{"id":76517,"date":"2015-12-07T09:55:06","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T14:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?p=76517"},"modified":"2020-09-17T10:28:27","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T14:28:27","slug":"in-the-classroom-students-get-practice-with-press","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2015\/in-the-classroom-students-get-practice-with-press\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Classroom: Students Get Practice with Press"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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December 7, 2015<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Michael
Michael Saunders, communications multimedia director at SPH, listens to students give a “press conference” on an outbreak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At a press conference about a case of Ebola in Dallas, a hard-hitting reporter raises her hand. Why, she demands of the two infectious disease epidemiologists at the podium, aren\u2019t you doing more to eliminate the disease in West Africa?<\/p>\n

One of the epidemiologists explains their main concern: controlling this case of Ebola in the US \u201cso it doesn\u2019t blow up to the same proportions as it has there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Saunders, the communications multimedia director at the School of Public Health, lets out a long whistle. The class breaks out laughing. \u201cTake two!\u201d says Natasha Hochberg, assistant professor of epidemiology.<\/p>\n

The two students playing epidemiologists respond to their fellow student\u2014the \u201creporter\u201d\u2014again, this time without suggesting the possibility of a catastrophic Ebola outbreak in the US.<\/p>\n

This is EP800: Microbes and Methods: Selected Topics in Outbreak Investigation, co-taught by Hochberg and Associate Professor of Biostatistics Laura White<\/a>. On \u00a0this particular day,\u00a0the students are practicing a vital\u2014but rarely taught\u2014part of public health work: talking to the press and public.<\/p>\n

In three scenarios based on real-world outbreaks, students are posing as reporters, concerned community members, and public health officials, with Saunders and Hochberg helping the latter craft clear, calm answers and explanations.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur whole approach to the class was to try to give students an integrated way to approach outbreaks,\u201d Hochberg says. The class addresses key infectious diseases seen in\u00a0outbreaks, how to approach investigations, how to analyze outbreak data, testing environmental sources, and other facets of outbreak investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunicating with the media,\u201d Hochberg says, \u201cis a critical portion of dealing with outbreaks.”<\/p>\n

By the third scenario\u2014several visitors to Yosemite contracted Hantavirus, which is carried by mice\u2014the students are becoming pros. They \u201cpivot\u201d questions away from panic and keep clear and calm, even when the questions get strange:<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard if you mix vinegar and human urine, and spray it all over the mouse droppings, it will kill the Hantavirus?\u201d<\/p>\n

Straight-faced, the students at the podium gently respond. Afterward, Saunders tells them they did a good job being respectful. \u201c’That\u2019s not a solution I\u2019m aware of…\u2019 Shutting down these wacky ideas drives the conspiracy theorists, of which there are many, into overdrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students laugh\u2014and nod knowingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good reality-check and learning experience,\u201d student Rachelann Tripp says after class. \u201cThere\u2019s no backspace,\u201d she adds, no way to take back a slip of the tongue.<\/p>\n

Student\u00a0Nour Baghdady\u00a0agrees. The day’s exercise gave her ideas on “how to think about [communications], how to prepare for it, what to anticipate. I think it was really helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Michelle Samuels<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A visit from SPH Communications helps students learn to talk to media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10989,"featured_media":76532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[503,509,1925],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3521,3528,3530],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[451,261],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/76517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10989"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76517"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/76517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174361,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/76517\/revisions\/174361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76517"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=76517"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=76517"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=76517"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=76517"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=76517"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=76517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}