Public Health Epidemiology Conversations

This episode is part two of a free coaching series that will help you prepare for public health career success. Let's now focus our attention on some common public health career mistakes to avoid. As I've worked with many clients over the last couple of years, especially this last year, I've noticed several patterns. I have narrowed the list down to 5 common mistakes that people often make, and I want to help you avoid them. At the end, I will also share with you an important bonus tip, that will make a huge positive difference for many of you.

This episode is part one of a free coaching series that will help us wrap up this current year and prepare for public health career success in the new year. Let's focus our attention on why your public health career goals are important. You'd be surprised to know how many people are focused on a title instead of following their heart to serve. Getting clear at this point makes a huge difference in the long run.

In this episode, I introduce a free coaching series that will help us wrap up this current year and prepare for public health career success in the new year. Before explaining the upcoming coaching series, I take the time to express thankfulness and gratitude for my community and opportunity to serve in public health.

My guest on this episode is Nianest Maria Alers Berreto, an epidemiologist and podcaster. Nianest is an infectious disease Epidemiologist focusing on vector-borne diseases. She received her bachelor's degree in Biology with a concentration in biomedical sciences from the University of Puerto Rico, and her Masters of Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health. After receiving her masters, she completed a 2-year fellowship in Applied Epidemiology at the Hawaii Department of Health. Besides her work as an epidemiologist she currently hosts a public health and health humanities podcast where she uses science communication and storytelling tools to promote health and wellness within the Hispanic and Spanish-speaking community.

Dr. Phelesia Foster has a laboratory background as a chemist but currently works as a Safety & Occupational Health Specialist for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). She is also a certified health coach and the founder of 4Ever Wellness. Dr. Foster is passionate about all things related to health and wellness. For the last 15 years, she has been reading, researching, and working with women in Cleveland, MS to promote wellness. She has a strong desire to meet families within her local community and globally at their current level of health awareness and educate them on simple, effective ways they can live healthier, happier lives. She says, It's All About Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitude, and Nutrition!

There is so much power in collaborating with colleagues. In this episode, I explain and exciting collaboration and take you behind the scenes and walk you through, from the very beginning ideas and vision. Listen now to hear the exciting full story!

Vanessa Chilombo Da Costa is a Global Health Epidemiology Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in South Africa. She is also the founder of Chilombo Global Career Services, providing resume reviews and other related career services to recent public health graduates.

Today's episode features Dr. Moaz Abeldelwadoud, who is a physician and researcher currently working as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Pharmaceutical Health Services Research Department at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. He joins me to discuss his impressive international public health journey.

Dr. Toby Yak is a professional epidemiologist with the Iowa Department of Public Health, Division of Behavioral Health. Learn about how his passion for the prevention of youth substance abuse and how the dangers of underage drinking inspired his journey.

In today's episode I speak with Harvey A. Kennedy, who has extensive teaching and research experience in the area of Sexual Health and Behavior Modification. His work revolves around shedding light on important health disparities in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities in the UK.

Tune into this bonus episode to hear two great stories and examples of networking experience from public health conferences! Will you be attending a conference soon? Take action! DrCHHuntley.com/resources

In today's episode I interview Amy Schlotthauer, President and Owner of AES Consulting firm. We talk about how Amy's experience in public health building various skill-sets such as project management, grant writing, program evaluation, and data analysis allowed her to make the impact that she is making now.

This is a great list and resource for public health podcasts. HINT: Our podcast is #2 on this list of Top 15 Public Health Podcasts!!

Today's guest is Dielda J Robertson, who has 28 years experience in public health. We discuss her extensive background where she served in viral Hepatitis prevention and coordination, Women's Health and Prevention, and Bioterrorism Emergency Preparedness and Response, as well as several years as a Laboratory scientist.

Today I interview Dr. Makhabele Nolana Woolfork, an epidemiologist of over 10 years at the local, state, federal, and global levels. She is currently a PHI/CDC Global HIV Epidemiology Fellow within the CDC's Division of Global HIV and Tuberculosis, Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch. She shares her experience, and gives tips to students and graduates on how to make advancements in their public health careers.

