In preparation for my last year of grad school (which starts tomorrow), I printed the syllabus for the two of my classes already up on Blackboard. Included on the syllabus were some reading assignments that were to be done by the first day of class, three of which were for my Social Work and HIV/AIDS course. I read the two shorter articles first (to feel like I had done more, of course) and then got comfy for the last one which was pretty long. It was the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States.
Wow, what an interesting read! It goes over where the US is right now and where our government is hoping we will be by the year 2015. It also breaks down the three major goals into small steps which will make the goals more achievable. Though it was repetitive at times, overall it was so informative and at times a bit shocking. There was one particular statistic which really bothered me:
"The percentage of the American public that holds these misperceptions (of how the disease can be transmitted) has not changed since 1987." (p. 19)
Please, America. Educate yourselves. Educate yourselves on transmission. Educate yourselves on prevention. Educate yourselves on treatments. Educate yourselves on HIV/AIDS. This really seems to be a huge problem. It was even stated in the report that the visibility of the disease and issues has waned in more recent years. HIV/AIDS is a disease we can have control over, that is 100% preventable. Education, or lack thereof, seems to play a huge part in the fact that there are 56,000 people becoming infected each year. Let's all become more educated and help get that number diminished.
“The United States will become a place where new HIV infections are rare
and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity,
sexual orientation, gender identity or socio-economic circumstance, will have
unfettered access to high quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and
discrimination” -- Vision for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
It's so exciting to be in your last year! Question for you though...since it's a two year program, does it feel like a last year yet? Or you think it will hit you next semester? I'm curious because I wonder if it feels longer because of the course work.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on all your reading!!
Thanks! It definitely does feel like a last year. The work load doesn't seem that bad this semester - lots of assignments are spread out so the only time I have lots due is the last day of class (two multiple choice exams, a big paper and guided instruction hours which are usually small papers). Also, since we only have class one day a week (internship three days) and there are 15 weeks to a semester, I only have 29 class days til I'm done! That's what is really insane.
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