As much of our society began to shut down in April 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kristi Thomas was just gearing up to take on a new chapter in her career. She is now earning her MPH in Population and Health Sciences while she continues to lead the University of Michigan School of Dentistry's Community Dental Center.
Erin Wilke had a great job in a state she loved, but she wanted to grow. After completing a bachelor's degree in public health, she started working as a research coordinator within the orthopedic department of the Medical University of South Carolina. She did not want to uproot her life.
Undergraduate public health student Reem Fawaz always wanted to make an impact in her community. She began her journey to medical school, then decided to include in her education a public health foundation, which she says is vital to achieving her goal of building healthier communities.
Socially engaged design might go by other names. But by any name, it is central to how we structure many of the public health interventions and programs that help people get and stay healthy. Master’s student Anthony Dang sees tremendous potential for role socially engaged design to help unlock new solutions to public health problems.
Over years and many miles of travel, master’s student Adriane Kline has honed her ability to integrate intercultural learning, thoughtful communication, team science, and a passion for the health of communities into long-term, sustainable, population health solutions.
Nurses are taught to see the big pictures of their patient’s lives—from homelife to water and air quality to employment. Wherever health care and communities intersect, public health nurses are there caring for patients and populations. This sense of expanded community gives online MPH student and full-time oncology nurse Chris Rudski hope that we will soon be living in a richer, more vibrant world.