Public Health SPOTlight Podcast

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!In this final episode of 2020, the mic is turned on Sujani as she gets interviewed by her friend Lathika about the one year journey of producing the PH SPOTlight podcast. In this celebratory episode, they talk about the past, present, and future of PH SPOT.You’ll LearnHow Sujani is feeling about one year of podcasting, especially having launched PHSpotlight a few months before the pandemic startedSujani’s full story of discovering public health and her journey; Lathika shares her similar journey to discovering public healthThe two talk about PH SPOT and how it has become a great platform for those who will be discovering the field of public health, especially since the pandemic has shown a spotlight on this fieldGoing back to 2017, Sujani talks about the launch of PH SPOT, the two moments she realised the need for such a platform and the project that kickstarted what we see as the platform todayWhat motivates the team to continue PH SPOTDiscussion on the popular podcast episodes/topics of 2020 and what to expect for 2021Sujani’s journey into entrepreneurship, which started off from an assignment during her Master of Public health degree, which lead to the founding of her not-for-profit organization and eventually PH SPOTTips for individuals in the field of public health interested in entrepreneurshipSujani’s final message to the PH SPOT community that the platform is a community driven iniative and that this is your platform!ResourcesPodcast episode featuring Lathika: Career advancement & family life: perspectives from a global health research manager, with Lathika LaguwaranContributing to the blog: www.phspot.ca/contributeSharing ideas for the podcast: Fill out this formSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesIn this episode, Sujani talks about MPH (Master of Public Health) program prep! Applications for this graduate program are often due at the end of the year or early the following year. As students gear up to apply for the MPH degree of their dreams, Sujani shares two tips for those prepping for the MPH program, inspired by a blog post that we published in early 2019.You’ll LearnAbout the “What I wish I knew before my MPH” blog series published in 2019Why this question was explored, and the two big themes that emerged when reflecting on this question: 1) Bring real-world experience into the classroom, and 2) mindset is everything.Where to read the full blog series and contribute to the conversation:What I wish I knew before I started my Master of Public Health (MPH) degreeWhat I wish I knew during my Master of Public Health (MPH) programWhat I wish I knew right after I graduated from my Master of Public Health (MPH) programResourcesBlog post series:What I wish I knew before I started my Master of Public Health (MPH) degreeWhat I wish I knew during my Master of Public Health (MPH) programWhat I wish I knew right after I graduated from my Master of Public Health (MPH) programOther PH SPOT resources:Never heard of a podcast before? Read this guide we put together to help you get set up.Be notified when new episodes come out, and receive hand-picked public health opportunities every week by joining the PH SPOT community.Support the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesIn this episode, Sujani sits down with Ama Kyeremeh, to speak about a day in the life of a public health research coordinator. Ama has worked in this role with an organization in British Columbia, Canada that focuses on women’s health. She takes us through how she became interested in the field, what a day looks like, and more.You’ll LearnAma’s journey into public healthHow Ama gained public health experience early on during her undergraduate degreeWhat a day looks like for Ama, as an early public health research coordinatorA discussion on being a realist when you ponder the question of whether you are contributing in a meaningful way through your work and are making an impact in the worldTop practical skills to develop to excel in a public health research coordinator role, in addition to facilitation, communication, and negotiationSomeone anticipating to get into this role should develop various writing skills, as well as project managementThe importance of networking for a role as a public health research coordinator, especially proactive networkingThe inspiration for Ama to pursue a career in public health: a beautiful story of her early school years in Ghana, and seeing public health interventions and educators in actionSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesToday on the show, Sujani speaks about leadership once again.We introduced the topic of leadership in public health on the PHSPOTlight podcast in episode 12 with Nadia Akseer. In that kick-off episode, we committed to bringing conversations with more of our peers around the topic of leadership. We want leadership in public health to be a skill that you are constantly thinking about building on, as much as (if not more) than building technical or software skills. The conversations we are choosing to share with you are with leaders who are not only our peers but those who we feel we can learn a lot from and be inspired by to take real action.In this episode, Sujani sits down with Anjum Sultana. Anjum is someone Sujani has known for a number of years and has interacted with via phone calls and messaging/email, but this was the first time they both "saw" each other (virtually), so it was a special conversation. Anjum’s advocacy and leadership work is also something that Sujani has been inspired by over the years.The conversation with Anjum is not only jam-packed with inspiration and motivation to be a leader in public health but also weaves tangible first steps for all of us to take.Public health needs many strong leaders to push agendas forward, and we hope that by sharing stories like that of Anjum's, you walk away feeling like