Mannat Singh recently graduated with a master's in public administration from the University of Colorado, Denver, School of Public Affairs. Her interests are in public will and advocacy, and how they can promote new and innovative health policies. Singh is attending the Symposium as part of its Symposium University program.
This Symposium experience has been unlike any event I have ever attended. In three days I have watched leaders educate, encourage and motivate the audience, I have been inspired by moral entrepreneurs, participated in the form of a "mystery challenger" for the interactive debate on the Affordable Care Act, attended a reception which placed me in a room with people who I would in no other situation have been able to engage with, and was just interviewed for a radio story by the Colorado News Connection! I have had an enriched experience, to say the least.
The interactive debate on the Affordable Care Act was an entertaining forum from which to gain information, hear the opinions of leaders in policy and health care, and get some very direct questions answered. The participants were Jon Caldara, Len Nichols, T.R. Reid, and Grace-Marie Turner. They were all extremely passionate, articulate and used their personalities to sell their opinions - each of them brought a different flavor to the debate ranging from soft and sweet to bold and bitter. As a mystery challenger, I was given the daunting opportunity to challenge one of the participants, the renowned Dr. Len Nichols, director for the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics. My question, centered around his position on the Affordable Care Act and what moderate politics means for today's policy environment, was followed by an extremely articulate limited-to-one-minute response–and I could not have been more excited to be a part of that event at the Symposium.
In my interview with the Colorado News Connection, I mentioned something that I haven't stopped thinking for the past three days: conferences are exciting in that the attendees and participants feed off of each other's energy and enthusiasm. You can almost physically see the transfer of attitudes, ideas and potential for new and strengthened connections. The exchange of information, beliefs and values is the perfect mix to promote reform and solutions as they relate to health care - and the Colorado Health Symposium optimized that potential.
A side note for other students or recent graduates: the general moral of the story here is NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK. The guidance, help and insider knowledge gained from networking with professionals in any field of study or work is an invaluable asset and the most important skill to build. The importance of networks, connections, and relationships was so clearly evident over the duration of this conference.
My final thoughts on the Symposium include a list of ideas, websites, nonprofits, and concepts to follow up on in terms of research, looking for opportunities, and finding ways to participate and integrate. For those following via the various social media outlets provided by the Colorado Health Foundation, the opportunity to pick up on some of these points of interest may have been lost and I would like to offer it up for anyone who is interested:
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Websites to look at: FastFoodMarketing.org; CookingMatters.org; HealthPolicySolutions.org; Ashoka.org; RevFoods.com
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Books/Documentaries to find: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks; No One Cares What You Had For Lunch; Sick Around the World
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Nonprofits to learn about: Cooking Matters; Ashoka Innovators For the Public; Food, Inc.
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Themes, ideas, concepts for consideration: Led by passion, guided by intellect; patient centered/centric care; dogma vs. evidence; optimal defaults vs. disastrous defaults; targeting of vulnerable populations; change agents; MacArthur Genius Grant; urban farming; moral entrepreneurs; "Don't Suck!"; If it bleeds, it leads; cultural competence; means-testing for entitlement programs
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Statements that stuck: "Monkeysphere: we are wired to recognize a certain number of people as "us" (research suggests around 150-200 people) and the rest as "them" – we need to stretch the monkeysphere"; "The difference between scientists and journalists is that scientists throw out the top- and bottom-most extreme numbers, and journalists throw out the middle"; "Your grandma would not recognize the stuff in grocery stores today as food"
Thank you Colorado Health Foundation and all the people who gave me the chance to be an active participant!
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