EMPH program allows physician to integrate public health into her practice

I'm a physician and have always wanted to find a way to integrate public health into my career along with my clinical practice. I was so excited to learn about the Executive MPH program since its flexible schedule can be completed alongside my clinical fellowship training at Yale in Hematology and Medical Oncology. I felt this program offered an exceptional opportunity to build hands-on skills in a wide range of public health competencies, from biostatistics to health policy. When deciding on a program, I especially appreciated YSPH's hybrid format with both asynchronous and synchronous sessions throughout the semester.

My journey in public health started in an introductory public health class during my undergraduate years at Harvard, which inspired me to spend two years after graduating at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Public Health Associate Program. Most of my time since has been dedicated to medical training, so I feel very fortunate to have dedicated time to integrate public health training with my clinical experiences.

I could not have imagined how valuable the cohort would be to my EMPH experience. I think it is incredibly unique to have the opportunity to build strong learning and working relationships with such a broad range of professionals. My cohort includes people who work in the pharmaceutical industry, law, architecture, policy, nonprofits, education, hospital management, and health care, with physicians, nurses, dentists, and physical therapists. This interdisciplinary relationship-building is helping me to think more creatively about how to solve big public health challenges.

I have truly loved getting to know my cohort, as mentioned above. As far as classes go, right now I'm really enjoying one of our foundational courses called "Frontiers of Public Health" in which we grapple with a variety of the most pressing public health issues, from urbanization to population aging.

I love being a physician and providing care to patients through one-on-one relationships, but I often feel limited by many societal and structural barriers which make it difficult for all people to access the high-quality care needed to live safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives. I am using the EMPH program to build a toolkit of skills to address health outside of the physician-patient relationship. I hope to do that in many different ways throughout my career.