Internship’s ‘butterfly effect’ leads alumna to role with Wayne County Health

Amira Haidar, MPH ’23

Health Management and Policy

August 8, 2023

Amira Haidar, MPH ’23, had a choice in the spring of 2022. She could either intern for a prestigious consulting firm that paid well or roll the dice and accept an unpaid internship with her hometown Dearborn Department of Public Health.

She described the experience, which ultimately led to the first job in her public health career, as the “butterfly effect.”

“That’s the best way that I can describe that internship because it just opened a number of doors for me that I would have never expected,” said Haidar, who graduated in April 2023 with a Master of Public Health in Health Management and Policy from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Haidar gained immeasurable experience as the first management fellow hired by Ali Abazeed, MPH ’17, the founding director of Dearborn Public Health and chief public health officer for the City of Dearborn, Michigan.

“This opportunity to work for Dearborn came up, and it was unpaid—so I had to seek funding from the university to do it,” she said. “I really went back and forth, but I was like, ‘You know what? This is my city.’ I had been reading about Ali's work and all the positive things the Dearborn Administration was doing, and I decided to go for it.”

“To me, it was significant that DPH’s first internship offer went to a resident of Dearborn,” Abazeed said. “Amira was the perfect candidate for the role as she had both hometown familiarity and exceptional skills in simplifying intricate public health concepts for the public. From our initial conversation, I knew this was someone I wanted working alongside me. Without Amira, Dearborn Public Health would not be where it is today.”

Thanks to the public health training Haidar received at Dearborn Public Health, one of those doors opened for Haidar immediately after graduation.

In May, she began working as a special projects lead at Wayne County Department of Health, Human, and Veteran Services, focusing on health initiatives funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. In this role, Haidar works on county-wide health initiatives focused on health equity and bringing health interventions to people who need them the most.

“I think, more than anything, Dearborn inspired me to really go above and beyond,” Haidar said. “During my whole experience there, I realized the importance of concepts I haven’t paid mind to before, such as salient health information.”

In addition to helping her line up her current role at Wayne County Health, Haidar was selected as a Presidential Management Fellowship in September. 

“It's a very highly selective fellowship,” she said. “This exciting opportunity promises a wealth of experiences and invaluable insights into the world of public service, public health and healthcare research.

“That’s where that butterfly effect comes in; not only did I gain a mentor in Ali, but if I didn't go there, I wouldn’t even have known about the opportunity since I only applied after Ali talked to us about it. And then also this job at Wayne County, the director (and Health Officer of Wayne County Department of Health, Human, and Veteran Services) Abdul El-Sayed is someone who Ali knows very well. He helped us form that connection that led to an interview and eventually got me the job.”

Haidar developed an interest in public health while growing up in Dearborn as well as from working as a medical scribe in Detroit, where she observed disparities in health outcomes among different communities.

She pursued an undergraduate degree in public health at Wayne State University as well as an MBA. Haidar chose Michigan Public Health due to its strong alumni network, top-ranking program and proximity to her hometown.

“I think one of the turning points in my academic career that pushed me toward public health was when I worked as a scribe, I noticed that every single Black person that came in had this long list of chronic diseases,” said Haidar, who is particularly interested in health communication and how it influences behavior change. “Anytime a non-English speaking person came in, there were struggles in the hospital to translate for them. That experience, combined with some of the things I was learning in my classes at Wayne State at the time, clarified that these issues clearly needed to be taken care of at a more systemic level.

“I realized that my heart was set on helping people. Through the field of public health, I would be able to help people on a broader scale and ensure that there are some preventative measures put in place.”

Haidar has overcome various obstacles, including cultural expectations.

“I think there have been certain obstacles at different parts of my life,” she said. “At one point it may have been the fact that I am a female in an Arab American household where they want to keep you close. That’s an issue I had in undergrad, when I was planning to attend the University of Michigan for my bachelor’s degree, but I wasn't allowed to move out at the time because my parents believed that as a girl, I couldn't move out.

“I broke that barrier; we made it through that. My parents were holding onto those Arab traditions that my family has come to realize don't matter. Now, it’s, ‘We trust our daughter. We want her to go above and beyond wherever she needs to go.’ That's something that we overcame as a family.”

She benefitted from attending Michigan Public Health because she realized she had needed more formalized training, particularly in health policy, which is where her primary focus is.

“I mean it helps that a top university in the world is just 40 minutes away from my hometown,” said Haidar, who was supported by a Marianne Udow-Phillips scholarship. “I'm kind of a homebody­, I love my family and so it was kind of the perfect mix.”

Outside of public health, Haidar is civically engaged in the local community, particularly in increasing civic engagement among Arab Americans to ensure representation and better living conditions.

“When we have a civically engaged community, they're ultimately choosing representatives who are making their environments better, who are putting policies in place that make their standard of living better, which ultimately ties into our well-being,” she said. “And that is public health.”

Haidar also is the vice president of public relations for the Lebanese Collegiate Network. She sends a monthly newsletter, creates graphics and keeps its social media up to date. Tennis is her favorite sport; she captained her team at Fordson High School.

Haidar is happy she chose to study Health Management and Policy at Michigan Public Health because it is such a broad field.

“When I was thinking about what my strengths are, what I want to improve on and what kind of jobs I envisioned myself in, the Health Management and Policy program ecompassed them the best,” she said. “The program addresses inequities that are present in hospital systems, or other entities that provide care. The impact that policy has, from health insurance to diverse communities, that's what I wanted to focus on.”

In the classroom, Haidar cited an implementation science course taught by Shawna Smith, assistant professor, as one of her favorite courses. She also gained valuable experience as president and finance chair for the Health Policy Student Association at the University of Michigan. At Michigan Public Health, she was the Health Management and Policy chair for the Public Health Student Assembly.

“That's why I liked HMP, because they really focused on real-world application,” Haidar said. “I'm using a lot of what I learned in my role at Wayne County Health, including the implementation science class I mentioned. Thankfully, I took this class my last semester so it's very fresh in my mind. I really like taking the templates and concepts that I learned in that course and applying them to my work now.”

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