This week, Rasika and Lauren welcome Edith Parker, dean of the University of Iowa College of Public Health. They touch on a wide array of subjects, including what’s new this semester, curriculum updates, technology and education, and Dean Parker’s vision for the future of the college.

Rasika Mukkamala:

Hello everyone, and welcome back to From the Front Row. Today we are delighted to have Dean Edith Parker on the show. Dr. Parker serves as the dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa, and she is a professor of community and behavioral health at the university as well. I’m Rasika Mukkamala, co-hosting with Lauren Lavin. And if it’s your first time with us, welcome. We’re a student run podcast that talks about major issues in public health and how they’re relevant to anyone, both inside and outside of the field of public health. Welcome to the show, Dean Parker. Cool. Today we have Dean Parker on the show. We’d like to welcome you. Thanks so much for being here with us.

Edith Parker:

Oh, thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here. I’m really looking forward to it.

Rasika Mukkamala:

So we’re going to start off by talking about what you think the strengths of the University of Iowa College of Public Health are.

Edith Parker:

Wow. Well, I think actually really the greatest strength really is our people. We have just amazing faculty, amazing students, dedicated staff, and really engaged alumni. I think we’re really unique among schools of public health in that regard. And then I think there’s a lot of areas of excellence. It’s hard for me to name one because I’m leading out another one, but I do think one thing that really I think ties all of our programs together is our expertise and strength in rural public health, which really cuts across all of our departments and our disciplines. And it includes everything from a real strength we have in agricultural safety and health, health concerns of people involved in farming, in cancer prevention, maternal health, rural environment, challenges of delivering health services in the rural areas, and not only in Iowa, but we also do that work across the United States and the world.

So very broad area, but a lot of faculty who are recognized in that. And again, that’s just the one I think of the areas that we have. I think it’s fair to say we love our facility and we also, I believe, are in one of the nation’s best college towns, having lived in a lot of college towns in my life. I’m very proud of our rankings, both as I think we’re tied now for 17th across the country and maybe 250 schools and programs, and in the top 10 amongst public universities in that regard, a very reasonable price and a great student to faculty ratio. And then we’re very proud of our undergraduate program that we started a few years ago that really has wonderful students that feed into our grad programs and other grad programs. And then finally, I’ll say that I think a real kept secret is, until you start looking around, is our faculty that are nationally and internationally known for the research and teaching them do. And we’re just lucky to have them.

Rasika Mukkamala:

Thanks so much. Yeah, I definitely agree with all of what you said. That’s definitely what drew me to Iowa, and I’m really glad that we have such great faculty. And like you mentioned, the building is beautiful too, so that’s definitely a perk.

Edith Parker:

Yeah, that helps a lot when you have to come in on the early morning.

Rasika Mukkamala:

Yes.

Lauren Lavin:

And I feel like it only gets prettier as fall happens because there’s so many windows that as the trees start to turn, it is so pretty to look out across all of the trees and all of Iowa City honestly.

Edith Parker:

That is, I have a picture I took, boy three or four years ago on the fourth floor where my office used to be looking out, and it was a very foggy day, but you could see the top of the capitol from the top of the building. And it was just that, I love it. I kind of keep it. Somebody told me it’s too depressing because it was foggy, but I thought it was very, very artistic shot I took on my iPhone that day.

Lauren Lavin:

Okay. I’m actually going to backtrack just a little bit. Dean Parker, could you introduce yourself and explain how you got to your role today? I realize we didn’t do that, and I feel like that’s maybe some important context for people listening.

Edith Parker:

Okay. Well, I am, let’s see. I have actually been at the College of Public Health since 2010. And I came here, I was previously at Michigan as a faculty member and associate dean there, but I came to Iowa to chair a Department of Community and Behavioral Health. So I served in that role til 2018 and then applied, we had a national search for the position of dean and was very fortunate to be chosen. And I say that really because I was fortunate because we have such great faculty and students that it was really wonderful to know who I would be working with. So I’ve been the dean since 2018 and just was, my term was recently renewed.

