Western Partners Trainee Spotlight: Alyssa Thomas

Alyssa is a second year MPH student in Nutrition/Dietetics at the Colorado School of Public Health and will begin a dietetic internship in the fall. She completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology at Stanford University and currently works in public health consulting. These experiences, along with that as a MCH nutrition trainee, have all informed her desire to reduce nutrition-related health disparities for underserved mothers and families.

As an MCH trainee this past year, I have had the great experience of supporting a technical assistance project aimed at advancing MCH nutrition initiatives for childhood obesity. This project began in fall of 2018 and works with four teams throughout the Western states. It aims to reduce disparities in obesity by focusing on populations disproportionately affected by the condition: low-income, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and rural women and children. On monthly community of practice calls, the teams discuss healthy eating and active living initiatives they are implementing that include individual, policy, systems, and environmental approaches. By participating in the calls and completing related modules on Systems Approaches for Healthy Communities from the University of Minnesota, I have gained valuable insight into working with communities on interdisciplinary teams to affect system and policy change. This insight will be invaluable in my future career as a public health dietitian.

As a future dietitian, I hope to work with mothers and families in a community setting, with the ultimate goal of helping to reduce disparities in nutritional health. Last month, I had to opportunity to improve skills relevant to this goal at the Western Maternal and Child Health Nutrition Leadership Network Conference. The second day of the conference featured a leadership workshop presented by Dr. Niki Steckler from Oregon Health Sciences University. The workshop included practice in articulating a vision, mapping networks of stakeholders, listening actively, and opening conversations powerfully. These communication and negotiation/conflict resolution skills will help me develop and strengthen coalitions and partnerships once I enter the field.