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Education to Practice: MPH Program Graduates
Where They Are, What They're Doing
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Dolly T. Yang, MPH
University of Southern California, 2005
Clinical Project Manager
CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation
Ms. Yang is currently a Clinical Project Manager with CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation where she manages several NIH-funded research grants for the Children’s Oncology Group and the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium. In this position, Ms. Yang is responsible for the management of over $10 million in funds supporting pediatric cancer and blood and marrow transplantation research. She provides project management and communication and organizational support to Project Directors, Investigators, and Clinical Research Associates. Ms. Yang has contributed to the design and analysis of several research studies at the University of Southern California, and her other outstanding accomplishments include a fellowship award that allowed her to travel to Mumbai, India to assess sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS education and prevention efforts provided by faith-based organizations. Ms. Yang was also a Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Fellow named by the American Public Health Association MCH section in 2005 and a Presidential Scholar at the University of Georgia (2000-2002). Ms. Yang hopes to pursue a PhD in the future and continue working in clinical evaluations for children’s health issues.
"The USC MPH program provided challenges, discipline and opportunities that have been extremely valuable to the development of my career. The best part about the program is the opportunity to work in field while completing course work, which is the best way to acquire hands-on experience. Also, the clinical focus of the Biostatistics and Epidemiology concentration of my program is directly related to the work that I do today as a project manager in pediatric cancer research. Without this training from expert faculty coupled with the research experience gained through the program, I would not be where I am today."
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Carol Noel Michaels, MPH, CHES
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), 2004
Health Educator
Valley Preferred, Allentown, PA
Carol is a Health Educator for Valley Preferred, a provider-owned Preferred Provider Organization in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She is responsible for designing and executing programs to promote healthier lifestyles in the workplace for Valley Preferred’s business clients. In addition to other projects, Carol also coordinates the internal health and wellness committee and programs for her colleagues.
Prior to joining Valley Preferred in 2007, Carol was a Health Educator in a municipal health department where she gained experience in community organizing, coalition building, survey design, and grant writing. She is a member of the national Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and Pennsylvania chapter of SOPHE. Carol is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and earned a MPH in Community Health Education from UNCG, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
At UNCG, Carol was a Graduate Assistant and participated in research involving schools in Forsyth County. For her graduate internship, Carol was a Health Communication/Cancer Research Training Fellow at the National Institutes of Health Tobacco Control Research Branch (TCRB). Here, Carol helped to develop content for the Smokefree.gov website and received an NIH Plain Language Award for this contribution. She also co-authored a paper on adolescent smoking cessation with her internship adviser, published in Health Education Research in 2008.
“UNCG’s MPH program was instrumental in helping me to acquire the skills, knowledge, and confidence I needed to pursue the broad field of public health. My job combines Health Education with business and the insurance industry, all of which are rapidly changing in many ways. My professors, whom I still consider friends and mentors, challenged me to challenge myself – academically and professionally. With their flexibility and encouragement, I was able to apply for and accept the NIH internship, which I believe, helped to open doors in other areas of my career. UNCG offered small classes and a focused concentration in community health education, which granted access to research projects and other community initiatives in the Greensboro area. In addition, the faculty encouraged me to become a CHES and get involved with national and local professional organizations. These have been important building blocks to my professional development. My future plans are to continue working to promote health in the Lehigh Valley, PA, and to keep learning!”
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Ellen Schafer, MPH, CHES
University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, 2006
Interim Assistant Director of Health Promotion
University of Mississippi
After graduating from the MPH program at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, I moved to Elmira, NY and worked under a New York State Tobacco Control Program grant for two years. Since then, I have moved to Oxford, MS and currently work in the Office of Health Promotion at the University of Mississippi. The Office of Health Promotion was developed to address the many and varied student alcohol-use issues in the community. I was hired as the first health educator to help expand the office’s ability to address student health behaviors beyond alcohol misuse and abuse. Currently, I am acting in an interim directorship position, and thus am involved in managing the integrity of the systems and programs we have in place. My accomplishments to this point have been to revamp and reorganize our BASICS (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students) and JADE (Judicial Alcohol and Drug Education) programs, convene and chair a violence/sexual assault task force for the campus community, build a partnership with the American Cancer Society and ACT Now Cessation Center, supervise four graduate assistants, and set up a new semester-long graduate internship position for health promotion students. As in any community, the needs are truly unique to the specific segments of the population, and that’s what I find to be the most exciting. Each class and organization on campus has its own vibe and attitude that accompanies their behaviors and choices. I am enjoying getting acquainted and working with the Greek organizations, student clubs, and graduate students that I consider partners and the leaders in this quest for positive health behaviors.
