Skip to main content

Capstone

Our puppy-sitting gig ended last night and, although it was fun playing with Maizie, we were reminded of how glad we are that our dog is a grown-up! (Puppies are a lot of work!) We continue to be extremely grateful to my parents for taking care of Tessie during our time in Baltimore, and we're counting the days until we get to relieve them of their dog care duties.

{my favorite picture of Tessie as a puppy}
Today, I spent the morning at the Peabody Library, putting the finishing touches on my capstone project (similar to a master's thesis), which is due this Friday. I have focused on global environmental change/climate change (commonly known as global warming) as a neglected public health problem. Prior to starting my MPH program, I hadn't really thought of climate change as a public health concern...but it makes sense: people kind of rely on a healthy planet and a consistent climate for our health and well-being! 
(Stephen Colbert's thoughts on the matter)

 Although the Earth's climate has changed throughout its history, human activities are causing it to change more rapidly and in more unpredictable ways...this has caused and will continue to cause serious health problems for people worldwide. While public health leaders have recognized climate change as one of the main public health concerns of the 21st century, the talk has not been translated into action in any meaningful way...so my capstone provides some ways in which schools of public health can start addressing this problem. 
(Wondering what you can do? Here are a few ideas!) 

{Peabody Library}

One last thought: 
After such a tragic event in Boston yesterday, it was nice to see this article: love is stronger than hate.
Labels:
Location: Baltimore, MD, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

For my dad

{Dad, third from right, breaking ground at the site of his clinic, ~1987.} On June 24, I graduated from family medicine residency and became the fourth family physician/general practitioner in three generations of Dorwarts. A week later, on July 1, our family gathered in Sidney, Nebraska, to celebrate my dad's retirement after 35 years as a family physician there. I couldn't be prouder of the work my dad has done throughout his career, his dedication to our hometown, his persistence through difficult times, and his unwavering insistence on doing the right thing even when it's not the easy thing. Even though I considered forays into surgery and gynecologic oncology (among other things), I am happy to have found my way to family medicine and to my father's footsteps. Although my dad worked long hours throughout my childhood, I never felt like I was missing out because I appreciated the importance of what he was doing. My perception was that he was spending his d...
Post a Comment
Read more

5 years later

Somehow five years have passed since I finished residency and since my dad's retirement party (though he had the party, he has yet to fully  retire). The passage of time is a funny thing...often when I'm running behind in my clinic schedule or when a patient arrives at 10:30 for their 8:15 appointment, I'll say something about time being a social construct or, "What even is time?" One of my coworkers and I often misquote Friedrich Nietzsche by saying, "Time is a square circle," which is our way of saying that time is meaningless or nonsensical. (I have just emerged from a deep dive into the Friedrich Nietzsche Wikipedia page where I learned or was reminded that the actual quote is "time is a flat circle" meaning essentially that history repeats itself.) Philosophies about the nature of time notwithstanding, for some reason I've decided to write a post. (Incidentally, I now have a 3-year-old daughter who occasionally uses the phrase "...
1 comment
Read more

Recent happenings

On Monday, October 28, my first niece was born! That morning, my brother sent me a text message at 6 am (4 am for them), stating that they were at the hospital, 8 cm dilated. Twenty minutes later, another message: Marion Jean Dorwart, 6 pounds 12 ounces, 19 inches (the name was inspired by  this Indiana Jones character , and the middle name by baby's maternal great-grandmother). She is beautiful, and I can't wait to meet her in person! {Dad/Grandpa, Dan/Dad, & Baby Marion} Halloween weekend, I made a trip to Philadelphia with a group from my residency program to attend the Family Medicine Education Consortium, leaving Chris to hand out candy to a number of dragons and football players. I learned about leading group medical visits and heard a great speech about the future of primary care by Dr. Ted Epperly , while representing my residency program to potential future residents.  After the conference, I took a $3 Megabus  ride to Washington, D.C., where ...
Post a Comment
Read more