you too can be a leader in public health.You’ll LearnHow Anjum defines leadershipWhether she intentionally chose to become a leader in her space, or it naturally occurredA bit about the young Anjum, her first memory of thinking that she could be a leader, and how her dad was an inspiration to her, which has resulted in the work she does in her communityAttributes of a good leader (skills to build on for anyone wanting to be a leader in their space), and skills Anjum wished she had gained early onThings students can focus on specifically while in school to set themselves up to become a strong leaderStep-by-step how we can go from feeling passionate about a topic/issue/cause to taking incremental action that leads to change. Whether leadership only comes from a management/senior-level role (hint: no it doesn’t)Whether leaders are born OR if leadership can be learnedChallenges Anjum faces as a leader in her spaceA final example where Anjum showed that she is a leader in her space: she talks about her journey first authoring Canada’s First Feminist Recovery Plan.It is the first nationally-focused one in the country and possibly the worldShe encourages the PH SPOT community to read it, make it your own, and reach out to her should you be interested in taking actionSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesToday on the show, Sujani sits down with Erica Di Ruggiero to talk about some very exciting news for Canada!In May 2020, the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health announced the much-anticipated Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program – the first of its kind in Canada.The DrPH has been a topic of interest amongst our PH SPOT community members for some time now. Last year, we published a blog post written by Harman Sandhu titled “Doctor of Public Health – Isn’t that just a PhD?”. This article has continued to be one of the most-read posts on our blog, and since the launch of the DrPH program here in Canada, this post has been one of the top 5 pages visited on our website.In order to bring you even more information about this program, Sujani sat down with the individual who spearheaded the initiative to bring the first DrPH program to a Canadian Institute. Erica Di Ruggiero is also the interim program director of the DrPH program.Prior to sitting down with Erica, we made sure to collect questions the PH SPOT community had about the program (thank you for those submissions, they were all great questions). When we looked at all of your questions, they fell into 7 themes: the ideal candidate/eligibility, life after a DrPH, how this program compares on an international stage; a few logistical questions about the program; some content questions regarding the program; and the most popular one, tuition and cost. As a result, this episode is framed around these 7 themes.We hope this conversation with Erica, which is packed with a tonne of information, will help to answer questions you’ve had, and perhaps even help you decide whether you’d like to consider the DrPH program for the next fall admission, or for a future year.Learn more about the 6-day Infographic Planning Challenge mentioned at the end of the episodeSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesAfter writing the Opinion piece on the PH SPOT blog, The rise of infographics, and why I believe all public health professionals should know how to design one, Sujani wanted to get behind the mic to explain why she believes this. In this solo episode, Sujani tells you what infographics are, how infographics have been used in public health, and why public health professionals need to have excellent communication skills, including visual communication. She also encourages listeners to take the first step by joining PH SPOT’s 6-day Infographic Planning Challenge so that they too can begin to build the confidence and skills to design public health infographics.You’ll LearnWhat is an infographic, including the definition of an infographicYou’ll be introduced to words such as “data visualization”, “information design”, and “information architecture”, and what they meanWho is using infographics in public health (in the past and present)Sujani’s favourite use of infographics in present-day: universities including infographic design as part of student assignments! By integrating infographic design within the curriculum of public health courses, students leave the course with infographic design skills that will be welcomed and sought out for in the workforce.Why infographic projects that share public health information or data are best led by public health professionals – and how the communication and/or marketing teams can get involvedAnd she shares her bottom line, which is: We have a responsibility to ensure that public health information is displayed and communicated accurately. If we can’t get rid of the bad information out there, we should saturate it with good information.ResourcesOpinion post mentioned in the podcast: The rise of infographics, and why I believe all public health professionals should know how to design oneTo take the next step in developing infographic design skills, start with the 6-day Infographic Planning Challenge (requires just 15 minutes a day, for 6 days)Support the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesIn this episode, Sujani sits down with a friend from her MPH program, Sameena Vadivelu, to speak about a day in the life of a program evaluator. Sameena has worked as a program evaluator in a local health unit and takes us through how she became interested in the field, her job application journey, what a day looks like, and more.You’ll LearnWhat is program evaluation? And how it compared to what she had anticipated it to be.How Sameena became interested in program evaluation.Challenges she had during job searching.A day in the life of a program evaluator at a local public health unit - the responsibilities of the role.The biggest challenges about