The knowledge, skills, and preparation I received from my MPH program at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse have proved time and again to be invaluable. They go beyond assessment, policy development, assurance, and health educator competencies – I learned first-hand what it means to advocate for a an unpopular cause, the steps necessary to recruit a target audience, how to model behavior, think abstractly, and value the networks that eventually lead to the goal of a comprehensive approach. While I may still be a bit green in the university arena, I am confident in the work that I am doing and have never felt unprepared or incapable. Due to my graduate assistantship experience and the practitioner-based education I received, I can look forward to what comes next and look back with gratitude.
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Grant Sunada, MPH
Brigham Young University, 2008
Health Information Specialist and Media Liaison
Utah Department of Health, Diabetes Prevention and Control Program
Grant Sunada is a Health Information Specialist and Media Liaison for the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program at the Utah Department of Health and oversee theProgram's mass media and marketing efforts. He recently received a Master of Public Health from Brigham Young University. During his time at BYU, he completed a study with the Utah Center for Multicultural Health on "Health messaging among alternative high school students in Utah County" and received the Public Health Spirit Award from the Health Sciences Department at BYU. Grant presented in May at the Utah Public Health Association conference on "Harnessing the Power of Web 2.0 for Health Promotion" and at the American Public Health Association national conference on "Assessing the Emergency Obstetric Care System in Pursat, Cambodia through the UN Process Indicators." Ultimately, Grant aims to employ international and multicultural not-for-profit/public-sector experience, interpersonal skills, and public health research skills to improve public health and eliminate health disparities among diverse populations as part of a mission-driven organization with a global health perspective.
Working under the tutelage of the BYU MPH program's diverse and internationally experienced faculty helped me develop the skills necessary to work within public/global health agencies and among underserved populations in order to enrich cultural identities with improved health practices. Whether interviewing recent mothers concerning their delivery practices in rural Cambodia, designing and delivering diabetes health messages targeted to minority populations in Utah or giving an oral presentation at the national conference of the American Public Health Association, these rich and varied experiences all came as a result of the professional networks and mentoring of BYU MPH faculty. A day on my professional path does not pass without some reference back to my studies at BYU.
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Jarrett Thompson, MPH
Indiana University, Bloomington
Administrative Director
University of Chicago HIV/AIDS Community Clinic Network
Mr. Jarret Thompson, MPH is currently the Administrative Director of the University of Illinois Chicago HIV/AIDS Community Clinic Network. He has over 10 years experience in non-profit, health care management, focusing on HIV/AIDS administrative operations. He provides fiscal, administrative, quality improvement and strategic planning operations and oversight to the UIC HIV/AIDS Community Clinic Network. This includes supervision of all clinical and administrative staff for one academic medical center and 6 community based clinical outreach sites with over $2.5 million in federal, state, and local funding. Mr. Thompson sits on several committees including the AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s Executive Committee; Chicago Department of Public Health’s Part A Planning Council; and is a Chicago Department of Public Health, HRSA, AIDS Foundation of Chicago and National Institutes of Health grant proposal reviewer. Prior to UIC, Jarret was director of HIV/AIDS programs for Erie Family Health Center in Chicago and was the Shelter Plus Care Administrator for Wishard Health Services in Indianapolis, IN. Mr. Thompson completed his Master of Public Health degree at Indiana University Bloomington, where he completed an overseas internship at Moi University, in Eldoret, Kenya.
"My MPH experience at Indiana University was individualized and exceptional. I was able to work full-time and attend classes full-time in both Bloomington and Indianapolis. If you have the drive to excel and work hard, the faculty in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, particularly department of Applied Health Sciences will help you to create a schedule that works for you.”