In this episode, I am speaking with Dr. Karen Mancera-Cuevas on her experience in public health care as a researcher and practitioner. She talks about her current programs at Northwestern University and how her first job in high school led her to a career in Public Health. Listen to hear her priceless advice for future graduates on ways of obtaining a great position after college.

Are you looking to continue developing your career in the public health field? In this episode, I lay out the different programs that I've been working on to provide support for your journey in developing a career in public health.

Summer is ending, students are starting or returning to schools and universities around the world. Listen to this episode for updates as we get ready to move into the new season of professional development. I'm asking everyone to share the podcast with at least one friend, classmate, or colleague within your public health network so that others can benefit from the podcast. Ask them to subscribe to the podcast.

The American Public Health Association's Epidemiology Section wanted to give students an opportunity to talk about their research on the podcast. Students who were interested in participating were asked to submit their research information and were selected based on their complete responses. Coming on the podcast to discuss their research gives students some experience in discussing their research. In this episode you'll hear from our final two student members who were chosen to share their research experience. Joining me on this episode is Katie Reget from DePaul University and James Schlitt from Virginia Tech.

This Episode: I share a personal story and recent professional networking experience. Final episode of the 3 part series devoted to professional networking. Be sure to listen to part 1 (episode 103) and part 2 (episode 104). In this episode I will recap what we covered during the challenge. I will also be talking about the programs that are available to help you take action on taking your professional networking to the next level. Links to everything I will discuss can be found in the show notes for this episode. DrCHHuntley.com/podcast

This episode... Officially marks 2 years of the podcast!! (YAY) Part 2 of 3 part episode series devoted to professional networking. If you haven't listened to part 1 then be sure you go back and listen to episode 103. I will be talking about Leveling up your professional networking- doing something different from what you've always done (maybe even a little outside of your comfort zone) to help you get better results. I'll cover 5 reasons you should be networking, then share tips from previous guests on the podcast regarding importance of networking, and finally tie the messages together at the end with some key takeaways and action steps for you. This is a coaching session and I'm going a little deeper into this topic because it deserves all of our attention. So, since I'm putting in the effort to share it on this deep level, I'm asking you to do the same regarding listening. What I'm about to share will be very helpful for a lot of you. As a community, students, professionals of all levels, let's take our networking efforts to the next level. I have resources to help you do exactly that! Visit DrCHHuntley.com

This is an exciting time for me as I've recently celebrated 100 episodes of the podcast, and I'm also reaching the official two-year mark of the podcast. I love being able to reflect and see the tremendous growth since the start of the podcast, and I also love being able to plan where I want to go in the next two years. Right now is a great time to focus on the reason why I decided to start this particular business. Of all of the types of business models I could have created and followed, I chose to focus my efforts and attention on sharing tips and strategies that help you enter or transition into the field of public health, just like the introduction of every podcast episodes says. I'm kicking off a three-part career coaching series that will help bring everyone together. If you're a long-time listener, then this will be a great time of refocusing with me. If you're relatively new to the podcast, then this will be a great opportunity for you to learn more about what I offer and how I can help. This is for everybody: students, graduates, public health professionals of all levels, and business owners. With this episode is I'm kicking of a professional networking challenge. I'm challenging you to step up your professional networking and make it a higher priority because it is such an important part of your career strategy and there is always room for improvement.

The American Public Health Association's Epidemiology Section wanted to give students an opportunity to talk about their research on the podcast. Students who were interested in participating were asked to submit their research information and were selected based on their complete responses. Coming on the podcast to discuss their research gives students some experience in discussing their research. In this episode you'll hear from two student members of the APHA Epidemiology section, Frances Dean and Kelly O'Shea, as they discuss their student research experience.

In this episode, I share an interview with Dr. Rebecca Drewette-Card. Dr. Drewette-Card is the President of Public Health Partners, which is a woman-owned consulting firm based in Maine and serving clients throughout the United States. She was also one of the cohosts of my first Public Health Consulting and Entrepreneurship Expo held back in March of 2019. Dr. Drewette-Card previously worked for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Public Health Prevention Service. She has also worked in state health departments in New Mexico, Oregon, North Carolina and Maine. Additionally, she has worked at a small college and a large university. Her career has given her both breadth and depth of experience, which has provided her with opportunities to develop a wide-range of public health skills including social marketing, report-writing, intervention development, coalition-building, program planning, evaluation, conference and training development, and public speaking. Dr. Drewette-Card joins me on this interview to share her journey into public health, and shares some tips and advice for students, graduates, job-seekers, and advice for anyone thinking about building a business in public health.