Lauren Lavin:

That was the perfect little intro. So can you talk about some of the changes this year in the College of Public Health, some ideas or what’s enrollment changes? Any new faculty hires, student updates that you’re excited about?

Edith Parker:

Sure. Well, I think that just the most immediate is it’s a new year and with new year come new faculty and new students. So we have a great new class that’s coming in. Our total enrollment next year for the college will be just under 500, and that’s around a little under 200 undergrads and the rest are in our grad programs. We saw a little bit of a dip in the enrollment, and I think that might’ve been actually due to some visa issues with some of our international students. [inaudible 00:05:36] said we’re really hoping that we can resolve those issues and very soon in the future. And then in terms of faculty hires, we have five new faculty members. We have Emily Lawton, who’s going to be a new professor in health management and policy, Tricia Kitzmann, who’s going to be an instructional track lecturer and she’ll be in community and behavioral health, but teaching mostly in our undergrad program.

And Tricia taught with us last year, so she’s been known to many people here. Elizabeth O’Neal is going to be a new professor in community and behavioral health. Shoshannah Eggers is a new professor in epidemiology, as is Nicole Nidey. So terrific new faculty, just doing all kinds of interesting research, and we’re really excited to have that new energy and viewpoints in our college. We’re also, think I’m very close to finalizing some negotiations with a new DEO for occupational environmental health and not sure when the podcast will be out, but I hope that that is firmed up and finalized by then. And so that’s kind of where we are in terms of some of the major things.

We’re also going to, looked and done some reviews of our curriculum for our MPH and our undergrad, and we’re at the stage now for the MPH and thinking about implementation. So what will be those changes made? I don’t think we’ll finish by this year, but I suspect we’ll have something in line for next fall. And then for the undergrad, those, I think changes have been sort of finalized looking at the courses and electives, et cetera. And so that will be coming online very soon. So I think those are some of the major things we have coming this year.

Lauren Lavin:

And just to clarify for people listening, MPH is a master’s in public health, and I know yeah, you guys have been, I have a couple of friends in that program and they’ve been working on some of those edits with you guys. So those will be looked forward to, I think, amongst the students.

Edith Parker:

Yes. And I think we’re excited about, it was something we wanted to do before Covid, and then we just kind of tried to survive. I think it was probably good because now, I think we know we have a lot more ideas of things that might be coming down the pike and what we need to really think about students knowing for when they go out into the workforce.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. It definitely redirected some of the focus, I’m guessing, Covid.

Edith Parker:

Yes. Yeah, absolutely.

Rasika Mukkamala:

Our next question for you is, how has the college addressed challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion?

Edith Parker:

I think that certainly DEIs in the spotlight right now. A lot of conversations that are taking place across the country around that and really thinking about how do we ensure everyone has the opportunity to contribute and reach their full potential. And here at Iowa, I think is a top research institution. We know that we benefit from recruiting, retaining individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. And we also know that we have to prepare our students to work in a much more diverse world, particularly in public health, where we’re really concerned about issues such as health disparities. And that includes racial disparities, income disparities, rural disparities, which we’re seeing and a grave concern about that.

So here in the college, we have a very active committee, the diversity equity inclusion that includes students, faculty, and staff. And I think the committee’s open to anyone in the college. We usually have as many as 50 members who come, maybe not every month, but kind of are very active, they’re engaged. We have different subcommittees that look at various things like curricular innovation, the climate survey results that we’ve received, and then also making sure that we have engagement opportunities through our spotlight series that might hit on these topics. And then about two years ago, we hired our first manager to sort of think about these issues. Liz Laura, who’s been in this role’s, been doing a great job, I think as a resource for students and also helps us with some student affinity groups and some other kind of professional development.

And then this summer, all of those deans and the DEOs and myself took part in an inclusive leadership retreat, which included a 21-day reflection challenge. And these meetings, the inclusive leadership are really about continuing, we’re going to do this monthly throughout the academic year to think about our goal of really focusing on these issues and making sure that we’re doing everything we can in the college, and particularly in the departments, to make sure that we’re preparing students and making sure that students have really good experiences. And I think the key on all of this is appreciating and respecting all types of diversity, ethnic, income, first gen, veterans, different political views, disabilities, and making sure that our students know how to operate effectively and respectfully in a world where there’s all types of diversity and be able to work across those types of diversity.

