Student & Young Professional
Youth engagement at the post-secondary level is minimal in disaster and emergency medicine knowledge development. Many graduate programs often require or prefer individuals to be working professionals in the field of humanitarian health care when they apply. To address the gap in learning for post-secondary students, the WADEM Student and Young Professional Special Interest Group (SYP-SIG) strives to provide an open platform, resources, informational webinars, and workshops for individuals who are interested in or looking to begin a career in disaster and emergency medicine.
Check Out the SYP-SIG’s Virtual Presentations & Discussions
Infectious Diseases and Disasters - Dr. Vijai Bhola
Webinar Date: 21 October 2024
Infectious Diseases and Disasters
Dr. Vijai Bhola from Emory University discusses how infectious diseases thrive in disasters! The presentation outlines factors that create complex humanitarian disasters, examines common infectious diseases that follow disasters and the expected timeline for these outbreaks, and explores how climate change influences the risk of infectious disease outbreaks.
Are Lessons Ever Learned? Reflections on Pandemics Past, Present, and Future - Dr. Peter Marghella
Webinar Date: 24 April 2024
Are Lessons Ever Learned? Reflections on Pandemics Past, Present, and Future - Dr. Peter Marghella
This presentation includes a discussion of the five factors influencing an increase in the frequency, scope, scale, and impact of pandemics (and other major disasters). Also discussed are initiatives that may enhance our collective “posture of preparedness" for the health care and public health sectors.
Crisis Communications - Dr. Jay McIsaac
In this presentation, Dr. Jay Mcisaac discusses the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) resources for Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications (CERC), covering the four phases of a crisis and exploring the six principles of CERC.
Pediatric Disaster Preparedness - Dr. Mark Cicero
Dr. Mark Cicero from Yale University presents - "It Will Happen Again: Pediatric Disaster Preparedness and Response." This lecture was organized by the Student and Young Professionals SIG in May 2023.
Learning objectives from this lecture include:
- Understand similarities and differences between pediatric and adult disaster readiness;
- Consider scene stabilization, triage, treatment on scene, and transport decisions for natural and human-caused disasters; and
- Discuss means for EMS and Hospital disaster training and systems testing.
Evidence-Based Approaches for Assessment of Targeted Violence Risk - Dr. Victoria Balenger
In this presentation, Dr. Victoria Balenger discusses targeted violence in school, workplace, and health care settings and describes the interdisciplinary process of Threat Assessment and Management (TAM), highlighting the use of validated Structured Professional Judgment (SPJ) instruments to help systematize individual case investigations and wider prevention efforts.
Dr. Balenger a retired FBI Psychologist, a Certified Threat Manager through the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP), and a credentialed Insider Threat Professional through the US Department of Defense (DoD). She is an expert in behavioral analysis and has supported individual threat assessment investigations, behavioral assessment teams, and insider threat programs during her career.
Student and Young Professional SIG Leadership
With the goal of bringing together students and young professionals of all nationalities and future health care professionals, the SYP-SIG has created a Facebook page to facilitate new members connecting and joining the SIG. Please reach out to us for further information on joining the SIG or creating one at your institution – students@wadem.org.
Join the SIG Distribution List
Vision and Objectives
Vision: The vision of SYP-SIG is to bring together interested students and young professionals from around the world to strengthen their knowledge and skillset in disaster and emergency medicine and foster SYP-SIG chapters at institutions with resources and support for capacity building and greater youth engagement.
Objectives: The objectives of the SYP-SIG are to:
- Provide a platform for interdisciplinary networking among students and young professionals interested in this field;
- Facilitate communication links between student and young professional perspectives and voices internal and external to WADEM's leadership;
- Develop leadership to champion WADEM and the student activities to the student community globally/locally; and
- Receive feedback and make recommendations to WADEM on the development and implementation of student initiatives
