Reflection

       As the semester is coming to an end, I reflect on what I have learned in all of my classes and how they all relate to one another. While they all had their specific focus areas, one thing that stuck out to me is the depth that public health interventions must entail in order to be successful. No public health issue can be moved in a positive direction by using a narrow approach. Individual, interpersonal, structural, physiological, and societal factors all have their own impact on one's health. Also noted, that as much as public health professionals believe that an intervention they have created will be successful, they cannot initiate it without proper funding and resources, which is a big obstacle in this field. In addition, policy changes are most often out of our control and policy can be very beneficial or detrimental to a targeted health behavior. Specifically, in regards to global health, I have learned that there is a lot to be done around the world. There are so many alarming health disparities that I was not completely aware of prior to this class. Like all interventions, we must understand what our target population wants and needs what they will respond to. Also, we must make changes that will make it able for these communities to sustain better health once the intervention is over. We cannot put a quick, simple fix on a long, complex problem. While there are many obstacles and challenges in public health, and while some tasks may seem way too out of reach to tackle, we can all make a difference if we put our mind, time, and effort into it. I believe public health is a very rewarding field, and the impacts we have the ability to make on people's lives is worth all of the hard work we will put in as public health professionals.