Lauren Lavin:

Wow.

Rasika Mukkamala:

Yeah.

Lauren Lavin:

I was just going to say one, 21 days. That’s a long time of reflection. So hopefully that was useful for all of you guys.

Edith Parker:

It was about 30 minutes to an hour, but really valuable stuff. So I have to say I didn’t do it every day, but I did it. I finally caught up on it and appreciated just a variety of information that they gave.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, that’s a cool university-wide initiative. And I also think as a student, diversity, equity, inclusion are very present in our classes on a daily basis. All of the faculty is very aware that in order to be in public health, that has to be kind of at the foundation of what we do because so much of it is how can we provide services, be it healthcare or public goods to people? And that has to come from a lens of equity.

Edith Parker:

Yes. Yeah. And also I think respecting the diversity that’s present so.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah.

Rasika Mukkamala:

Yeah. That’s what I was going to say too, is I think in our world that’s ever-changing, we need to be able to listen to different people and approach different people with different backgrounds and respect their ideas and learn how to be in a world where people have so many different backgrounds. And I think being in public health, it’s a great opportunity to learn how to do that. And I think the college does a great job of giving us the opportunity to do that in the school forum, which will then be able to help us move forward when we’re in the workforce too.

Edith Parker:

That’s good to hear because I think we want to make sure that we’re doing just that. So thank you for that.

Rasika Mukkamala:

Yes.

Lauren Lavin:

Just like diversity has become kind of an important characteristic of public health, so has technology. So what are some characteristics that public health practitioners need to have to be successful as we start to depend more on technology in public health and healthcare?

Edith Parker:

Yeah, I think obviously I would say we’re living through a time of incredible change, but it’s been going on for a while. And I won’t talk about when I learned about computers because [inaudible 00:12:44] with much, but they’re changing rapidly. And I think public health practitioners like everyone else have to stay on top of these things, and that presents a challenge. So I think one of the most important characteristics we all need is a dedication to lifelong learning, recognizing that even if we do the best, and we hope we do, and we think we do, while you’re here, a lot of what you learn is going to kind of change, or I was going to say obsolete. Yeah. That’s a little harsh. But anyway, there’ll be technological discoveries two, four, eight, 10 years from now that we can’t have covered here. So the college is really committed to thinking about lifelong learning.

And so we do a lot of training not only for students who are here, residents, but also do some for public health workforce. One of the groups is our Midwestern Public Health Training Center that offers a huge range of services for the workforce or trainings. And so they do everything from project management tools to social marketing. And one particularly area where I think technology is changing is the work of data and the importance of data and how we need to train both current students as well as those who graduated, became even more evident during Covid where we didn’t have systems that talked to each other. We didn’t have folks who understood data. We had a hard time tracking just really the pandemic. But I think that’s one thing about it is we need to know more about data, but we also technology, and I think we’ll talk maybe a little bit about AI, but certainly one area of this that public health now requires us to use and access a lot more data.

And sometimes the public health practitioners are out there, maybe haven’t had that much training on data analysis, et cetera. So another example of what we’re doing is we have a training series called Tackling Data that’s really very popular and it’s geared to public health workers and also folks in healthcare organizations who need more understanding of what they do with the data they get, and particularly how to display it, but also how to interpret it and analyze it. So those I think, are two kind of areas that practitioners need to know and need to be really facile in. And also we hope we’re training our current students in that regard too.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, and kind of following along those lines, like you kind of mentioned what role do you think AI is playing in public health and how are you preparing our students for that?