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Tania Barman Basta, Ph.D., MPH, CHES
Indiana University Bloomington, 2003
Assistant Professor in Community Health Services
Ohio University, School of Public Health Sciences and Professions, Athens, OH
Tania Basta is an Assistant Professor in a tenure track position in the School of Public Health Sciences and Professions at Ohio University in Athens, OH. She is responsible for coordinating the undergraduate Community Health Services program, advising students, as well as teaching undergraduate and graduate community health courses. In addition, to her teaching responsibilities, Tania is involved with research focusing on increasing the quality of life among individuals living with HIV. She has presented and published several peer-reviewed publications related to HIV and mental health and HIV and exercise behavior. Furthermore, she is involved with a multi-million dollar project funded by USAID, Communication for Change (C-Change), which involves several international and domestic partners, including Ohio University. The focus of the program is to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of behavior change and social change communication as an integral part of development efforts in health, environment, and civil society. In the future, Tania would like to expand her research agenda to focus on the local health needs of individuals living in Appalachia (OU is located in Appalachia) in order to develop interventions that are responsive to their needs.
Value of my MPH
I strongly believe that I am where I am today because of the MPH program at Indiana University. I initially pursued an MPH to further my career in worksite health; however, after becoming involved in research projects with IU faculty, I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in health behavior at the University of Georgia. My MPH degree not only prepared me for coursework at the Ph.D. level, but also helped me secure my tenure track position at Ohio University. One of the things I learned from my MPH program, that has been invaluable, is the importance of engaging community members in research and evaluation. I am often consulted by other faculty members who did not get this training or experience; therefore, I feel confident that my MPH program, coupled with Ph.D., has provided me with a unique set of community-based participatory research skills.
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Martina Ocrah, MPH, MT (ASCP)
University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 2005
Research & Data Analysis Coordinator
Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Division, Monroe County Health Department
“It is one thing to generate data, but it’s another to interpret and make relevant the implications of the numbers.”
-Martina Ocrah, MPH, 2005 University of Rochester
As the Research and Data Analysis Co-ordinator at the Monroe County Health Department, I dedicate a large portion of my time researching the literature, and providing qualitative and quantitative guidelines to the 4 divisions within the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Department; namely the STD/HIV prevention and Control, the Tuberculosis Prevention Program, Immunizations and Disease Control and Pediatric Foster Care. I report to the Division Chair on disease trend analyses, CORE/vulnerable group identification, process evaluations/logistics and Community Education/Outreach.
Although a large portion of my time is spent in STD/HIV prevention and control, I particularly enjoy the interdisciplinary nature of the position, and the opportunity it offers me to collaborate with the Program Directors and their staff. Working at the health department has been a great eye opener for me. It has been wonderful to gather primary data, analyze trends, and present findings to a ready and dedicated audience. The public health workers are incredibly passionate about the work they do, and are always looking for ways to improve the work they do for the community.
In the future I would like to get an advanced degree to enhance my MPH degree. Although I’m not exactly sure if it will be a DrPh, PhD or MSN (Masters of Science in Nursing), I know that I would like to do more research on STDs and Reproductive Health; particularly in resource poor environments.
I knew I wanted to pursue my MPH during my sophomore year of college. At the time all I knew was that I wanted to do something for the WHO, or the CDC (I actually struck up conversation with the director of WHOAFRO), but had no idea what I wanted to focus on, or how I wanted to get there. Being in the Generalist tract at the University of Rochester allowed me to realize how multifaceted public health is. It was during my training that I realized that my interests were in the Behavioral and Social sciences, as well as research.
My position in the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control (CDPC) division allows me use the research skills I gained in the University of Rochester’s MPH program. I support my interpretations of the primary research I conduct with findings from the Pubic Health, Anthropology, Psychology, Nursing and Medical literature (to name a few). The University of Rochester gave me the foundation I needed to succeed in my career at the Health Department. It is for this reason that I also continue with the MPH program education and research efforts. In addition to my work at the Health Department, I am currently assisting in a course in Community Medicine for undergraduate students at the University, and collaborating with the MPH faculty on Obesity research.
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Tonantzin E. Rodriguez (Soto-maiden), MPH
California State University, Fresno, 2007
Medical Student
UC Davis School of Medicine
Tonantzin continues her education at the UC Davis School of Medicine. The UC Davis Rural-PRIME program and the Klingenstein Fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry further enriches her training. The selective Rural-PRIME program focuses on training medical students in leadership, advocacy, and research in telemedicine and rural health. To provide learning opportunities for all medical students concerning rural health, Tonantzin founded the Rural Medicine Student Interest Group (Rural Med SIG) and coordinated medical school elective courses. Through Rural Med SIG, Tonantzin strives to provide health education and encouragement for the pursuit of higher education among low-income, rural schools. On weekends, Tonantzin volunteers for Clinica Tepati, a student-run clinic for the Sacramento low-income population. Last year, Tonatnzin earned a UC Davis travel grant award to present her research on immigrant prenatal care at the American Public Health Association conference in Washington, DC. The California Academy of Family Physicians awarded Tonantzin with an academic scholarship and a fully-funded summer preceptorship in family practice. She also earned scholarships from the California Medical Association Foundation and the UC Davis Rural-PRIME program. Tonantzin looks forward to a career in family medicine and community-based chronic disease prevention efforts in a low-income area.
