“Bringing our cultural humility training to APHA for a second year has been a wonderful reminder that there is interest in the topic and lots more to be done.”
– Elizabeth Rojo
By Catherine Cortez
Last month, I had the honor and privilege to join my VTA+ colleagues at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting & Expo 2022 (APHA) in Boston, Massachusetts.
The Annual Meeting is a space for public health professionals, students, and leaders to connect/reconnect, collaborate, and gain new insights on how we can continue to advance public health across the nation. This year’s theme, “150 Years of Creating the Healthiest Nation: Leading the Path Toward Equity,” guided our collective reflection upon how inequitable health and well-being across the nation has been shaped by intersecting historical, systemic, and structural factors. Leading a path toward equity balances celebrating significant strides in the field while embracing that there is always work to be done to create a more healthy and equitable nation.
At APHA 2022, the VTA+ team had the immense honor of sharing significant strides of our own. Four sessions later, with over 100 attendees engaged at these sessions, and countless opportunities to reflect alongside colleagues on how we can continue leading the path toward equity — here are a few VTA+ APHA 2022 highlights.
VTA+ APHA 2022 highlights
“From conceptualizing an abstract, to reviewing it, to sharing it with the Town Hall and CDPH teams, and sharing it with VTA+, and then finally presenting it – I’ve learned so much and felt so supported and valued!”
– Raman Kaur
Attending APHA 2022 was a very special moment of deep gratitude and appreciation for the VTA+ community as I continue my second year with the VTA+ Monitoring & Evaluation team. Central to our work is the iterative process of connecting with our learners, gathering their feedback, and adapting our offerings to continually respond to the state’s public health workforce needs. It was so exciting to witness my colleagues present a glimpse into our triumphs, challenges, and lessons-learned throughout this journey on a national level.
Celebrating public health and APHA’s 150th birthday among our VTA+ team and over 10,000 in-person attendees was a truly meaningful experience. As we close the chapter on APHA 2022, we look upwards and onwards to new opportunities to share our work with others.
Learn more about the VTA+ presentations at APHA
Paola Manterola Bustamante’s Handout: Training California’s Spanish-speaking Public Health Workforce Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Virtual Training Academy (VTA+)
Joyce Imafidon’s Poster: California Pathways into Public Health Mentorship Program: Supporting a Diverse Public Health Workforce
Ramanjot Kaur’s Presentation Slides: Utilizing Virtual Town Halls to Provide Timely Programmatic Support to Local Health Jurisdictions throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic
“After presenting at APHA, I felt I would like to have the opportunity to be there presenting once again. It was a great experience personally and professionally.”
– Paola Manterola Bustamante
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