Following up on the larger discussion we had in class regarding environmental exposures, I found this exercise to be very insightful. It was interesting to see how so many of us, myself included, struggled to really understand what an environmental exposure even was. Thinking back, I think a lot of the class got stuck thinking too "big picture" and stumbled when it came to getting specific.
The example that comes to mind was when some students listed "plants" as an environmental exposure. When this was first suggested, I personally felt I understood what the students meant - and I agreed with them that "plants" seemed like a legitimate environmental exposure. However, I now have a better understanding and know that "plants" is far too wide of an umbrella term. Something more specific like "pollen" or the "toxic oils" found on certain types of plants would have been a better example - but until this exercise I did not know that.
Another thing that I found to be a stumbling block was my lack of knowledge surrounding specific viruses, bacteria, chemicals, etc. Some of the students in our class come from a stronger medical background than myself, and they were very excited to share their knowledge with the class regarding certain, specific, exposures that they knew were potentially harmful. I found their excitement to be inspiring and I look forward to learning more from these classmates this Fall. I think the best approach for me to take this semester however, might be to try and find a few environmental exposures that interest me - and stick to studying and understanding those. This way, I will not feel overwhelmed with learning about every environmental exposure around and I can obtain a solid understanding of one exposure and how it transfers to human life from start to finish. I am really looking forward to seeing what the rest of this semester is like and finding out about environmental exposures that resonate with me.
Thank you!
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteGlad I wasn't the only one who felt clueless when Professor Sattler broke us up into groups to discuss environmental exposures. Once everyone shared their ideas of exposures, I felt a little more at ease because I actually was familiar with some (not many) of them however, I would have never thought to refer to them as environmental exposures! I'm glad their are people with a stronger medical background in the class because we can learn from them as well :). This class will definitely open our mind to a range of exposures including the ones workers face in their occupation and I cannot wait to learn more about them along with all of you. See you around!
Hi Brianna,
DeleteHa ha! Yes, I felt a sense of relief once we all started talking about exposures as well. The exercise became that much easier once we all started talking and bouncing ideas off one another - using the class as a sounding board is such a helpful tool for me!
Hi Alex,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that many of us struggled with what an environmental exposure even was! I'm still a tad bit lost on the matter. When my team mentioned plants, I think we thought of specifics like being allergic to pollen or having other allergies, however we were so unsure, that we didn't give any answer in case we were totally off the mark! It definitely shows the importance of this class and how far we all have to go in understanding environmental health to the fullest.
I do agree also, that a few classmates really knew specifics when it came to chemicals or other environmental exposures. I too, have a ways to go in terms of understanding the exposures I encounter everyday. - Christina K-H
Response: Christina
ReplyDeleteI think both Christina and I were caught a bit off guard with how many items of our households qualified as environmental exposures. Looking at her blog post, it is clear that we were both not prepared to find the list of exposures so long! I appreciated though that she mentioned the class sort of coming together in this exercise to try and answer the question Dr Sattler posed to us.
Response: Brianna
Brianna expressed a similar sentiment as Christina and I. We were all a bit surprised at how many different exposures there were on the list. I really liked that Brianna was extremely honest from the very beginning of this post as she wasn't afraid to make it clear that she doesn't have a great deal of experience in this field. I can related! Prior to this class I had very little experience grappling with environmental health issues too!!