Can you believe we are at episode 100? Wow! In this episode, I share an interview with you that I believe is the perfect way to celebrate this milestone episode. If you follow me on social media, then you probably noticed that I was recently featured in a video interview entitled "This Epidemiologist Serves as a Guide to Up and Coming Scientists" and it was for a show called "Your Mark on the World" by Devin Thorpe. Your Mark on the World publishes their interviews in a video format that also gets published to its website and YouTube channel. There is also a podcast by the same name, where they publish the audio version of the interview as well. I was thrilled when I was invited to be a guest on the show, and I think you all can appreciate the details and full story behind this experience. DrCHHuntley.com

Public Health Students Only⁠ ⁠ Students are LOVING this workshop! I am helping students begin to think strategically about your career early in the journey, so that you can be better prepared for the transition into the career field upon graduation.⁠ ⁠ A free preview of the workshop is now available in the Career Strategies for Students of Public Health program. ⁠ Visit drchhuntley.com/students to enroll.⁠

In this episode, I'm sharing with you another valuable resource and will tell you how you can try it out for FREE! That resource is Audible. Audible will provide a free trial of their service to listeners of the Public Health Epidemiology Careers Podcast and also provide financial support to the podcast just for sharing and promoting their service. It is a win-win all around because it's a great resource and I absolutely love using it! I want to explain what audible is, recommend 3 categories to explore and explain why I'm recommending them, then tell you where you can find the link to start your free trial.

This is a coaching episode for both students of public health and professionals who are already in the field of public health. You will want to listen to carefully, think creatively, and check the bottom of this show notes page for details and links. I'm going to share a valuable resource with you, including some of my favorite examples of use, and then tell you how you can try it out for free. I want you to listen carefully, before you sign up for the free trial. This way you can first narrow down which resource you want to use, and then make the most of your free trial period to determine if its something you want to continue or cancel. In other words, I'm going to help you make the most of the free trial period with what I'm about to share with you.

This episode features an interview with Ifeoma Ozodiegwu, a member of the APHA Epidemiology section, and recent graduate of the DrPH program at East Tennessee State University (ETSU). She joins us to discuss her student research of obesity in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Recently, I asked our community to name their biggest public health career challenge, the one thing that was preventing them from accomplishing their career goals. My reason for asking was so that I could direct people toward helpful resources. I found that some people didn't realize that resources were available to address their specific challenges. Some people were aware of the resources, but just not taking action, and others were trying to ignore their challenges and not do anything about addressing them at all. In this episode I will discuss some of the challenges mentioned in the community, and share my feedback and responses to those challenges. The information on this episode will help so many more people who are dealing with similar issues to know that they are not alone and that help exists if they want it. If you are someone who is facing any of the challenges that are discussed in this episode, then listen carefully. I understand that not everyone will want to use these resources, but I also know that some of you have been looking for these resources and will take action. It is my goal to make sure that you are aware of what is available to you. You have options.

In this episode, you will meet the Leah Roman of Roman Public Health Consulting. In a previous episode, I mentioned Leah as a great example of professional networking. Those of you who know her are probably nodding your heads right now. She is very genuine and networking seems to come naturally to her. You may also remember Leah from the very first Public Health Consulting and Entrepreneurship Expo that I held, where she was one of my cohosts. She joins me on this episode to talk about her public health journey, from employee to consultant and business owner. She also has a few tips for anyone who may be interested in consulting. She talks in depth about who she serves in her business, and the course that she created called "Contemplating Consulting: A readiness guide to help public health professionals decide to hit the breaks or take the leap." Listen carefully as Leah describes her online course, and if it is something that you're interested in, then be sure to listen to the full episode, because I will come back after the interview to tell you about a special offer that she is providing just for my podcast audience

In this episode, you will meet the CEO of CVH Consulting, Christie VanHorn. If her name sounds familiar to you, then you may remember her from the very first Public Health Consulting and Entrepreneurship Expo that I held, where she was one of my cohosts. She joins me on this episode to talk about her public health journey, from employee to consultant. She talks about who she serves in her business, her ideal client, the types of services she provides, and what she loves about her role as a consultant. She also has a few tips for job seekers, that are very similar to what you often hear from me. I'm confident that you will enjoy this episode. So sit back, relax, and enjoy my interview with Christie.

