In the first edition of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (COANR) blog I wanted to talk about a new and exciting class at the University of Wyoming, more specifically in veterinary science/pathobiology department. The class in which I speak about is Epidemiology-Diseases in Population (PATB 4001/5001 and MICR 4001/5001) which is now being offered in the fall semester at the University of Wyoming.
With the popular media giving attention to the recent movie Contagion, there is an increase interest in the public health system in the United States. While the popular media has picked up on this, the world of academia took note of such many years ago. There are various graduate degrees offered in epidemiology, from Masters in Public Health (MPH) to PhD’s in epidemiology, both have seen an increase in the number of students and in the case of MPH programs a number of newly accredited programs have sprouted up in recent years.
With the new addition of the epidemiology class at the University of Wyoming, the university has made a step in the right direction to promote education as well as cultivate interest in the field of public health. For this offering the university made a new faculty hire of Dr. Brant Schumaker from University of California Davis. Dr. Schumaker obtained his bachelors of science (BS), his masters in preventative veterinary medicine (MPVM), a doctorate of veterinary medicine (DVM) as well as his philosophy doctorate (PhD) in epidemiology from the University of California – Davis. His previous and current research focus deals with Brucellosis in the greater Yellowstone area.
As an undergraduate student who is seeking a career in public health, it was much to my satisfaction to come across the advertisement of this course on a corkboard in the COANR building. For an undergraduate student, this course gives a good foundation as to the main concepts in epidemiology. It is also a good class to take if you are not sure of your next step in a graduate school program and have an inkling into the public health world. Thus far the course has only strengthened my resolve to continue my studies in this program area. Within the course we have not only had the general lectures that all students are familiar with, but we have some activities which are very useful in applying concepts that have been lectured on. One such activity was an outbreak investigation. During this investigation, several public health figures representing the Wyoming Department of Health, Center for Disease Control – Epidemic Intelligence Service as well as the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, came and gave us a real-life scenario and allowed us to work through the investigation from the preliminary step of defining a case, to the very end of holding a mock press conference to the public with specific regards to the outbreak itself.
I feel that this course is a wonderful deviation from the general courses that we are all familiar with at the college level. With the expected increase in world population and the increase of animal-human interaction, trying to get more students interested and educated in this area of study will only be beneficial to the society as a whole. If one is interested in the course you may view the departmental listing of such at: http://www.uwyo.edu/vetsci/courses/patb-4001.html. Of note the prerequisites for the course are the introduction to statistics (STAT 2050) as well as a microbiology course (MICR 2210, 2220 or 2240)
Noah Hull
Senator, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Election Committee Chair – ASUW
Sergeant-at-Arms – ASUW
College of Agriculture Student Ambassador
I am originally from Los Angeles, CA and moved out to Wyoming to pursue a degree at the University of Wyoming. The deciding factors of moving out here were the wonderful research opportunities that are made available to undergraduates that were not made possible at my previous university. Once graduated I intend on seeking a PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics somewhere out on the east coast and continuing my research.