The DrPH Program at the University of XXXX’s School of Public Health is my first choice for several reasons in addition to the location, especially the sheer excellence of your program. Earning the DrPH Degree will represent the culmination of a lifetime of preparation since, even as a child, I can remember fantasizing about helping others experiencing a health-related crisis. Especially after the day that I witnessed my grandfather having a seizure, I prioritized learning as much as I could about the human body and, particularly, emergency healthcare, becoming a nationally registered paramedic. Increasingly, I began to develop a proactive approach to healthcare, which motivated me to earn my BS in Occupational Safety and Health.
I have spent several years working with oil giants ExxonMobil and BP. Currently, I serve as the Director of the Department of Health, Safety, and the Environment, engaged in upstream oil and gas exploration. I focus on highly technical operations, beginning in the engineering and design phases of seismic, drilling, development, and subsea construction. This requires an in-depth grasp of design safety with developing and implementing programs, procedures, and plans to keep employees safe and prevent environmental accidents. As I have continued to move up the corporate ladder to Director of Health, Safety, and Environment, my responsibilities have broadened to focus on employee health and safety, including any potential risk to the public. This requires a great deal of planning at the corporate level and frequent interaction with host governments to ensure compliance with local and national laws governing environmental protection, occupational health and safety, and labor. As one of the planners, I must complete several studies, including an Environmental Impact Assessment, Social Impact Assessment, and Health Impact Assessment.
During the Health Impact Assessment (HIA), that I conducted for our operations in Mozambique, Africa, I became most acutely aware of living conditions in remote regions of Africa. This also led me to want to learn as much as possible about occupational and environmental health and safety issues in preparation for earning my master's degree in public health. As part of my corporate responsibilities, I have served as the point person to oversee a corporate initiative to educate local healthcare providers. I performed alongside a team of doctors from the United States and South Africa based in Maputo, Mozambique, traveling throughout the country and educating local doctors and nurses about interventions and ways to improve the performance of health systems – to reduce newborn mortality. We routinely conducted awareness sessions for infectious diseases and developed numerous malaria and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programs.
Completing your Doctor of Public Health Program at XXXX will provide me with the optimal springboard for a vibrant and productive career in public health, waging war against infectious disease wherever it rears its ugly head. I look forward to refining tools to analyze threats to various international communities through in-depth assessment and mitigation of public health problems and concerns.
In addition to my corporate responsibilities, I am on our local school board's School Health Advisory Council. This committee is tasked with assisting the district in ensuring that local community values are reflected in the district’s health education instruction and all other aspects of the school health program. Thus, earning a doctoral degree in my field will also enable me to increase my contribution to our school board.
Thank you for considering my application to the Doctor of Public Health Program at XXXX University.
DrPH Personal Purpose Statement Examples