New School Year - Year 2

I am beginning the 2nd year of the doctoral program. I can't even believe it. One year ago I was starting the program. Two years ago I was applying. That's how it happens - increments, baby steps.

I am working on a study plan and a research internship plan. In the study plan, I have to choose a focus:

1) Substantive area in social welfare
Evidence-based practice? My advisor says this is not a substantive area, more of a method or approach. Resilience? He says this is too big. He suggested child welfare, but this sounds like DCFS work, specifically. So it will be children's mental health and well-being or something like that.

2) Social and behavioral science knowledge applicable to the substantive area
The courses I want to take for this are mostly in Community Health Sciences. Courses like, Communication-Health Promotion and Education, Health Communication-Popular Media, Communication & Media Development in Health Promotion & Education. My idea is to adopt a universal, public health approach to children's mental health and well-being in the schools.

My thinking is that there are way too many of us, parents and kids, to address children's mental health in a piece-meal, individual therapy sort of way. There are nearly 700,000 students in LAUSD alone. Schools burst with 1,000 to 3,000 students. Since social norms are powerful and predictive, then why not spend some energy shifting those? It is less stigmatizing and individual therapy. Actually, it is the opposite of stigmatizing! It is easier to do it if everyone is doing it! Also, cheaper, preventive, etc.

Then I want to take this course: Latin America-Traditional Medicine, Shamanism, and Folk Illness. Cool, right? I want to RCT that shit right there. I am curious about how people around the world have figured it out. What helps kids grow up to be healthy, happy and wise despite the risks and traumatic events? If it means traveling to find out, I am down with that, too. It also strikes me as cheaper than the fancy shit that a lot of researchers have cooking up. Do you know how expensive evidence-based family therapy interventions are? Very expensive. That doesn't seem right.

3) Research methods
I am taking two quarters of Community-Based Participatory Research with Ken Wells, brilliant mind man. The class is designed for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars (physicians who want to be researchers) but Ken let me in. I have to take at least one more Statistics class (ugh) and I want to take some qualitative research methods courses, too.

Meeting with my advisor really set me at ease. My ideas, as grateful as I am for them, overwhelm me sometimes. I love it when professors help me to contain them - organize them, shape them into something useful.