What Public Health Means to Me
I developed an interest in the public health space early on — although I went through college on the pre-med track, it had always been my goal to serve the community at large. As I learned more about clinical careers, I realized that becoming a doctor would not necessarily allow me to make the impact that I wanted to make. After working for a year on the bench in a neuroscience lab, I decided to pivot and dive full-force into the field of public health. I moved to NYC to pursue a Master’s degree at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
At Columbia, I was eager to go to class every day and did as many of the course readings as I possibly could. I learned so much from not only my professors, but also from my peers. It was here that I recognized all that public health encompasses. Public health is the air that we breathe and the water that we drink. It’s the foods that we consume and the streets that we walk. It’s our access to art and education and green space. It’s the health of our climate, and the health of those around us. It’s our capacity to navigate the healthcare system and advocate for our needs. In fewer words, public health is everything.
While in school, I worked as a fellow in the Healthy Lives program area at the New York Community Trust, where I gained insight into the world of grantmaking. After graduation, I joined the Ronald McDonald House New York as its first ever Community Health Worker. In this role, I learned so much about what it takes to build a community health team from the ground up, and gained experience in the field. I worked with my clients day in and day out to navigate the complexities and limitations of our healthcare and social services systems.
I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to observe and experience the public health and healthcare sectors from various angles. My experiences inform my approach to public health — through it all, I’ve learned that collectively, we need more creative and interdisciplinary solutions. Public health deals with real human lives, and no human lives exist in silos. It’s time that we break down these barriers and come together, pooling our strengths in pursuit of a unified mission: a better, safer, and healthier tomorrow.