I have served the community as a Public Health Investigator for the past ten years, the last five years as a supervisor. I often work with those who are homeless, addicted, and psychologically disturbed, and this has given me insight into the many ways that well-intended policies have been implemented that have not yielded the desired results. Thus, I now seek to equip myself with the knowledge and skills to enable me to shape effective policies that serve to improve the lives of those who live in unhealthy surroundings or circumstances, as my focus is to earn the PHD Degree in Public Health.
I hope to someday to hold a senior post in local government, helping to formulate policies, measuring their effectiveness, and making any necessary adjustments. I look forward to participating with peers in networks concerned with best practices in certain geographical regions, sharing information and expertise. In time, I hope to pursue a Ph.D. and teach Public Health, sharing my passion with new generations.
I was raised by parents who insisted on impeccable honesty, hard work, and the importance of ‘making a difference' rather than merely ‘making a living.’ I was born in Iran and raised there until 14, when my family moved to Germany. From age 15, I volunteered in various refugee camps as a translator and assisted inmates in making applications to stay. After arriving In the US in 1994, I worked for two years as a volunteer at XXXX’s hospital, providing support to the often-distressed relatives of sick children in the Burns Unit or Oncology Department.
My first paid position as a PHI was with the Public Health Department’s STD program. I was sufficiently effective in that role to be promoted to supervising PHI with the Tuberculosis Control Program and have served in this role for the last 5 years, earning my bachelor's degree in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology. I have always striven to make improvements in procedures and policy implementation where I have been able to do so.
For example, to keep LA residents safe, it is sometimes necessary to incarcerate non-compliant and highly infectious TB patients who may also have psychological issues and a tendency to violence. Initially, the Sheriffs would sometimes turn our patients away due to facility overcrowding, and there was no alternative way of keeping the patient and society safe. It took a year to engage the right parties at the Sheriff’s Department and the Supervisor’s office. So far, I have helped to implement two policy changes that have made a substantial difference. Now the clients are housed as patient-inmates until the completion of therapy. We also now have the support of Sheriff’s deputies assigned to county hospitals where necessary. I liaised with the sergeant responsible, and we agreed on a directive adopted throughout the County under which we support relocating or re-detaining patients who seek to leave the hospital at an early stage of treatment.
I am very aware that technical knowledge is not in itself sufficient to change policies and attitudes. Specific characteristics are vital in those seeking to make fundamental, lasting, and positive differences in any field but especially in areas where budgets are constantly under pressure, and the welfare of individuals is at stake. I realize that creativity, an analytical mind, determination, and the ability to engage exceptionally well with others are essential in making the difference I seek to create. I am convinced that I possess these vital characteristics and the necessary proven academic success and potential to excel within the program and in my career beyond it.
I have happily studied, worked, liaised, and socialized with people of different social and ethnic backgrounds. I get on quickly with others and have an empathetic attitude. I speak, read, and write Persian, Armenian, German, and English, in which I am fully fluent. I seek to be a well-rounded person and have many interests; I paint and write, am passionately interested in current affairs, read biographies and books on politics, and love swimming and dancing Salsa.
I hope to always enjoy regular and direct contact with staff and clients and access the complex ways they are affected by high level decision making and to seek their input and feedback. I can assure the reader that I will also apply myself with exceptional diligence and determination to excel within the program and in my future career.
PHD Public Health Personal Purpose Statement
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