her workSkills someone considering specializing in program evaluation should know/do/be prepared for (i.e. software, certification).A moment Sameena felt most inspired.Today's GuestSameena Vadivelu holds a Masters degree in Public Health (MPH) and an Honours Bachelor of Science degree specializing in Integrative Biology and Psychology. She’s currently a Program Evaluation Consultant at the Workers Safety and Insurance Board. In her previous role she was a Program Evaluator at a local public health unit. She has over five years of experience in evaluation. In this role she primarily supported the environmental health and infectious diseases teams and has provided support on various planning and evaluation projects. Prior to this she worked at a health authority in Labrador. In this role she worked closely with public health nurses to develop policies around contact tracing for sexually transmitted infections.Support the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesIn this episode, Sujani shares a presentation she did last year to the ThriveHire audience. Having recently found this video, and listening to it again now almost a year later, we felt that the advice couldn’t be any more important right now. So we decided to put it up here on our podcast, as well as a little bit about our Infographics 101 course that ties in with tip #3. So, enjoy this episode, brought to you by Sujani, from the past 😉You’ll LearnSujani’s three tips for public health professionals starting out their careersTip #1: Constantly think about building your networkPeople and relationships will take you places: job opportunities, mentorship/advice, etc.Tip #2: Reflect, set goals, reflect some more & set more goals (and repeat)Look back, so you can look forwardTip #3: Make yourself stand out & shineHow can you add value to your organization and make yourself stand out? And be valued?Developing a unique skill is one way to make yourself stand out, for example, being the one who can design infographicsResourcesRelevant blog posts and podcast episode mentioned:Podcast: Where will your MPH degree take you? Two lessons to mentally prepare for your MPH degree in the time of COVID-19, with Sujani SivaBlog post: Where will your MPH degree take you? (Part 1)Blog post: Where will your MPH degree take you? (Part 2)Blog post: Lessons learned after an #InterviewFail for a once in a lifetime kind of interview (why building relationships are important)Free ebook: 7 Things You Can Do Right Now to Advance Your Public Health Career & Set Yourself Up for SuccessCourse: INFOGRAPHICS 101 – How to design public health infographics with softwares you know & useSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesIn this episode, we’re talking about preparing for your MPH degree in the time of COVID-19. Some of you may be feeling unsure about how things are going to be when classes start. Perhaps you’re feeling some anxiety, or have many questions around whether your experience is going to be valuable. We’re here to tell you that these feelings you are experiencing are valid. This episode is to give you a bit of comfort and to convince you that despite the changes we must face, you can still have a good experience.In 2017, Sujani wrote a two-part blog post titled “Where will your MPH degree take you?”. She wrote this piece to reflect on her journey into public health. As Sujani reflects on the current situation we are in due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she couldn’t help but think about the new set of MPH students who will be embarking on their graduate program this fall. She was compelled to revisit this reflection to see if the same lessons still apply. (Spoiler alert: they do still apply!)You’ll LearnThe training you are embarking on is extremely importantThere are things you can’t control in this pandemic that will be affecting your MPH program/trainingTwo important lessons that Sujani learnt during her MPH degree, and a reflection on whether they still apply in the current contextThese two lessons are: seeking your own opportunities and going above and beyond the bare minimumExamples on how to seek your own opportunities (lesson #1)Example of how Sujani went above and beyond the bare minimum (lesson #2)An invitation to talk about/reflect on your current feelings as you prepare for your MPH programSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesThis is the second episode we are recording since the COVID-19 pandemic. As we all try to navigate this new way of life, we at PH SPOT wanted to switch things up and produce a few podcast episodes that are different from our original show.In today’s episode, Sujani sits down with someone special. You may have heard his name in our intro episode, or in some of our email communications. If you guessed Kajanth, you are absolutely right.Kajanth, as introduced in our intro episode, is one of the unsung heroes of PH SPOT. He is responsible for how all of the content is delivered to you. He is behind the building of our websites (PH SPOT and Infographics101.com), podcasts, and online course, to name a few…Name a PH SPOT product, and Kajanth is probably the reason you can access it on your devices. (Kajanth is also Sujani’s husband!)For this episode, we thought it would be fun for the two of them to record an unplanned and unscripted episode about PH SPOT. This was an exciting and equally nervous episode to record as neither knew where the conversation was going!You’ll LearnWho Kajanth is, and his role at PH SPOT (as a non-public health person, what he thinks of public health)The moment PH SPOT began to feel like more than a blogThe journey of how PH SPOT came to beThe different moments that Sujani and Kajanth remember about building PH SPOT – the fun and the difficult momentsThe small and big dreams they’ve dreamt up for the future of PH SPOTSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesThis is the first episode Sujani sat down to record since COVID-19 