Riley Liptak

= Division 2 / Major area of concentration  =

Title: Health and Behavioral Sciences with applications in Medicine, Education and Public Policy

Description:

My division II studies began with an investigation of American social organization as well as political theory and economic policy. During this period I followed a program of courses towards satisfying a major in Human Development and Social Relations with a concentration in Public Policy and Urban Affairs as outlined by Kalamazoo College. I gained hands on skills in community development and built academic knowledge from previous experiences working in the Hampshire County District Attorney’s Office and as Chair of the Youth Counsel for Mayor Claire Higgins of Northampton.

This portion of my college experience was highly bolstered by previous experience managing a contracting service for lawn, painting, carpentry, and machine maintenance and having trained 12 staff members in primary job skills. Along with experience organizing and educating for social activism campaigns.

From my experiences I gained a recognition of the weight of health literature upon public opinion as well as for policy considerations. I decided to take my education towards a technical degree in the natural sciences for which I could work in primary research generating knowledge of the negative human impacts of certain legislature or environmental practices.

Entering Hampshire College I choose to emphasize health studies in biobehavioral disorders, especially those with strong social factors in etiology. I became taught in stress physiology and mechanisms of induced neuropathology, and general behavioral sciences, psychology and animal behavior. I then furthered studies in human biology, medications and medical treatment, pathophysiology, and neurobiology.

Via these studies and specific interest studies in experiential education, biobehavioral therapy and determinants of human behavior I feel prepared for further academics or a career in fields relating to health, medical theory, education and policy.

= Division 3 / Undergraduate Thesis =

Title: Education for Community Health and Medical Capacity Building

Description:

This project explores the methods and conditions of medical education as a tool for public health. Education serves as a development strategy, and my discussions will examine how medical capacity building can serve to positively affect community health. This project has two main phases. The first phase will examine educational theory, and will include writing curriculum, developing training programs, and teaching for emergency response. The second phase will examine the use of medical training programs as sustainable relief development to Displaced Peoples of Burma.

Phase one will build an academic background and understanding of teaching methods and pedagogy by developing and teaching first aid curriculums for Emergency Medical Services, Search and Rescue, and to lay persons within the Hampshire College Community. Educational theory will come from a variety of resources on adult, experiential and medical education. Curriculum resources will come from materials in remote, wilderness, tropical, relief/aid, tactical, and emergency medicine.

Phase two will examine the medical situation affecting Internally and Externally Displaced Peoples (IDPs and EDPs/refugees) of Burma. After developing a strong understanding of the situation through available academic resources, I will visit clinics and operations in Northern Thailand as a means to understand the particularities of the situation. This will be coupled with in depth work with The NGO Free Burma Rangers that provides a relief Medic training program to the Burmese. During this work I will gain an understanding of this program's abilities and methods of providing education within a very unique medical situation.Not only does curriculum (what is taught) need to reflect that medics work in an austere, tactical and tropical environment, pedagogy (how it is taught) needs to reflect that the students have grown-up in and continually are exposed to that same environment.My studies of the Burmese medic trainings exemplifies educational requirements of individuals and will provide a framework for other relief operations and should prove useful in the generation of future relief medical education programs. These studies will additionally provide a platform for reexamining wilderness medical education in the United States.

Learning activities will be geared towards practicing curriculum development and teaching skills as well as building further knowledge in medical practices and procedures. Knowledge in physiology, neuroscience, endocrinology and medical sciences are among the key prerequisites I developed in my Division II that prepare me for this endeavor. Enhancing my knowledge of procedures and illnesses specific to the tropical, wilderness, and tactical setting that is Burma will be a major component of my Division III.

= Emergency Services =

Positions held:

Member HCEMS HCEMS (Hampshire College Emergency Medical Service)

Team Development and Training Coordinator

Wilderness Response Team Director

Member Berkshire Mountain Search and Rescue Team www.bmsar.net/index.html

Member National Ski Patrol, patrolling at Northfield Mountain www.nmnsp.org/

Certifications:

EMT-B Massachusetts, 884583

Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician- SOLO

Advanced Wilderness Life Support- Wilderness Medical Associates

Search and Rescue Technician Level 3 - National Association of Search and Rescue

Paramedic's Assistant- State of Massachusetts