The Ohio State University Vaccination Policy Compliance Assessment
Specialization: Epidemiology
Location: Wilce Student Health Center
Agency Name: Office of Student Life: Student Health Services
Agency Location: University or College
Taking on a project and building it up is terrifying the first time you do it, but remember: you know more than you think you know!
Major Projects:
During my practicum with Student Health Services, I was responsible for assessing compliance with the OSU vaccination requirements among the student body on the main Columbus campus. Since the OSU vaccination requirement policy was implemented in the 2015-2016 school year, the overarching goal of this project was to determine the extent to which the student body was knowingly protected against outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases during the 2015-2019 period. This involved developing a data collection plan, working with the Health Information Services team to gather the relevant information from the electronic health record, and analyzing the data to calculate compliance rates for relevant student groups. I then used this information as a basis for policy recommendations to increase student compliance with these requirements. Another element of this project involved analyzing the numbers and rates of students filing exemptions to these requirements, so that the University might be able to determine a rough estimate of the amount of student on campus actually immunized against these vaccine-preventable diseases.
Having the opportunity to work on this project was incredibly meaningful to me. Over the course of a summer, I was able to use the skills that I had developed in the classroom during the previous two semesters to tangibly work towards improving the health of the public. The fact that I was working to improve the health of the Ohio State student population was also incredibly exciting, since it is rare in my experience to have the chance to actually see the results of your work in action. The work that I did during this practicum was done for people that I know, for a campus that I am a member of, and for the health of a community that I live in. I ran into numerous obstacles and difficulties during this project: creating analysis plans and datasheets from the ground up, dealing with an electronic health record that changed from day to day, and handling more data than I have ever had to deal with before. Despite all of this, the knowledge that I was actively working towards the betterment of the Ohio State campus made all of the struggles worth it. I have never been as proud of a project as I have been with this compliance assessment!
