Not many people (including myself) would think that the life of a public health graduate student juggling classes, jobs, volunteering and extracurriculars would leave time to join a book club. But, that is exactly what a group of students at the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) do each year to build community and have a good discussion around a salient public health topic. While graduate students do plenty of public health reading throughout their course of study, many of the popular public health titles that are on bookstore shelves never find their way into the classroom. The Public Health Scholars book club at RSPH allows a group of students to pick a book on a public health theme, broadly defined, take winter break to read the book, and come together at the beginning of spring semester to discuss the topic and its implications for the field. The Deans of RSPH, including Dr. Jim Curran, and select expert faculty are invited by the students to read the book and participate in discussion. Studentslove the opportunity to give Deans homework and challenge their perspective on theirchosen book.

The Public Health Scholars group began four years ago at RSPH as a way for scholarship recipients from across departments to connect and learn from one another. The book club has proven to be an excellent way for these students to bring different perspectives to popular public health topics. Most recently, a book on health care reform by T.R. Reid, “The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care ” spurred a debate, in January 2010, among students from each of the RSPH core disciplines on both the economic feasibility of health care reform and the appropriate first steps toward effective reform. This discussion, in a relaxed environment, was the perfect way to critically analyze a topic of importance to all public health students.

Past book's chosen have included: Pathologies of Power by Paul Farmer, The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Lee Davis, and The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Students are eager to read this year's selection, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, to discuss the role of ethics in public health research. The popular dialogue on public health is extremely relevant to the work that public health professionals and researchers carry out since we are responsible for serving the public. Our book club is an excellent way for us to tap into these public discussions, make new friends, learn new perspectives, and read books for pleasure!

Pathologies of Power By Paul Farmer	The Secret History of the War on Cancer By Devra Davis	The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan	The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot