Staying grounded: Building public health skills for local impact
Matthew Hernandez, MPH ’24
Online MPH in Population and Health Sciences
Despite coming from a family full of health professionals, Matthew Hernandez was not initially interested in taking that path.
He began developing a career in higher education, an area he remains in now as a director leading culture and climate initiatives at an institution in Texas. It wasn’t until he took a role with an academic health sciences center that he was exposed to public health. He is now passionate about pursuing public health.
“I didn’t realize that public health really impacted me in so many ways growing up,” said Hernandez, who will graduate in May 2024 with a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan School of Public Health’s Online MPH program in Population and Health Sciences.
As a person living with type 1 diabetes, he said it wasn’t hard to identify how important public health has been to his life.
“The first time I really realized the impact of public health on me was when I had to spend over $400 on a vial of insulin, and that is a basic need for me,” Hernandez said. “I have to go to the pharmacy to purchase it and then manually deliver it to myself just to make sure that everything is taken care of with digestion and regulating my blood sugar.
“It gave me a lot of perspective because at the time that was close to the amount I was paying in rent. At that time, I had to make decisions like that: Do I need to purchase insulin or do I need to pay my rent?”
[The Online MPH] is an outstanding program and I get to do it from my home in Texas. I don’t have to be in Ann Arbor to access a world-class education through the program.”
This was at a time of transition for Hernandez’s family, during which he wasn’t able to rely on insurance. Fortunately, he was also able to find resources at his undergraduate campus to make it through those difficult points. Still, the experience opened his eyes to issues of affordability and access in health.
“That example sticks with me today, of how public health impacts people in a variety of ways,” Hernandez said. “We, of course, want it to be in a positive way. But it can also really relegate individuals based on a number of factors, be it socioeconomic status, education levels or the like.”
He said it was an ignition point for him: “It really got me fired up.”
Hernandez had spent several years of his career focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), an area that is adjacent to public health in many ways.
“With our state legislature passing certain laws recently, that’s no longer allowed,” he said. “So, my work has shifted pretty dramatically, but still focuses on providing outstanding patient care to underserved populations throughout Texas.”
Because of this shift, he decided it was the right time to explore plans for the future. Hernandez became interested in learning about the foundations of public health with the goal of being able to contribute to public health research. Through the online MPH program, he said he’s gained the necessary skills to achieve those research goals.
“I learned about things like odds ratios and risk rate ratios, those types of things that I can then apply in a space where I’m conducting that research and understand how all the moving parts work together,” he said. “It’s definitely a good catalyst for me to go into that environment after I graduate.”
Despite recent state laws limiting his previous career trajectory, Hernandez considers Texas his home and says he hopes he’ll be able to remain there to make an impact on communities that matter to him. That’s part of the reason he chose an online graduate program. It turned out to be the right decision for him.
“It’s an outstanding program and I get to do it from my home in Texas,” Hernandez said. “I don’t have to be in Ann Arbor to access a world-class education through the program.”
He’s even been able to apply what he’s learned to his current work in meaningful ways.
“The path of courses I’ve taken has really aligned with projects I’m working on now,” Hernandez said. “For example, with the health program evaluation course, I’ve been able to use the concepts to look at how we can assess our university’s campus climate. Considering things like ‘What do we want to know?’ and ‘How do we ask that question in an appropriate way?’”
Reflecting on what he learned in a course focused on community engagement, he said he’s been able to reimagine how he views leadership in his professional role and how he can share leadership on initiatives with community leaders.
“Rather than just informing community leaders about things that we’re doing, we can involve them,” Hernandez said. “What we’re doing can be much more effective when you actually share that leadership and develop something together.
“I’ve definitely seen a direct impact. I can apply concepts I’m learning in class about that environment and translate them into what I’m doing professionally immediately. That’s been great.”
I think that there are a lot of opportunities for me and for my colleagues to contribute to that growing body of research that says, ‘This is objective—that we need to focus on underserved communities—because when underserved communities are healthier, we are all healthier.’”
Hernandez has long aspired to continue his education and pursue doctoral studies. He intends to explore programs in disciplines such as public health and organizational leadership that will help him support the development of programs for underserved communities. He hopes to initiate research that can facilitate greater awareness about the needs of those communities across the nation and world.
“I think that there are a lot of opportunities for me and for my colleagues to contribute to that growing body of research that says, ‘This is objective—that we need to focus on underserved communities—because when underserved communities are healthier, we are all healthier,’” Hernandez said.
Hernandez explained that what he’s appreciated most about his graduate experience is getting to connect with people who share the same values as him.
“The special thing about the program is that there are so many different people from different backgrounds,” he said. “We have an attorney in our program, mathematicians, people who are doing health communications, and we’re all working toward the same goal.”
The community he’s found in the online MPH program has enriched Hernandez’s learning experience.
“Hopefully, I will hold onto the relationships I’ve built for the rest of my life,” Hernandez said. “Just keeping those connections and continuing the curiosity, even simply keeping up with what my peers are doing.”
As he prepares to graduate in May, Hernandez said what will set him up well for his next steps is how much his classmates and program have inspired him to remain curious.
“I'm looking forward to seeing where my journey in the MPH program takes me long term,” he said. “The experiences and opportunities I encountered have already started to yield great benefits and make me proud to be a future Michigan Public Health alum.”
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