APHA-Student Assembly

Submit Abstract

PLEASE CAREFULLY READ THIS ENTIRE CALL FOR ABSTRACTS BEFORE SUBMISSION.

ALSO BE AWARE THAT APHA-SA REGARDS A SUBMITTED ABSTRACT AS A COMMITMENT TO PRESENT. WITHDRAWLS DUE TO LACK OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT, THOUGH UNDERSTANDABLE, ARE HIGHLY UNPROFESSIONAL AND ARE LOOKED UPON UNFAVORABLY.

APHA- Student Assembly (APHA-SA) seeks abstracts from students in public health or related fields on any topic. Abstracts related to the 2008 Annual Meeting theme "Public Health Without Borders" are strongly encouraged.
Student papers should reflect work undertaken while in school, either undergraduate or graduate programs. We also invite abstracts pertaining to public health student issues in general (such as education, curricula, training, employment trends, student leadership, advocacy, etc.) and/or as they relate to the Annual Meeting theme.
  • Current Topics in Student Research - any current research or intervention being conducted by a student
  • Ethical questions & challenges in public health
  • Right to health - ex. access to care, environmental justice (clean air, water, or food), & social justice
  • Rights of vulnerable populations - ex. health disparities, right to education, Native American health issues, children's health issues, & border health
  • Sexual and reproductive health - ex. HIV/AIDS disparities, trends in sexual health education, & right to contraceptive choice
  • Student Training and Education - any innovative practices, training, activities, or curriculum at universities
  • Violence & health - ex. war, domestic violence / intimate partner violence, race / religion intolerances, & bullying in schools
Abstracts must be 250 words or less. Please use spell-check and word count features, and have a colleague review the abstract for grammatical errors before submitting. Abstracts will be blind peer reviewed and ranked on importance/originality, description of subject matter, methodology/sound conceptual framework, clarity of content, and overall format of abstract. Individual contributions will be considered for poster and oral sessions.

Because of limited sessions and space, the programmers may not be able to accommodate your preference for presentation format (oral versus poster). However, if you will only present your abstract in your preferred format, please make note of this in the section “Comments to Programmers”. Again, no guarantees can be made as to the ability of programmers to fulfill your preference, but we will try our best to do so.

Though we have accepted abstracts with research that is still in progress at the time of submission, the project must be completed by the Annual Meeting. It is also important to note that after the submission deadline has passed, NO CHANGES to the title or body of text will be allowed. Therefore it is important that your abstract contain the correct information at the time of submission, which should include any preliminary results and/or anticipated results.

Before preparing your abstract, it is recommended that you review the Abstract Writing Guide available at http://aphastudents.org/docs/abstractguide05.pdf. This document was written by the programmer of APHA-SA, based on common errors seen in student abstract submissions in previous meetings.

Likewise, it is recommended to review previous student abstracts at http://www.apha.org/meetings/pastfuture/pastannualmeetings.htm. You can see previous research and presentations completed by students during APHA-SA sessions (select the meeting, APHA Student Assembly, and then a session). This is one of the best ways to see if your research would be appropriate for presentation during APHA-SA sessions.

It is important to note that topics and sessions may not be the same this year as in year’s past. Sessions are created based on the APHA Annual Meeting theme and the topical majority of student submissions. If you are still unsure if your abstract would fit in APHA-SA sessions, please email the APHA-SA programmers or Abstracts Chair. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.

APHA-SA offers a Student Presenter Scholarship for students that are presenting during APHA-SA sessions. After abstract acceptance notifications have been emailed (June 2008), information concerning the Scholarship Competition will be emailed to all authors of accepted abstracts. ONLY students presenting during APHA-SA sessions are eligible for this competition.

Additionally, all expenses incurred for presenting at APHA are the sole responsibility of the student author. Presenters must pay their own APHA membership, registration, travel, and lodging. If presenting at the APHA Annual Meeting is contingent on receiving financial support, please do not submit an abstract – there is only limited space for student presentations, and it is not fair to other students to withdraw your abstract just before the APHA Annual Meeting because of lack of funds. Also note there are NO free or reduced registrations for presenters. Student presenters must pay the student registration rate.

The deadline for submission to APHA-SA is February 8th, Midnight PST. Do not wait until the last minute to prepare and submit your abstract because technical difficulties may occur which may interfere with your submission. By no means should you submit an abstract after the deadline has passed, even if you are able to by the system. Knowingly submitting an abstract past the deadline will result in an automatic rejection of abstract. Please do not submit past the deadline. In the past, APHA-SA has been able to provide a LateBreaker Call for Abstracts, however there is absolutely no guarantee that this will occur again this year. It is best to submit an abstract during the regular submission period; if we do offer a LateBreaker Call, you can submit an updated, revised abstract then, as long as you notify the APHA-SA programmers of your actions, so the necessary steps can be taken.

APHA-SA encourages first-time presenters, if you have never presented at an APHA Annual Meeting please make sure to select the First-Time Presenter button when you submit your abstract.

If you have any questions, contact the APHA-SA Program Planners directly at programming@aphastudents.org or APHA-SA Abstracts Chair. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.

You should also review Abstract Submission FAQ at http://aphastudents.org/docs/abstractsubmissionfaq.doc before emailing the programmers, many of your questions have already been answered there. Thank you.
Submit Abstract

Program Planner Contact Information:
Monet Silva-Caldwell, MPH
Stempel School of Public Health
Florida International University
12524 Royal Winslow Pl. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87111
Phone: 505-299-6361
monetsilvacaldwell@gmail.com

and
Mariza Hardin, BS
School of Public Health
University of New Mexico
417 Peaceful Meadows
Rio Rancho, NM 87144
Phone: 505-280-5669

and
Kristy A. Siegel, MPH, CHES
Department of Environmental Health
University of South Florida
14220 SW 34th St.
Miami, FL 33175
Phone: 305-498-1940
ksiegelapha@hotmail.com