Events Gallery

¡Viva Science!

On May 3, faculty Bryan Bayles introduced the San Antonio community to the community health program at the annual Viva Science event held at the Witte Museum and sponsored by The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UT Health San Antonio. Throughout the day, Bayles engaged children in activities focused on teaching heart health, using models, props and coloring sheets, while fielding questions form parents about the program.

Public Health Preparedness Summit

From April 29 to May 2, community health majors Nate Gonzalez, Amanda Calapan, Iman Khan, Antonio Mercado, and Cassie Martinez joined the program’s director Monica Schoch-Spana in attending the Public Health Preparedness Summit, an annual convening of the nation’s scholars, practitioners, and policymakers who focus on the health aspects of disasters and epidemics. 

Regional Public Health Competition

On April 12, program director Monica Schoch-Spana served as one of 3 judges for St. Mary's Annual Regional Public Health Case Competition. At this day-long competition, undergraduate teams both networked and challenged each other to develop creative solutions to strengthen mental health in San Antonio and South-Central Texas.

National Public Health Week

From April 7 to 11, the community health program and Public Health Jaguars hosted TAMUSA’s celebration of National Public Health Week (NPHW) – an annual salute to the field promoted by the American Public Health Association. Comprised of 7 different activities, NPHW festivities provided a highly visible and interactive platform with which to raise awareness about public health and recruit for the program:

• Discover Public Health (April 7): Kicking off NPHW, this tabling event introduced students – especially  those unfamiliar with public health and the degree plan – to the core principles and importance of public health in daily life. To enhance the event’s educational value, the Public Health Jaguars partnered with San Antonio’s Metro Health Immunizations Department.

• Public Health 101 – Game Social (April 7): This interactive event aimed to raise awareness among students new to public health. Using Kahoot Quiz, the Public Health Jaguars covered fun facts about public health, infectious diseases, prevention methods, and other topics.

• Promoting Healthy Habits – Wellness Fair! (April 8): This collaborative event – involving Public Health, Mental Health, Pre-Dental, Pre-Health, Kinesiology, Psychology, Student Government Association and organizations – promoted core pillars of public health: education, prevention, collaboration, and inclusion. Leveraging student group partnerships and student research on STI/STD enabled students to explore healthy living and wellness in a hands-on way. 

• Public Health in Action! (April 8): This moderated panel of leading Central Texas professionals discussed their careers and contributions in public health. The event modeled for students the diverse career possibilities in public health,  inspired them about the impacts they can have in advancing healthy communities, and offered them opportunities for networking and onsite mentorship. Panelists included Carol Huber, Vice President for University Health’s Institute for Public Health; Joshua Collier, Community Health Worker, CHW Instructor and Patient Advocate, Austin, TX; Dr. Lyssa Ochoa, Vascular Surgeon and Founder/Director, San Antonio Vascular and Endovascular Clinic; and Dr. Golareh Agha, Chief of Informatics, Office of Epi Analytics and Informatics, Metro Health, San Antonio.

 

• Healthy Planet, Healthy People (April 9): To promote systems thinking and community-centric efforts, this activity engaged with the compelling topic of food insecurity in San Antonio. The Public Health Jaguars and the Pre-Health Society volunteered at the San Antonio Food Bank, preparing over 3,000 food items for low-income students. 

 

• Spotlight on TAMUSA Public Health Researchers (April 10): This showcase exposed students to the investigation side of public health, allowing them to envision possibly standing in researchers’ shoes someday. Panelists included Drs. Bryan Bayles, Monica Schoch-Spana, Rector Arya, Donna Lehman, and Bill Bush plus his honors student researchers presented on their respective research projects.

 

• Advocacy and Action! (April 11): This collaborative tabling event with Centro Med and YouthDoVote informed students about current health related senate bills hitting the Texas legislature and encouraged them to actively participate in the political space as young persons. In addition, Public Health Jaguars promoted the degree program and Fall 2025 community health courses

The Invisible Shield Screening and Discussion

 

On March 19, the program hosted a public screening – in-person and via zoom – of Episode 4 of The Invisible Shield, a documentary that asked, “If public health makes modern life possible, then why is it underfunded, undervalued and misunderstood, putting our health at risk?” This event was the last in a series of screenings by the consortium of local academic public health programs and University Health. Fielding audience questions were the program’s faculty Bryan Bayles and Monica Schoch and Carol Huber, Vice President of University  Health’s Institute for Public Health.

Palo Alto Preview Day

On February 19, director Monica Schoch-Spana represented the community health program at Preview Day for students from Palo Alto College who were considering transferring Texas A&M University – San Antonio. She joined other TAMUSA units to help potential Jaguars understand the admissions process, discover academic programs, and get their questions answered.

Future Jaguars Day

On October 19, community health faculty Bryan Bayles and director Monica Schoch-Spana teamed up to promote the community health program to incoming students attending the Academic Fair organized by TAMUSA’s Community Partnerships and Campus Visit Experience.

Regional Public Health Competition

On April 6, community health majors Nate Gonzalez and Nicole Becerra won top honors at the Annual Regional Public Health Case Competition, focusing on diabetes prevention. Public health undergraduate teams competed in creating innovative interventions to address a real-life public health issue affecting San Antonio and South-Central Texas.