The path that has led me to the field of Public Health began at a tender age. My mother, a nurse, was instrumental in my being health conscious, making informed decisions became second nature, and keeping my body in optimum condition by participating in sports was not only recreational, but an obvious choice. More than this, my mother’s example, that you can always return to academics at any age, expanding your foundation, has always remained in my mind. Her paradigm for life is a large part of what motivates me, the fuel for the fire inside me to pursue a graduate degree in Public Health.
As a result of my volunteer work, I learned early the absolute need for, and the intrinsic rewards of not just giving back to the community, but being involved in aiding the poor, the sick and the needy. Those in need deserve so much more than just a handout, but sustainable and ongoing programming that addresses current requirements, as well as preventative measures to ensure fewer need the same aid in the future.
Charitable work is something I have been a part of my entire life, starting as a child, then following my family’s example, gaining great personal satisfaction from my contributions, working in soup kitchens, cleaning up playgrounds and public areas, planting trees, helping adults learn to read, painting houses, picking up trash along roadways, and spending time with seniors. Throughout all these experiences, I have gotten an excellent overview of charities, their inner workings, and on many different scales, scopes of operation, both the well-funded and those struggling with every dollar. Realities facing various charities have only increased my adaptability, the ability to think creatively and on my feet.
Pursuing a Foreign Service degree in International Politics stemmed from my having traveled the world as a child and teen, tripping across North Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and North America, living and being educated in Turkey, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Iraq, and the US. With every step in these amazing places, I saw beyond their looking glasses, their dizzying array of histories, seeing how inextricably linked we all truly are. Not calling any particular country home, I have developed a worldview that is extensive, neither Western nor Eastern, seeing with my own eyes places many only hear about through the news media, coupled with keeping abreast of global issues, particularly focusing on the political situation in Zimbabwe, the Congo, Ukraine, human rights and drug-related crime in Mexico, and the ongoing tense relations between India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. I place the events I read about on a backdrop of understanding, appreciating how the actions of one country or region affect people of other locales.
In terms of my professional experiences, I have maintained two decades of conceptual continuity involved in public affairs, healthcare consultancy, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Throughout this time, working as a part of multidisciplinary teams of professionals, I have welcomed each new challenge with an open mind, consistently moving into positions that afforded me greater responsibility.
I have always had a strong desire to make the world a better place and help vulnerable, underserved populations, and the voiceless, and to bring access life-saving health care and resources, to address the greatest plagues of our time, HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, as well as ensuring the basic building blocks of life, food and clean water.
To my mind, though, my work to date has not been as personally or professionally satisfying as it could be, going only slightly beyond a means to an end. While I learned the value of communications and the power of campaigns that motivate people and achieve desired outcomes, I did not always agree with the outcomes. In truth, I have decided that I cannot move forward without addressing those in need.
Obtaining an MPH, focusing on Global Health, I will be better able to bring my raw passion for helping others to bear, contributing positively to the work of internationally focused non-profit foundations, or an NGO, preferably based in the DC area. In my research, I have read of the amazing ongoing work of the Global Fund for Children, Agency for Educational Development, CARE, PATH, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and NIH. My contributions would include developing, implementing, managing, and evaluating programs that addressed the health and well-being of children, the impoverished, those that suffer from malnutrition and preventable diseases. No work could ever bring me greater satisfaction than being a creative leader for change through agencies such as these.
XXXX’s part-time MPH program will give me the flexibility I need to work in the non-profit sector, increasing my exposure and experience in the field, while simultaneously helping to cover tuition requirements. It is understood that XXXX is synonymous with unquestionable academic success, the finest faculty, access to resources, and the greatest opportunities to bring ambitions and dreams to fruition. In the most practical terms, the school’s location is ideal, as well, being physically close to where I intend to work, where I live and where I anticipate working in the future.
My professional career has spanned public affairs, healthcare consultancy, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, but is based in the private sector. However, it was not until I received an opportunity for a position at a healthcare consulting firm that specialized in developing reimbursement and patient assistance programs for pharmaceutical companies did, I completely realize where my life’s path. Finally, I was transitioning to the non-profit, opening my mind to working for an NGO or governmental entity, and more rewarding – and international – contributions, facilitating the amelioration of many people’s lives.
Working in healthcare consultancy, I learned how to create and launch programs that helped to increase patient access to a particular therapy, develop budgets, write standard operating procedures, address IT issues, manage staff, mentoring programs and manage timelines, all within tight deadlines. Simultaneously, I became well versed in Medicare, Medicaid, HMOs, PPOs, state and locally funded programs, reimbursement mechanisms, and medical coding. As in the past, I gravitated to higher levels of responsibility, culminating as an operations manager, handling $2 million in revenue and over twenty agents.
Much more than this, though, I valued the opportunity to affect hundreds of patients’ lives, patients who were facing all manner of debilitating and chronic illnesses, finding ways to help them with their reimbursement issues. The intense feeling of accomplishment in overturning a denial or having a patient say ‘thank you’ for helping them through complicated processes was incredibly gratifying.
These experiences left me wanting to do more, and on a greater scale. I wondered if I could make a change in a patient’s life, why not an entire community, a region, or an entire nation. To do this, I need to expand my technical skills in public health spheres, broaden my professional contacts, meet like-minded individuals with varied experiences and perspectives from which I can learn, and gain exposure through access to the program’s professional fieldwork, externships, and internships. Moreover, I need exposure to the science behind developing programs that increase access to basic healthcare for developing nations, the mechanisms by which these programs are evaluated, sharpen my grant writing acumen, and expand upon my existing understanding of social and behavioral intervention design and implementation.
Whereas I have not participated in research or clinical work, I bring with me over a decade of practical managerial experience in healthcare consultancy, knowledge of patient assistance program development, and operations, as well as unrelenting compassion and dedication to the plight of the underserved.
At this time, I would like to take this opportunity to expand upon my current progress in fulfilling mathematics, general biology, and health-related science prerequisite courses. To date, I have successfully completed college level calculus, two semesters of international economics, two courses in psychology, one in sociology, and four courses in foreign language.
To fulfill the biology requirement, I will be completing two biology courses well before the June 2009 matriculation, including XXXX’s 4th term Public Health Biology course and a nutrition class at a local community college that begins in January.
I look forward to the opportunity to develop myself as a creative leader for public health. Your time and consideration is appreciated and I eagerly await a personal interview.
MPH Global Public Health Personal Purpose Contagious Disease