Public Health is Everywhere

Public Health is Everywhere Interview Series

Public Health is Everywhere is an interview series highlighting public health professionals who have taken unique or nontraditional career paths in public health. As the public health landscape continues to evolve, this series highlights real-life stories on how public health skills are being translated across a wide range of industries from tech and wellness to transportation, pharma, and even professional sports.

 

Episode 1 with Michelle Obijekwu, MPH

In this episode, you’ll meet Michelle Obijekwu, MPH, a Senior Digital Health User Experience Researcher and Founder of Public Health in Tech (PHIT). Michelle created PHIT to help public health professionals discover career opportunities beyond traditional roles

Learn more about Michelle

Michelle holds an MPH in Behavioral & Social Sciences from Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health and has worked as a Public Health Consultant at The MITRE Corporation and UX Researcher at Best Buy before moving into the pharmaceutical industry.

After navigating her own non-traditional career path, Michelle created PHIT to help others do the same. PHIT’s first product is Public Health 360, a job board built specifically for public health professionals to find roles that align with their skills across all industries.

 

Key Takeaways

  • Search Eventbrite for events and networking opportunities that interest you.
  • Take time to understand and immerse yourself in the world that you are looking to get into. This will help you make connections and translate your resume for the roles that interest you.
  • Gain relevant experience by volunteering with community-based organizations in UX or communication roles.
  • Be clear and direct about what you’re looking for and ask for it.
  • The more you put yourself out there, the easier and more natural it becomes.
  • Speak your goals out loud. It helps others know how to support you.
  • Embrace the shift toward nontraditional roles as they’re becoming the new normal.
  • Don’t be afraid to step outside the box and try something new.

Episode 2 with Ronit Dastidar, MPH

In this episode, you’ll meet Ronit Dastidar, MPH, a Consequence & Resilience Specialist at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, or Metro.

Learn more about Ronit

After graduating with his MPH in Epidemiology from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University, Ronit shifted his focus to emergency management and joined the District of Columbia’s Department of Health’s COVID-19 response.

During the pandemic, he served as deputy branch manager for the COVID-19 testing and sampling mission, helping DC achieve the highest per capita testing rates in the country. Emerging from the pandemic, Ronit specialized in planning and incident management, serving in command roles for large-scale incidents, such as the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Independence Day Celebrations, Potomac Plane Crash, and various National Special Security Events. Now at Metro, Ronit coordinates preparedness activities among the Authority’s rail, bus, police, fire and access services by designing several full-scale exercises per year.

Aside from work, Ronit is a proud DC resident who enjoys traveling, skiing, scuba diving, live music, and advocating for progressive causes.

 

Key Takeaways

  • Take time to assess your current skills and explore how they might be transferable to new roles or sectors.
  • Emergency management is a broad, interdisciplinary field that makes it a great fit for the diverse skillsets found in public health.
  • Don’t count yourself out if a job title or description doesn’t explicitly use public health language. Focus on understanding the fundamentals of the field you’re applying for, and know you can build the subject matter expertise when you’re on the job.
  • If you’re interested in emergency preparedness, explore the FEMA Doctrine to build a strong foundation in planning, incident command, and training exercises.
  • Learn the key terminology used in the field you’re entering so you can understand the context and communicate more effectively.
  • Highlight transferable skills like stakeholder engagement, technical writing, and holistic problem-solving, which are valuable across many roles.
  • Look beyond traditional career paths and explore how public health intersects with other sectors like emergency management, transportation, housing, and more.
  • If you’re interested in emergency preparedness, connect with the International Association of Emergency Managers to expand your network and gain insights into the field.

Episode 3 with Pauline Tran, MPH Documentary Filmmaker, Producer, and Editor

In this episode, you’ll meet Pauline Tran, a Brooklyn-based documentary filmmaker, producer, and editor dedicated to telling socially conscious, human-centered stories that educate, inspire, and spark change. The daughter of Vietnamese refugees, she seeks to spotlight marginalized communities and narratives of identity, justice, and hope.

Learn more about Pauline

Pauline’s recent work includes A SLICE OF HOME, an intimate portrait of a baker who recreates a pandan pie in honor of her Singaporean grandfather, currently on the film festival circuit; MILES TO GO BEFORE SHE SLEEPS, a feature documentary about a maverick animal activist protesting China’s dog meat trade, which won Best Feature Documentary at the Big Apple Film Festival; and LIFE IN STRIDES, an award-winning short about a young man with autism competing in horseback riding. Beyond independent film, Pauline has collaborated with organizations such as the ACLU, Rockefeller Foundation, CDC, and various healthcare companies to raise awareness around health, human rights, and social issues through nonfiction storytelling.

She graduated cum laude from UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health and earned a Master’s in Public Health in communications and social marketing, along with a graduate certificate in documentary filmmaking, from George Washington University.

Key Takeaways

  • Strong communication skills and the ability to genuinely connect with others are essential.
  • Being adaptable and solutions-oriented will take you far in any role or industry.
  • Approach everything with curiosity and a desire to learn.
  • Pay attention to anything that piques your interest right now. It might shape your future in ways you don’t expect.
  • Don’t let your title define you. See yourself as a professional with a unique skillset that can be applied across industries.
  • Evaluate what you bring to the table and reflect on how your skills can translate across fields.
  • If you’re drawn to a role within your organization, don’t hesitate to express interest or ask to shadow the role to gain experience.
  • In film or media, public health skills can translate through activities like pitching ideas, writing grants, conducting research, building partnerships, or serving as a subject matter expert on issues you care about.
  • Be an advocate for yourself and don’t be afraid to seek out projects that go beyond your current job title or educational background.
  • Join online communities, schedule informational interviews, or potentially connect with people on crew lists to learn more and find opportunities.
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