In this episode, I share a story, a message, and an opportunity with you all. I encourage you to listen closely, and take action if any part of this message resonates with you. The opportunity is a global health initiative, a fellowship opportunity for visionary young women compelled to carry out the work of achieving universal health coverage for those in greatest need. The story and message is that the initiative is in memory of, Samya Stumo, who died at age 24 in an airplane crash. She was dedicated to reducing obstacles to accessing health care, particularly those faced by women. Samya is the niece of Dr. Rania Milleron, who was my guest on the podcast, back on episode 74, which was recorded and published before this tragedy occurred. Dr. Milleron is a regular listener of this podcast, as well as an active member of the developing your public health career strategy program and group. She is a multidisciplinary professional in public health with a passion for policy and advocacy. Please take the time to listen to episode 74 and learn more about Dr. Milleron and her public health journey.

This is a great opportunity for me to talk to you about my why. In this episode, I explain why I started this podcast, and created programs. Of all of the businesses I could have started, I explain why I chose to build a business around helping all of you get into the field of public health or transition into public health careers. You'll better understand why I care so much.

Dr. Elliston is a public health executive with extensive work experience with several public health institutions. She is the President and CEO of Public Health Solutions Executive Search Firm (PHS), which serves as the catalyst in connecting mid to senior level professionals with top public health firms. Dr. Elliston and I are working on ways to combine efforts and better serve our communities. For now, I'd like you to focus your attention on this interview and get to know Dr. Elliston and learn all about PHS.

Our community has grown tremendously over the last couple of years and I'm thrilled about that. With growth comes change, and it is time to pivot and make adjustments. Not only to accommodate our growth to date, but we must change in order to continue to grow. You know the saying, "what got us here, won't get us there." Change is good. In fact, I will say that change is great! Especially in this case. Listen to the full episode to hear the details. https://www.patreon.com/drchhuntley

This episode features a member of the American Public Health Association (APHA) Epidemiology section. My guest is Dr. Sreelekha Prakash. She shares her journey into public health with a global health prospective. She started her career as a medical doctor, specifically an emergency clinician, treating patients in India. She describes how that experience created an opportunity for research and laid the foundation for her journey into public health and her career in academics and research here in the US, where she serves as a Health Sciences Faculty member pursuing research of health-related issues. Be sure to listen all the way through, because she gives some great career advice toward the end.

My guest on this episode is Dr. Maria Mora Pinzon. She is a preventive medicine and public health physician. Doctors in this specialty use research, epidemiology, quality improvement and policy to promote health. Since they have full medical licenses, they are also able to diagnose and treat patients in a variety of settings. Dr. Pinzon is the president-elect of the Young Physicians section of the American College of Preventive Medicine, which is the medical organization were preventive medicine physicians like Dr. Pinzon connect and obtain new tools and skills to advance their careers. The purpose of the Young Physicians section is to identify needs of young physicians and develop initiatives to address those needs. I first met Dr. Pinzon when she reached out to me and invited me to speak to the physicians in this section and discuss various career opportunities in public health and ways to diversify their income. After learning more about the ACPM, I thought it would be a great idea to invite her on the podcast to share her public health journey. She also shares some ideas about opportunities for collaboration between public health students and preventive medicine physicians.