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Katherine Mioko Miller
University of Hawaii, 2006
Environmental Health Officer
Department of Public Health Sciences, Aspen Medical
My full-time position has been as an Environmental Health Officer with Aspen Medical in Dili, Timor-Leste since 2006. This is a position for a private Australian company that subcontracts to provide medical and public health services to the International Stabilisation Force in East Timor. My scope of work includes vector control, food and water monitoring, and epidemiological investigations.
In my spare time, I engaged in community development. I volunteered for 1.5 years with Oxfam Australia in a number of activities. I performed a reproductive health (RH) literature review and recommendations on how Oxfam could incorporate RH activities into their current program. I also assisted with the analysis of a four-agency (Oxfam, Care, Concern, and CRS) food security baseline survey data with more in-depth analysis of Oxfam food security data. I then conducted a literature review and presentation on permanent housing schemes for IDPs. Most recently I have been conducting training to local NGOs in Dili (Alola Foundation, Seeds of Life) on qualitative data analysis and software.
Although I no longer live in Hawaii, I was honored to be inducted into the Hawaii chapter of the Delta Omega public health Honorary Society. Unfortunately, because I live overseas, I am unable to actively participate in the chapter.
In future I plan on continuing to pursue public health projects in developing countries. I would like to be involved in project management where I am able to provide some advice or training to national staff. My two years in East Timor so far has given me the opportunity to experience the rewards of working with national staff in developing countries.
My MPH degree from the University of Hawaii has helped me to pursue a career in international public health. Without the degree and the experience from the program, I would not have been able to move overseas. Due to the wide range of skills covered by the degree and the opportunity to focus on the Asia Pacific region, the MPH program at the University of Hawaii has been invaluable to my current position as well as my future goals.
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Joseph Portale, MD, MSPH
Thomas Jefferson University, 2006
PGY1
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine
I am proud to have completed the Masters of Public Health program at TJUH. I began classes part-time in 2003 prior to starting medical school, and completed my thesis project in 2005. I initially enrolled in the program to complement my interests in medicine and my intended progression to medical school. I was fortunate to have completed classes in epidemiology and statistics prior to medical school which prepared me well for the introductory classes. I had a level of understanding far better than most of my colleagues. As a first-year resident, we are expected to critically appraise literature and to have a broad understanding of public health concerns. I feel that a Masters of Public Health is a superb addition to the classic medical training, and helped me throughout medical school and beyond. Many of my peers are interested in, or have completed, degrees in Public Health, and there is no doubt that the concepts learned help physicians throughout their career. Emergency medicine is ideally suited to address multiple Public Health issues, ranging from inadequate vaccination rates to violence prevention. I hope to use my Public Health background to actively participate in Emergency Medicine-based programs, and I am confident that my training will continue to benefit me far into the future.
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Yelena Bird, MD, MPH
New Mexico State University, 2004
College Assistant Professor, Public Health & Biology
New Mexico State University
Yelena Bird, MD, MPH, resides in Las Cruces, New Mexico and serves as a College Assistant Professor in Public Health & Biology at New Mexico State University (NMSU). She is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in Molecular Biology at NMSU. She earned her medical doctorate at the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juárez in June of 2002. She is the recipient of the Outstanding Graduating Medical Student and Scholar Award from the Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. She has made several contributions and is heavily involved with a variety of public health projects in Juárez, Mexico, mainly with Adolescent Tobacco Use, Prevention, and Cessation initiatives. She has been an invited presenter in numerous national and international public health conferences and forums. Most recently, she has been the primary investigator of a $75,000 research project, funded by the Center for Border Health Research, and entitled: “Breast Cancer Risk: A Molecular Biological & Public Health Approach Among Women in Juárez, Mexico”. Dr. Bird’s public health skills as acquired during her MPH academic tenure at NMSU are complementary in many respects to her medical training and have centered more on patient education and prevention fronts of diseases prevalent on the US-Mexico border region. Dr. Bird views the Department of Health Science at NMSU as a tight-knit family of professionals committed and dedicated to improving the health of the communities they have been entrusted to serve and who work well together in an effort to accomplish this goal.