became a pandemic. And we know that it is a tough time for every single one of us. We are new to physically distancing ourselves from families and friends, and holding game night and coffee chats over a video call are just not the same…and we now have to adjust to having children and the entire family at home 24/7, and for some, the transition to working from home has been tough. We will be the first to say that we don’t like this way of living and wish things were different. But, it’s so important for us to sacrifice these things, and to bear some of this pain because it does save lives!Given this current situation, and acknowledging that we may not be mentally ready to focus on building our careers the same way, we wanted to change things up for the next couple of podcast episodes (or more). These episodes will focus on slightly different topics ranging from tips to help you cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as fun behind the scenes reflections of PH SPOT to give you a bit of “entertainment” listening. If you have other ideas do email them to us, and we will incorporate them into a future episode. Once we feel that we are ready to get back to our regular show, we will start rolling those episodes out!In this episode, Sujani sits down with two members from the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH). CanWaCH catalyzes Canadian collaboration among 100 Partners who are improving women’s and children’s health in 1,000 communities worldwide.The interesting part is that CanWaCH is a completely virtual workplace with 22 employees across Canada. Given they have been working in virtual workplace for a number of years now, we reached out to them so that they could offer up all of the lessons they’ve learned to help you, your organization and employees manage working in a virtual environment as a cohesive team. I talk to two individuals from CanWaCH’s team – Julia Anderson who is the Chief Operating Officer and Erin Jex, the Gender Equality Officer at CanWaCH.You'll Learn:About the physical environment that Julia and Erin work from to give us a picture of their workspaces (Julia lives with 8 other people, and Erin has 1 other person)The makeup of the CanWaCH team, and their environmentsWhether COVID-19 has changed anything for them or their team, with respect to working from homeThe technology and tools that their team uses which enables them to work collaboratively and efficiently (and tips around this)The challenges they still face, despite having been a virtual workplace for a number of yearsAs management, the importance of setting your intentions right from the beginning and reiterating it (constantly); and equally important is the trust you must build with your teamOnboarding a virtual team member; how orientation is set up for these employeesTips and considerations to build relationships with your team members given the absence of regular face to face interactionsThe silver lining in working from home, and what they enjoy about a virtual workplaceSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesLeadership is fascinating. From the way movements are formed by a single individual to how that single individual is able to inspire change amongst others. Undoubtedly, we can argue that leadership is very important in public health.In thinking about how we, as public health practitioners, can ensure that leadership is a skill that we constantly think about building on, we want to have conversations with our peers so that we can not only be reminded of our roles as leaders, but also to learn from and be inspired by them.In this episode, Sujani speaks Dr. Nadia Akseer, an Epidemiologist-Biostatistician who has spent over 10 years leading research and analyses of clinical and population health datasets in the areas of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, as well as nutrition in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia and other low- and middle-income countries.In 2018, Nadia was identified as a Canadian Women Leader in Global Health, and in March 2019, she was awarded the 2019 Emerging Public Health Leader Alumni Award from the Public Health Alumni Association of the University of Toronto.We speak about the leadership drive Nadia possesses, when she decided she wanted to become a leader in her space, and whether you need to be in a management position to be a leader, amongst other topics. And of course, I couldn’t let her go without asking about her multiple meetings with Bill Gates, to present and collaborate on some of her work.You’ll LearnThe leadership drive, and what it isWhat leadership means to NadiaHow and when Nadia decided that she wanted to become a leader in this space she was passionate aboutWhether one needs to be in a management position to be a leader (hint: absolutely not)Natural born leaders versus people given the right opportunities to become a leaderHow Nadia goes about seeking new opportunities (as she is someone who thrives on being challenged and stimulated)A glimpse into the career path she took: from Biostatician at SickKids, to Global Health Research at SickKids, then to Harvard, and now at Gates VenturesHow her view of leadership has changed over timeVerbal Communication and its importance in good leadershipA leader Nadia looks up to: Dr. Zulfiqar ButtaReflections from her meetings with Bill Gates to present her research and work together on countries that have managed to reduce child stuntingSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Show NotesYou’ve probably heard of the saying “growth and change lies outside of your comfort zone”, and this is true for our careers too. To advance in our careers, we need to do things that we are not comfortable with, whether that’s standing up and presenting at a large meeting, saying yes to a project that scares us, or perhaps even pushing a little bit more than usual, and relocating to a new city or even country for a public health experience you