Environmental Health Sciences

Pursuing my MPH through the EHS department at the Mailman School of Public Health was a great experience. The faculty truly cares about the education their students are receiving and are very receptive to requests for aid and additional interest in the field. The students in EHS are also wonderful people. They are highly motivated and interact closely with one another: forming study groups, organizing socials, and providing mutual support to ensure success.

My experience abroad with the Millennium Villages Project was nothing short of amazing, and was perhaps the most character-building experience I have ever had. When I arrived in Kenya for my practicum, I had only a vague idea of the work I would be doing, but quickly identified many potential projects and had the opportunity to design and conduct my own research. The main project I pursued was a needs-assessment and environmental evaluation of the village cluster’s six health facilities.

My motivation to pursue these projects led to having a more integral role in the project beyond that of most normal internships; I was asked for my input on a variety of public health issues in the village cluster and even assumed minor leadership roles. The nature of the project was conducive to creativity and initiative; the people in positions of leadership were very receptive to ideas and allowed me to create my own schedule and to determine how to conduct my projects, while providing guidance where needed. The needs-assessment I conducted was of my own design. Scheduling data collection, analysis and the write-ups were my sole responsibility. I was even given an assistant to aid me in data collection and interviewing patients.

In addition to the professional and academic lessons gained from this experience, I gained immense personal satisfaction from being able to interact with health professionals and patients alike, learning about their culture, hearing their stories, and even making some lasting friendships.

The class from which I benefited most at the Mailman School was Water and Infectious Disease in EHS. The course fit well with my interest in global environmental health and was extremely helpful in preparing me for life during my practicum in Kenya. Specifically, it taught me how to spot potentially harmful situations and which preventative measures can be taken to improve community health. For example, it helped me to observe sanitary conditions within the health facilities I was evaluating so that the clinical environment could be improved and be a lower risk for patients seeking treatment for other ailments. Never before have I had a class whose lessons were so applicable to my practical activities.

Having graduated from the School, I am currently continuing my education as a healthcare provider in the MD program at the University of Colorado at Denver School of Medicine.