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Kellie Hawkins, MPH
University of Southern California, Summer 2003
Policy Analyst
Office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles County
Ms. Kellie Hawkins is involved with education policy in the office of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. She received an undergraduate degree in Biology from Howard University and a graduate degree in Public Health from the University of Southern California. As an epidemiologist, she was dedicated to promoting HIV/AIDS awareness among ethnic and minority youth. She joined the Villaraigosa administration this past July to help institute positive changes in the City of Los Angeles.
Currently, Ms. Hawkins is active in the California State Democratic Party where she serves as a delegate to the 47th Assembly District and a member of the legislative action committee. This past summer, she was appointed to serve on the 47th Assembly District’s Education Commission. Her current position with Mayor Villaraigosa has allowed her to make an impact on the community through public service. Ms. Hawkins’s future plans involve the establishment of a center for healthcare policy as a mechanism to address the health concerns of the underserved populations in Los Angeles.
The Value of My MPH Program
“The Master of Public Health (MPH) program at the University of Southern California (USC) has allowed me to make a clear connection between policy and the populations we aim to serve as public health professionals. As a native resident of Los Angeles, I am able to see the vital role that policy and advocacy play in assuring healthcare for many of our underserved populations. Training in biostatistics and epidemiology provided the necessary tools to understand disease trends and risk. This fuelled a passion to address these trends by advocating for programs and services within my community. In my current position in the Mayor's office, I am able to use my public health background to interpret disease reports and advocate for changes in policy affecting the residents in the City of Los Angeles. The USC MPH program features faculty and instructors with diverse backgrounds and experiences, which significantly enhanced my overall experience. I was exposed to the best and the brightest faculty and students which enabled me to build a strong support network.“
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John Moraros, MD, MPH, CHES
New Mexico State University, 2004
Assistant Professor, Public Health
New Mexico State University
John Moraros resides in Las Cruces, New Mexico and serves as a College Assistant Professor in Public Health, while completing his Doctoral Studies in Molecular Biology at New Mexico State University (NMSU). He received his Master’s of Public Health and was honored as the Outstanding Master’s Student at NMSU in 2004. He has received the Best Overall Presentation Award during the Paso del Norte Conference in 2003 and 2004 for his research work involving Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against pregnant women in Mexico. He earned his medical doctorate at the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juárez as the valedictorian of the 2002 class. He also received the Distinguished Award in Community Health Service in 2002 for his medical and public health contributions in the colonias of Juárez, Mexico. In 2005, he was awarded a $25,000 Border Health Research Cluster grant by NMSU and an additional $75,000 grant by the Center for Border Health Research in order to pursue a study that would endeavor to elucidate the casual relationship between the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and cervical cancer through the use of molecular biology and epidemiological research. Throughout his extensive work and research, he has found the training he received during his pursuit of his MPH degree at NMSU to be imperative in ideally complementing his holistic approach to community health through the prism of population based medicine. Additionally, he finds inspiration in the sense of commitment to community health and derives comfort in the comradery and support he receives from his colleagues at NMSU in their mutual effort to improve upon the health disparities issues that plague the US-Mexico border region.
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Terra Van Dyke, MPH
New Mexico State University, 2005
Director of Marketing
Mesilla Valley Hospice
I am currently the Director of Marketing for Mesilla Valley Hospice where I am in charge of a staff of 8 individuals who run our entire admissions process. e do all of the marketing, public relations, community education, grant writing, fundraising, and outreach in the Dona Ana County area. The MPH program at New Mexico State University gave me the ability to better understand community health and the needs of our community members. It has allowed me to develop community programming and effectively reach those who need our services.
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Luis Horacio Solis Lopez, MPH
New Mexico State University, 2005
Tobacco Prevention Coordinator
Families & Youth, Inc.
I have been working for a non-for-profit organization for three years now providing community based tobacco use prevention education. My MPH education has afforded me the skills for grant writing, behavior change theories, community organizing, and health education/promotion initiatives concerning New Mexico.