wouldn’t have otherwise gotten.On this episode of PH SPOTlight, Sujani sits down with one of her mentors and someone who has pushed her to continuously push past her comfort zone, James Flint. James has worked in public health at the international, national and local levels with several governmental and non-governmental organizations around the world. We talk to James about pushing past our comfort zones and we hear about some of the decisions he has made to do so, from turning down permanent job offers to moving his family across the world, all of which have been driven by his “why question for his life”. As someone who is passionate about social justice, he really wanted to craft a career where it gave him opportunities to help other people…and that’s the reason he’s constantly pushing past his comfort zone.James has constantly been an inspiration for Sujani’s public health career, and she hopes to bring that inspiration to you as well! We hope that this conversation with James leaves you inspired to think about how you too can push past your comfort zone in your public health career so that you can keep growing and serving.You’ll LearnHow James is constantly thinking about pushing past his comfort zone and doing things differently.That you don’t need to make drastic changes or decisions to push past your comfort zone.How his “why” drives his life and career choices.Two examples of how James pushed past his comfort zone, and what he was thinking during both of these times:Why James turned down a permanent and safe job the day before he was supposed to start so that he could take on a temporary post that offered more scope for international work.Why James decided to try out the STOP Polio mission even though he didn’t know anything about polio or the country he was going to be based in.Why someone might be reluctant to push the boundary on their career, get out of their comfort zone and really challenge themselves.That everyone feels incompetent from time-to-time, and that it’s common to have those feelings.As a manager, James’s approach to hiring.About some of the work he is doing in Australia (and his work with the WHO). (Stick around to the very end to listen to this part.)Support the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!We launched the Career Advancement and Family Life series in the last episode with our guest Lathika Laguwaran. We are big believers here at PH SPOT of learning from those who have done something before us and using their lessons and experiences to craft our own path. We want to share the stories of public health professionals at various phases of their lives and careers to get a glimpse into their way of life and thinking. We hope you will reach out to us and share your perspectives and experiences with the public health community.Show NotesIn this episode, Sujani sits down with Lawrence Loh. You may recognize his name from two very popular posts on the PH SPOT blog: Start with Yes and Choosing impact over location: the myth of the “global health gamble”.When we talk about career advancement and family life, TIME is an important topic. Our relationship with time changes as we progress through our careers and when we begin to build a family. This is exactly how our conversation with Lawrence begins: how time has changed for him during his career, and how this has influenced the opportunities and choices he has made.We also get to hear about the decisions Lawrence has had to make with discontinuing clinical work, and reprioritizing where and how he uses his time. With two young daughters that mean everything to him, Lawrence is very particular with how he spends his time, and we were so grateful he said yes to sit down with us to share his perspective on career advancement and family life.You’ll Learn“Time” as it relates to building your careerHow “time” has changed for Lawrence over the course of his career and children came into the pictureHow and why he decided to conduct an inventory of his activities to reprioritize his time and consolidate various activities when he was expecting his second child (for example, he decided to stop practicing clinical medicine – we talk about how that made him feel)The way Lawrence sees one’s life and early career – divided by the following 5 standard phases:Inquiry/questioning phaseGenerative phaseConsolidation phaseSecond generative phaseSecond inquiry phaseHow once he got to the consolidation phase he rediscovered his love for fictional writing (he’s even got the manuscripts written!)What a typical day looks like at work and at homeHow he set up his parental leaveThough it is not his lived experience, we discuss starting a family in the “inquiry phase”, rather than later on in one’s career (as was the case for Lawrence)Five career tips he wraps up the conversation with:Nothing is irreversibleThe past decisions you make often shape your future decisions (sometimes you need to walk through one door to get to thSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Family life and career advancement is a topic that deserves more than just one episode so we are committing to bringing you different perspectives on this podcast. We are big believers here at PH SPOT of learning from those who have done something before us, and using their lessons and experiences to craft our own path based on our unique situations. We want to share the stories of public health professionals at various phases of their lives and careers to get a glimpse into their way of life and thinking. With the launch of the Career Advancement and Family Life series, we hope more of you will reach out to share your perspectives with the public health community.In this week’s episode, Sujani sits down to speak with a good friend of hers, Lathika Laguwaran. Lathika is someone who Sujani has loved learning from since she met her back in 2012. Both Sujani and Lathika completed their Masters together at the University of Saskatchewan. After graduating from