Edith Parker:

Yeah, I think it’s really going to reshape how we work, how we teach, how we learn. I know that there’s been a focus of discussion amongst deans of schools of public health. We actually get together almost monthly, but certainly for a bigger meeting. And I kind of agree with what some of my colleagues in those meetings said, which is, I think when ChatGPT first kind of came, there was this ugh, and there still is this like, oh my gosh, how am I going to make sure students don’t cheat or use ChatGPT for assignments? And then there were some folks counter arguments at this meeting that sort of said, wait a minute, that is a concern, but maybe the question should be, how are we going to work with our students so they can understand how to use ChatGPT? Because it writes well, but it’s rough, the first one.

And so we’ve kind of tried to do a lot of different things in that area. I think one of the, for example, our research council came up and said, shouldn’t we be preparing for ChatGPT? And most people are thinking about how we’re going to use it in the classroom or regulate it or not regulate it or change assignments. But our research council was thinking this could be a really good tool for us when we’re thinking about writing research grants. So we hosted a Zoom session and opened it up to students and faculty from one of our colleagues in Romania, Razvan Chereches, who’s worked quite a lot with our college. And he did just a fascinating, I was able to watch it where he took ChatGPT, and he generated a draft of an NIH grant proposal. And then he sort of showed how the weaknesses of it, I mean, it was pretty impressive that you could just write it like that, but then he started sort of picking it apart and showing what you have to do and the limitations of it.

And so I think that was really informative. We also then have been sharing what we’re getting from NIH that has been ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence and peer reviews, other words, you can’t have ChatGPT write your review. You’ve really got to read the grants, et cetera. Also, we’re having a speaker from NIH in research week, which will be coming up later this fall, Dr. Susan Gerrick, who will be talking about how NIH is kind of responding to that. And then we have also had some sessions for faculty and the university has around ChatGPT and ways to think about using it or if you’re not thinking about it in the classroom.

So I think it’s emerging issue, but I hope that we can find a way to, as I say, not have it be a crutch for our students so that they don’t learn how to write or articulate or express themselves, but actually how it can be useful for them in their career because it’s going to be here, it’s going to be around. And also probably to think about some of the potential dangers because I know more and more is coming out on that in terms of invasion of privacy, et cetera. So I think exciting times and we’re trying to, like everyone else, figure out what this means and how we can best respond to it.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, I think it’s been interesting. I’m a TA this semester and just kind of navigating what the changes look like, knowing that ChatGPT is out there and how can we teach them to use it responsibly. I’m guessing the same conversations were had around computers and calculators. So I don’t think this is unique to the human experience. It’s just like, how do we address this new thing? And it won’t be the last time I’m sure either.

Edith Parker:

No, thank you for saying that, Lauren. It just reminded me of when I was on faculty at Michigan, and I had a student who turned in a paper and I asked her why there were all these spelling errors, and she said that spell check was not working on her computer. Well, I was kind of horrified that she only relied on spell check. Of course now I rely on spell check all the time. But I mean, there were discussions about, well, if somebody uses spell check or grammar, is that cheating or not? And now it’s like nobody ever questions that, right? So I think that’s a really good point you make.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. Well, we’ll just have to see where it ends up.

Edith Parker:

Yes. Yeah.

Rasika Mukkamala:

I did too over the summer when I was at my internship, a lot of people were asking me if I was using AI in my projects or things, and I didn’t really think about it until someone asked me. And there’s a lot of information out there. And I think the thing that I think about the most is even if I utilize the information, I need to know how to present it. I’m the owner of the information at the end of the day, and I need to be able to present it to the audience that needs the information. And AI can’t teach you that. That comes from practice, and that comes from doing presentations in class or doing presentations in your work.

And so I really do think it is a supplement, but you have to learn the fundamentals in order to apply it. For example, writing a paper, you need to know how to write a paper to use the information. And it’s the same thing if you’re given five articles, you need to know how to read the articles and condense the information to write an article. So I do think it will be interesting to see how people continue to use it, especially in hospitals and other public health measures. I’m really excited and interested to see how our world changes across the next couple of years and how we use AI in that field.

Edith Parker:

Really good points. Yeah.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, I think that’s a good point about it kind of gives you surface level information. You have to be the owner of it. You have to be able to extrapolate on that further in most settings. That’s a point.

Edith Parker:

Yeah.