I believe that I am a value to this organization in that I have been awarded a $300,000 grant from the New Mexico Department of Health Tobacco Use Prevention and Control (TUPAC) Program to provide tobacco use prevention initiatives in the community and the school system. I supervise a part-time employee and every semester I hire an intern from NMSU. In addtion, I have been offered a promotion position, but I have declined due to my academic endevours. I am currently applying to medical school where I could one day incorporate both my community health and medical care experiences for the benefit of my community.
My scope of work consists of but is not limited to educating health care providers about being better involved with their patients, teaching a life skills curriculum at a local elementary school, community events, a group of high school students trained to provide peer education, and the Tobacco Free Las Cruces Coalition who keep elected officials informed of any issues concerning tobacco use and our communities.
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Mary Cheryl B. Nacionales, MPH, CHES
San Jose State University, May 2000
Women’s Health Partnership Director
Community Health Partnership
The Community Health Partnership (the Partnership) is a consortium of community health centers throughout Santa Clara and southern San Mateo counties that strengthens the healthcare safety net for the medically underserved. I currently direct the Women’s Health Partnership (WHP), the mission of which is to promote health and wellness, and improve awareness of and access to healthcare for medically underserved women in their middle years (40-64 yo). WHP focuses on coalition building, policy/advocacy, community health education and outreach, conference/community forums, and clinical services technical assistance. As the WHP director, my primary role is to identify and secure opportunities, foster partnerships, support my team members, and to do strategic visioning. Without my degree nor the work experience, I do not believe that I would have the confidence to take on such responsibilities.
I value my MPH degree because it provides me with the framework and tools to be a successful public health educator, a social change agent. This degree has opened doors for me to become a leader in helping shape my profession at national and regional levels. My MPH provided me with a good foundation for addressing the community’s health priorities through community organizing, needs assessment, strategic planning, program development, intervention implementation, evaluation, and policy/advocacy.
What I appreciate most about receiving my MPH degree from San Jose State University is that the program is community focused. The faculty has taken great strides in developing curricula and providing an academic environment that ensures that their graduates have not only mastered skills and theories to be an effective public health educator, but also are challenged to develop health systems and promote health with the mindset of the community first -- a community with diverse cultures, views, and life experiences.
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Marcie Grello, MPH, CHES
East Stroudsburg University, May, 2005
Partnership Program Coordinator
National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service
As the Partnership Program Coordinator for the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service, Atlantic Region, I am involved in state, regional, and local initiatives for cancer control. I serve 22 counties in the Northeast and North Central Pennsylvania. In this capacity, I participate in PA State level and regional level cancer control planning and implementation (the PA Cancer Control Consortium – PAC3), perform GAPS analyses to assess the cancer burden and needs for all the counties I serve, support the Northern Appalachia Cancer Network and its coalitions in their cancer control efforts for the rural PA counties, speak at and provide training for workshops and conferences, and specifically target underserved and minority populations in the area of breast and cervical cancer, tobacco prevention, and recruitment to clinical trials. In addition I provide technical support for all our partners, including coalition building, partnership development, data collection, population assessment, program planning, and evaluation. This technical support also includes participating in the grant review process for partner’s potential projects as well as partner agency funding decisions; assisting community cancer coalitions with technical support for program planning; providing consultation for conference planning, evaluation, and research efforts; developing and delivering training and education programs to meet the needs of cancer control partners; informing partners of existing and new cancer resource materials; and creating targeted promotional materials for cancer control outreach.
I had been working in the public health field for 10 years before starting the ESU MPH program. The MPH program was a great fit for me; the courses opened my eyes to the “bigger picture” of public health and instilled in my a greater understanding of the public health community. The program has helped me develop better working relationships and be more effective in my job. One of the greatest advantages of attending ESU’s MPH program is that what I learned in every class has some connection to the field and I can relate what I've learned to my duties in my job right away. I’ve been able to understand how to work with others, the best way to approach a situation, gather relevant information, develop an appropriate course of action and to determine how effective the efforts are. As a health professional, I have been able to seize new opportunities since starting the MPH program. I am better able to bring my ideas and input to the initiatives I am a part of; I receive more respect and I feel more equipped to handle any situation that comes along. The most important lesson for me, however, was the wealth of opportunities that I didn't know existed. Doors have opened for me that I previously didn't know were there.
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Council of Accredited MPH Programs
c/o SOPHE
10 G Street, NE
Suite 605
Washington, DC 20002
P: (202) 408-9804 F: (202) 408-9815
info@mphprograms.org
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