I'm delighted to introduce you to my special guest on this episode, Rosalie Aguilar. Rosalie is the national project coordinator for Salud America!, which is a national Latino-focused organization that creates culturally relevant and research-based stories, videos, and tools to inspire people to start and support healthy changes to policies, systems, and environments where Latino children and families can equitably live, learn, work, and play. The content created and distributed by Salud America! reaches over 250,000 moms, dads, providers, researchers, community leaders, and school personnel who are interested in working to push for healthy changes in schools and build health equity for Latino, and all kids. I first met Rosalie when she reached out to me as asked me to cohost a TweetChat with Salud America!. This is a weekly event that focuses on various topics that align with the organizations focus. It's held on Twitter's platform every Tuesday at 12pm CST/1pm ET and uses the hashtag #saludtues. The event that I cohosted along with the American Heart Association of Minnesota and a few other organizations, was titled the Impact of Sugar & Healthier Alternatives. The timing of that particular event was aligned with podcast episode #53, Interview with Karen Akins, International Quit Soda Day, where Karen discussed the negative of soda and sugary drinks among children in Mexico. If you haven't heard that episode, then I encourage you to listen to it. I enjoyed the experience and appreciated Rosalie for reaching out to me, and when I invited her to be my guest on the podcast she was equally excited. Now, I knew it would be a very interesting interview, having her discuss Salud America!. However, what I didn't expect was her journey into public health to be so rich and full of experience, passion, and insight. I am very excited to share that interview with all of you.

Today we are going to talk about professional networking in public health by sharing a few tips and specific stories of some recent and awesome networking success story examples. Whether you are seeking, starting, or transitioning into a job in public health, or starting a consulting or other type of public health business, you should definitely give this episode your full attention.

Jane Fadesere has over 16 years of experience as a community pharmacist. She has practiced pharmacy in Maryland, Washington DC, West Virginia, Louisiana and currently in Texas. She has experience in various pharmacy settings including pain management, medical supplies, independent pharmacy, and chain pharmacy. Jane practices medication safety on a daily basis, ensuring that patients receive the right medications and dosages. Jane obtained her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Howard University, Washington DC. She also has a dual MBA/MPH earned from Benedictine University, Lisle IL. She is currently a staff pharmacist with CVS Pharmacy. Her interest in public health started while she was in pharmacy school. In this episode, she discusses some of the opportunities that exist for the role of the pharmacist in public health. She talks about her strong desire to help educate and empower underserved and underinsured populations, especially those who suffer from diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Jane refers to herself as a "volunteer junkie" and has served as a volunteer for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) since 2010, as well as several other organizations. She serves on the Board of Directors of Minority Women Pharmacists Association, Inc. (MWPA). MWPA became incorporated in 2018 and part of their mission is to enhance the presence of minority women in the healthcare industry, provide service to their communities, and to support each other.

Dr. Brown talks about her journey into public health and her experiences along the way. She is a professor, researcher, owns a consulting business, and hosts a podcast. She is passionate about HIV research, mental health, trauma, and aging. She shares some valuable tips and advice for public health students, professionals, and those interested in starting a business. So be sure to listen to this full episode. I also want to point out that this interview was recorded when I was sick. Hopefully you'll be able to move past the sound of my voice and just focus on the information that we actually discuss. I was worried that my congestion would be too much of a distraction, but my interview schedule is sometimes a little hard to maneuver and change and I knew it would be difficult to reschedule the interview. So, I decided to continue as planned. My editor said that I don't sound too bad, but I just wanted to explain that ahead of time.

In this episode, I pour out my heart and even share a personal story to help me drive my message as I discuss the topic of childhood vaccination. I'm not discussing this from the point of whether or not you should vaccinate your children. The purpose of discussing this topic is to address the need for improved public health communication on the topic of childhood vaccination. Social media platforms provide an incredible opportunity for effective public health communication, with millions of users on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. However, I see a missed opportunity to educate, and build trust. It is largely due to poor public health communication. I'm asking for your help with this episode. After you listen, I'm asking everyone to share this episode widely throughout your network of coworkers, classmates, and colleagues.

What is a social entrepreneur? What is a public health entrepreneur? In this episode, I'm going to talk about public health consulting and entrepreneurship. I will start with a discussion about entrepreneurship and then move into the opportunities that exist, and finally share details of the Public Health Consulting and Entrepreneurship Expo. DrCHHuntley.com

My guest on this episode is Heather Flattery, and she is the Manager of Membership and Marketing at the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE). SOPHE is a nonprofit, independent professional association that represents a diverse membership of nearly 4,000 health education professionals and students in the United States and 25 international countries. Heather joins me on this episode to share with all of us about the organization's focus, as well as the mission, vision, and values of SOPHE. She will discuss some of its major accomplishments and also how it uniquely serves the community of public health professionals. Additionally, she shares her own personal journey into public health and provides yet another example of the many important ways that you can serve in this broad public health field.