Rasika Mukkamala:

Speaking of the future, our next question is what is your five-year vision for the College of Public Health?

Edith Parker:

Yeah. I think if you asked me, I would say it’s to be a national leader of public health with a particular focus on rural health in Iowa and the world. And I think as I’ve noticed, we already exhibiting a lot of those strengths. So I think we’re pretty close if we’re not already there. But I think I see in the next five years really solidifying this new revised MPH curriculum and the undergrad curriculum and really thinking about what’s students need the most. So get that in place. We are embarking on some really exciting work with The Wellmark Foundation and the Iowa Health and Human Services that I think are going to give great opportunities for us to have some real impact in the state around population health and I hope opportunities for students, et cetera. So I’m really excited about that and kind of feeling that we’re really part of what’s happening here in Iowa.

And I think we’re going to continue to be really a cutting edge leader in research, tackling these emerging issues that come out such as climate change. We’ve got some investigators who were submitting their grants on, a couple who will submit grants to the separate ones, to NIH for that. Also, thinking about our great work in cancer, many may not know, but Iowa has a, think it’s the second-highest incidence rates of cancer and a lot to be done there. And I think we’re on the cutting edge with our cancer registry and our expertise in thinking about cancer prevention and control. And I think we were going to do all this. I do hope, while we remain what I think is one of our greatest strengths, which is our culture of collegiality and respect for others.

Lauren Lavin:

Well, we love to hear all of that. I’ll still be around for a lot of this. I’m a PhD student and I’m only in year two.

Edith Parker:

Oh, good.

Lauren Lavin:

So I’ll get to see a lot of this come to fruition.

Edith Parker:

Yes, she can check in and tell me of how we’re doing.

Lauren Lavin:

Yes.

Edith Parker:

Have to come on and tell me if we’ve made these metrics or not. I should say we’re in a, let me think because it got delayed a little bit by the pandemic, but probably in about year four of our strategic plan. And we’ve really done accomplished a lot that we had in there. So I was just talking to some of the faculty in our department earlier today about some of the highlights of that. So I feel really good about what we have accomplished and look forward to what we’ll be focusing on the future.

Lauren Lavin:

Great. Okay. What are you most excited for about in this coming school year?

Edith Parker:

Okay. I have to tell you, that’s a tough question, but I have to say, with all honesty, I do wake up each day excited to come to the college, and I think it’s always been there, but particularly in the recent years. And I think it’s coming back from Covid, it’s just great to be together. I think we all feel that. I should say that we’ve been very flexible with folks who are working at home, some who are totally remote, some who are hybrid. I see that as a good thing because I think it helps us remain competitive with our workforce. But also I think there are issues for me of even equity issues where folks may have to live, it’s cheap here, but it’s expensive. It’s cheap here, if you compare it to New York City. It’s not cheap here if you compare it to some of the outlying areas.

So we have a lot of folks that maybe for family reasons or economic reasons, decided to live a distance away and that commute can be hard for them. So I’m really excited that we’ve been able to have that flexibility. But that said, I think we are having more and more in-person events. Classes are back online, we’re meeting in person, and it’s just really nice to get to see people and meet this year’s class and all these new faculty members, et cetera. And I also think that it’s great getting to know students and then following them through their careers and seeing where they end up and what they do. Just some amazing work and being able to visit with them. I’m excited about learning about what our new faculty are doing or even our existing faculty, because I’ll run into them and they’ve got a new research question or a new line of inquiry, and it’s just amazing to hear what we’re contributing to public health all over the world.

And then, as I mentioned, I’m excited about some new initiatives we have underway, curriculum review, the MPH program, but also some that are external focus and I think really will, at the end of the day, make a great public health impact. And then one other, I think we’ve got some great leadership at the university now that I’m really excited about. Our president, think he’s just doing a fantastic job and some new dean hires that are also, I think will work well with us and understand what we do [inaudible 00:26:26] that’s going to be done.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, it’s a good year to be a Hawkeye.

Edith Parker:

Yes, it is. Yeah. And there’s women’s basketball.

