Kaitlin Schwarz, MPH ’23, believes that health disparities are one of the biggest issues facing public health today, and—through public health—she has found a way to channel her passion into action and increase health equity and access to care.
Dr. Jordan Ferguson knew from a young age that he wanted to work in the healthcare profession. Now a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Akron Children's Hospital, he participated in the Summer Session in Epidemiology at Michigan Public Health to hone his skills and continue his education.
Lauren MacConnachie’s personal and professional experiences led her to be deeply interested in public health. Now, she is graduating with a Master of Science in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. In the fall, she will remain at the Michigan Public Health as she begins her pursuit of a doctorate degree in Epidemiology.
Now that Frances Dean has earned a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the School of Public Health and a Master of Social Work in Interpersonal Practice in Integrated Health, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse from the School of Social Work after graduating in December, Dean is committed to working in the public health field for the federal government for the next two and a half years as a behavioral epidemiologist.
Abbey Hutton always believed that her future was somewhere in the health and medical field. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Michigan, graduating in 2021. Hutton, who was an Academic All-Big Ten honoree for three straight seasons with the Michigan field hockey team, is on track to earn a Master in Public Health in Global Health Epidemiology in 2023.
Sidonie Kilpatrick, MPH ’20, did not follow a family member’s path into the healthcare profession. She did not receive inspiration from a popular television series that showed healthcare workers in heroic roles, nor did her high school classes in related subjects provide the illumination that would send her on to study and work on critical matters of public health. Instead, she lived it.