In this episode, we are going to highlight the work of Haley Greene, one of our student leaders in the American Public Health Association (APHA) Epidemiology section. Haley is currently a graduate student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham working on her Masters of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology. She is also the Student Liaison Chair in the Epidemiology Section of the APHA. She is going to join us on this episode to describe her research experience, why she chose it, what she's learned from it, as well as how she believes this will help her prepare for her future career in public health.

This special BONUS episode is only available to subscribers of the podcast. Tune in to learn about the new 5-Day Public Health Career Goals Challenge and how you can use this exercise to help you begin to focus on your career goals. Click this link to join the challenge.

In this episode, I introduce you to Dr. Jasmine Ward, founder of Black Ladies in Public Health (BLiPH). BLiPH is a global community of black women who are interested in, are training, and working in public health. The organization promotes scholarship, service, self-care, and support for health equity. This episode is for you even if you are not a black lady in public health, but you are interested in supporting issues, causes, and policy that relates to black ladies in public health. This episode is for you if you want to be inspired by hearing the public health journey of Dr. Ward and her connection with the populations and causes that she cares most about. This episode is definitely for you if you are black, female, and interested in public health. Dr. Jasmine Ward is a health educator with specific interest in understanding and addressing health disparities. She has experience as a professor, community health leader, advocate, and a public health entrepreneur. She serves as an assistant professor at a local college in the Dallas Fort Worth area, and serves as the Director of Programs for a Dallas based organization that is focuses on providing health education, testing, counseling, and support services related to HIV, HepC and substance abuse for Black MSMs, Trans Women, and their families. She is a passionate, driven, and intelligent leader who is authentic, relatable, and has a great sense of humor! I truly enjoyed this interview and appreciate her for taking the time to come on this episode and share her journey, tips, and insights, with all of us.

The Society for the Analysis of African American Public Health Issues (SAAPHI) consists of researchers, academics, professionals, and students who share an interest and passion in improving the health of African American communities. This is accomplished through research, leadership/mentorship and policy. SAAPHI continues to grow and poise itself as a premier research and education organization dedicated to examining the role of race, and more specifically racism, as a contributing factor in determining the health status of African Americans. My special guest in this episode is Dr. Sandy-Asari Hogan, who is the current president of SAAPHI. She describes herself as having the passion for translation of research to practice and describes herself as a "disrupter of disparity and elevator of equity". In essence, she sees herself as a bridge between research and practice.

Cierra Sisters is a community-based organization created by and for African Americans with cancer in the greater Seattle WA area. Cierra Sisters fills a critical public health need by breaking the cycle of fear, increasing knowledge concerning breast cancer in the African-American and underserved communities. The organization empowers the African American community through local, national, and global events and partnerships. Cierra Sisters has partnered with major cancer research institutes, and academic research partners to advance its mission. During the Society for the Analysis of African American Public Health Issues (SAAPHI) conference, I sat next to the founder of Cierra Sisters, Bridgette Hempstead, and we became fast friends. She presented research at the conference and promoted the organization. Bridgette is a 23 year three times breast cancer survivor! The more I learned about her and the organization, the more I was intrigued, inspired, and moved to action. I knew I wanted to support her organization in some way, and also knew that I wanted to bring her on the podcast and introduce her to all of you. So, in just a little while, I will bring you my interview with Bridgette and let her tell you about the organization and her journey. The timing of this episode is important because it aligns with a milestone event that I will let Bridgette explain. Just a side note worth highlighting here is this. Bridgette is not formally trained in public health. She does not have a degree in public health. In fact, she recently spoke to a group in San Francisco that introduced her as "the accidental activist" who has been making a tremendous positive public health impact for over 23 years. I want everyone who's listening to hear her passion, and drive in the stories she shares and the examples she gives. Her message is inspiring. Imagine what you can do once you connect with the area of public health that you are most passionate about, and the populations that you care most about serving. My hope is that you will be inspired by this episode.