Ebola immersion trip educates on public health
Gettysburg College students traveled to Washington D.C. to talk to professionals involved with the recent Ebola outbreak from Jan. 13 to Jan. 15. They learned about both the epidemic and the careers involved in containing it.
By Brendan Raleigh, News Editor
Over Winter Break, 17 Gettysburg College students participated in the Center for Career Development’s Careers in Contact Immersion Trip.
The subject for this year’s immersion trip was Ebola as it relates to public health. Students traveled from Gettysburg to Washington D.C. to meet with officials from the U.S. Department of State, United Nations Development Program, Pan American Health Organization and the World Bank, among others.
The students on the trip came from a variety of majors, mostly in STEM fields, such as health sciences, biology or chemistry. The trip was two days, from January 13 to 15, and the organization of the trip was aided by health science Prof. Amy Dailey.
The trip did not focus on one career path in specific but rather covered a variety of possible career paths.
Students were also able to hear some of the stories of healthcare professionals who dealt with the outbreak firsthand. These stories included information about how families in Africa responded to the outbreak in a personal way.
In addition to learning about the careers of the professionals involved, the trip gave students insight into Gettysburg College first-year Michael Mancino explains his plans in and beyond Gettysburg College and his experience with author Wes Moore their own ambitions regarding these career paths, with some confirming their interest in their initial subject area and others discovering new areas of interest. This immersion trip was one of a number sponsored by the college during winter break, as others took students outside of the United States to various locations across the world.
