeriCorps has helped her apply the skills she learned in the classroom. Through this project, she developed data collection tools such as surveys and focus group questions, organized survey data, led focus groups of her community members, worked with the hospital's analytics team to analyze the data, and based on the data. Experienced in writing final reports. Survey and focus group responses.
Olatunji said the project would provide a platform for residents to voice their concerns, while also helping hospitals understand the factors that affect access to health care for people in rural areas. Additionally, this study provides information about why some community members change practitioners within the Guthrie Lourdes system.
“Serving with AmeriCorps provides many opportunities for me as an MPH student,” Olatunji said. “You can gain a lot of experience and skills and grow in your job.”
Brooke Traver will begin public health AmeriCorps services at the Rural Health Network in September 2023 and will complete her term at the end of June. Ms. Traver's primary responsibility is to work with the Food and Health Network's Farm to School program, which aims to provide healthy, local food to students.
Traver works with staff, students, parents, farms, and community partners to develop, implement, grow, and evaluate programs. She introduces new recipes to schools and helps with taste tests to determine if students enjoy them enough to add them to the school menu. These meals are prepared from scratch in each school's kitchen using seasonal ingredients grown, harvested, and produced in New York. This “NY Thursday” lunch is offered two to three times a month.
Traver, a native of Vestal, New York, earned a bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Harpur College of Arts and Sciences in Binghamton in 2021. She said her experience working with AmeriCorps allows her to support the community where she grew up and deliver nutritious meals to students. .
“Balanced nutrition throughout the day contributes to student success both in and out of the classroom,” she said. “Most students eat their healthiest meals at school. So my tenure at AmeriCorps is dedicated to improving children's diets and fighting hunger to improve obesity prevention, overall student health, and academic achievement.” It plays an important role in helping us improve.”
Hannah Lyon, Farm to School program coordinator and Travers' supervisor on the project, said: “Brooke has been an invaluable addition to our Farm to School team since her term began in September. She is a true team player in all aspects and her passion for working with children shines in her service. From creating reels of photos from our school visits to creating stakeholder surveys to share their thoughts on our programs. I am confident that she will do her best no matter what.”
