A medical doctor from Nigeria, I immigrated to America in June of 2014. I hope to earn the Master of Public Health Degree at XXXX University with a focus on global environmental sustainability and health, to maximize my fullest potential contributing to curbing health disasters in my land of origin, especially those associated with environmental degradation. As a result of a corrupt, inefficient, and insufficiently regulated oil industry we have more than our share of challenges in Nigeria.
I see your program at Johns Hopkins as representing the cutting edge in global environmental sustainability and public health – precisely the areas where I want to focus my efforts as a graduate student here in America. I appreciate the singularity and scope of your program, including in-depth discussions of climate change, energy and land use, food production and consumption and occupational hazards.
Since my arrival in America a little over two years ago, I have worked as a caregiver for elderly people, the disabled, and the mentally challenged. I have enjoyed these last two years adjusting to American culture and building a new life for myself in the USA. Now, it is time for me to put my medical training to good use, however, and I very much hope to do so as a graduate student of global sustainable public health at XXXX.
I grew up in small town in Nigeria with many if not most public health problems endemic, ranging from infectious diseases to substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, overcrowding, pollution, malnutrition, child labor, etc. This background left me with unanswered questions in my heart even before I went to medical school where I attended as many lectures in public health as were available and found few answers to my burning questions. Thus, I have a lifelong passion for and commitment to community service beginning while still in medical school, serving as a volunteer with the National Youth Service Corps.
My duties included outreach to marginalized communities, school health screenings, helping with environmental sanitation projects and educating the public about the effects of climatic change and human contributions, medical outreach including basic medical treatments of the underserved, orphans and abandoned children, the homeless, and the very old. While I had dreamed of becoming a medical doctor since childhood, I dated my inspiration for a career in public health from the time that I completed my community health posting during my medical training in a village called Anagbete, in Edo State.
I faced the real life and death issues of this community head on, and it opened my eyes to the vast need for medical professionals trained not just in medicine but also public health. During and after my medical training in Nigeria, I had the profound privilege of studying under and working alongside Prof. Mrs. Obehi Okojie, a leader in public health in Nigeria; she was also my undergraduate project supervisor.
As a public health professional with a professional degree from the finest of MPH Programs at Johns Hopkins, I will realize my dream of being able to devote my life to the study of climate change, energy use, land use and food production, coupled to the promotion of wellness and disease prevention. I look forward to extensive participation in educational awareness building programs concerning lifestyle behaviors, leading by example. and serving as a role model for others to follow in Nigeria. I see myself serving in the future as a public health director for an organization devoted to fostering environmental sustainability and protecting endangered human populations.
I chose XXXX because I firmly believe that anything that is worth doing is worth giving one’s all to. I want to be the best, with the finest education possible. I keenly look forward to learning from the champions of public health at XXXX and especially taking advantage of the opportunity to participate in a community practicum. I am most excited about the many challenges that lie ahead and the way that XXXX has the right kind of interdisciplinary focus to help me to learn think as creatively as possible about every professional challenge that I shall face up to in the future, in Nigeria as well as here in America.
Thank you for considering my application to XXXX.
MPH Global Health Personal Purpose