Lauren Lavin:

That’s right.

Edith Parker:

Yes.

Lauren Lavin:

And we’re doing pretty good on football right now so.

Edith Parker:

Yeah, we are, and hockey is doing well, and I think our soccer team is doing well, so we have a lot to be thankful for.

Lauren Lavin:

That’s right.

Rasika Mukkamala:

Yeah, I’m really glad that you brought up having in-person events and being back in person full time. I learned best from being in person. So online classes are sometimes difficult for me because I really like to be in the classroom, and I think there is a time for online classes, per se. I think some things are better in a asynchronous format, but I think especially in the MHA program, most of our work is done in the hospital setting or in a healthcare setting where we’re in person. There’s times when we can take meetings from home, but a lot of it is how do we build a culture and how do we fit into a culture that’s already there? And so I think having in-person classes and meeting up with people and just the friendly comradery, that’s definitely something that you don’t think about learning, but when you’re doing it, it comes naturally. And that’s a big part of fitting into a career. So I definitely am very happy that everything’s back in person and that we’re doing a lot of things, a lot of activities in person too.

Edith Parker:

Yeah, I hear you. And I think it’s really, you miss those water cooler conversations.

Rasika Mukkamala:

Right.

Lauren Lavin:

Yep.

Edith Parker:

Yeah. And so,

Lauren Lavin:

All those soft skills are so important.

Edith Parker:

Yeah. And it’s hard to recreate those on Zoom. Yeah. So.

Rasika Mukkamala:

We have one last question for you, and this is something that we ask all of our guests, and it can be public health related or not public health related, but what is one thing that you thought you knew but were later wrong about?

Edith Parker:

Okay. This is one I’ve often thought about. Actually I was talking to one of our alums last Friday, and this came up about what you think you knew and you didn’t. And so I relayed this story to them that when I was an undergrad, we had to take a foreign language requirement and also a math requirement. So I took French and I took a year of it, and I passed it, and I could have gone on to take more of it, but I finished my requirement. So I was not fluent by any stretch, but checked that box. And so then also I decided not to take a statistics course for my math requirement. And my reason for both of these decisions was I thought, well, I’ll never need to be super fluent in French, and I’m never going to do anything with stats.

I was an English major. Right. So flash forward, I got a job with a non-governmental organization that took me to Burkina Faso, West Africa, which yes, is a francophone country or you can learn the various tribal languages. And then while I’m there, I kind of learn about public health and decide I’ll go back. And lo and behold, you have to take statistics. So I ended up taking a lot of statistics and struggling through French and trying to learn it on the fly, and people were very nice to me, but my accent was never quite what it should have been. So my takeaway from that was that never say never when it comes to learning, that you can always, don’t think you know where your life’s going to take you because it’s not going to take you there. So that’s my example.

Lauren Lavin:

I love that, especially since so many students listen to this. I think that’s an important message. Well, we want to thank you so much for being on the podcast today, Dean Parker. We’re really excited for where the College of Public Health is going and for your continued service to all of our students and faculty and your leadership.

Edith Parker:

Well, thank you. Thank you also both for this podcast. I love it. I love listening to it, and I love just the energy you put into it, and I think it’s just such a great resource for the whole college and the campus, actually, the state and the nation. So I want to say that I’ve bragged about this podcast from years and years when I’m with the deans and others because they haven’t had a student run podcast. I think some have imitated that. So I appreciate very much your efforts and all you’re doing to make the college a better place. So thank you so much Rasika and thank you so much, Lauren.

Lauren Lavin:

Thank you. That’s it for our episode this week. Thank you to Dean Parker for joining us today. This episode was hosted and written by Lauren Lavin and Rasika Mukkamala and edited and produced by Lauren Lavin. You can learn more about the University of Iowa College of Public Health on Facebook. Our podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and SoundCloud. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help support the podcast, please share it with your colleagues, friends, or anyone interested in public health. Have a suggestion for our team? You can reach us at CPH-gradambassador@uiowa.edu. This episode is brought to you by the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Until next week, stay healthy, stay curious, and take care.