her MPH, Lathika took a role up with the Global Strategy Lab, not really thinking about whether she would stay in that role for too long.Today, she has grown within the Global Strategy Lab and is the research manager, managing the operations of the lab and leading research projects pertaining to health news misinformation and international law. During this 6-7 year journey, Lathika also got married and became a mother; and that’s the journey we talk about in this episode.You’ll LearnAbout Lathika’s career progression within the Global Strategy Lab (GSL): from research assistant, to research coordinator, to research managerHow it is working on Stephen Hoffman’s teamWhy Lathika chose to join the GSL despite a very low starting salaryHow location played a role in her career journey (and how her commute has changed over the years)The importance of building trust and a strong relationship within your organization for family lifeWhat a day looks like at the GSL for LathikaThings Lathika had to consider when her baby was born (i.e. childcare, family support)The importance of being happy in your role for family lifeHow to have discussions about your role and change in family life with your managerTransitioning back to work after parental leave: how things changed around her, what she had to change, how communication became a key factor during the transition periodHow she manages extra curricular activities with family life and a careerSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!At some point in time we have all been in a position where we ponder on what our next step is going to be in our career journey. Sophiya Garasia faced a similar inflection point where she was trying to identify her next step after her degree in public health.In her search through self reflection, she discovered that medical school was not for her. She shared this introspection via the post “Why I will not be applying for medical school” that she wrote for the PH SPOT blog a few years ago. We wanted to bring her on the podcast to dig more into this reflection she had and the framework she used to make her decision, so that we can use the same framework when we come to a similar point in our journey where we need to decide our next step.You’ll LearnAbout Sophiya’s journey and her decision to not go to med schoolHow introspection after each experience is key in helping you build your careerWhy changing your career plan is okayAdvice for those who think they may like medicine (how they should go about this) Importance of finding a mentor to discuss the different options in your careerWhat to keep an eye out for when looking for experiences (i.e. do meaningful volunteer to understand what you like and dislike)How to get public health volunteer experiencesThe popularity of public health and how that’s changingSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!To continue with our theme of public health consulting, we speak with Stephanie Hodges of Nourished Principles – a US-based consultative service that empowers individuals to make healthy, nutritious choices, and help communities, organizations, businesses, and schools to create healthier environments.Stephanie’s journey is different from that of Leah Roman’s (last episode guest) in that Stephanie decided to quit her full-time job to pursue consulting, while Leah took a different approach.Stephanie has been consulting since 2015, and on the podcast speaks to us about her journey, the opportunity that consulting provides to work across different sectors and organizations, and tips for aspiring consultants.You’ll LearnAbout Stephanie’s abrupt transition into consulting, after being miserable at workHow consultants leverage their networksHow Stephanie first reached out to prospective clients (by using postcards)Types of clients you can have in your business (including the importance of an “anchor client”)How to build relationships with clientsCommon courtesies to follow when reaching out to prospective clients via LinkedINHow she named her business “Nourished Principles” and what she would have done differentlyThe importance of a support system for a consultantDifferent expenses to expect as a consultantDifferent revenue streams consultants haveIf you are interested in becoming a public health consultant, check out our public health consulting resources page for more infoSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Consulting has gotten a lot of interest in the public health space recently. For many reasons, public health professionals have chosen to explore consulting and have built careers around it.We have even seen interest within our PH SPOT community, and have been asked for resources by you to help you take the first step. Until now, we were not able to provide you with any resources or support around this topic because we hadn’t found anything specific to public health.This changed last year when we met Leah Roman! We came to find out that Leah was becoming the “connector” of public health consultants around the world. Not only that, she was also supporting aspiring consultants to take the first step into consulting! We knew right away when we met Leah that she was the right person to bring in front of you all.In this episode, we speak to Leah about her journey into consulting and ask her to explain to us what public health consulting is all about. Additionally, towards the end, I tell you about a webinar that Leah and PH SPOT are hosting, as well as where to go for more resources on public health consulting.You’ll LearnAbout Leah and her story/journey into public health consulting (Fun fact: In the early years, if you had Googled public health consulting, Leah was the one who showed upWhat it means to be a consultant in public healthDifferent terminologies to use to explain the work you do (consultant, contractor, freelancer); clients’ reactions to languageMindset is key: you are running a business, not just taking projectsWhat a day looks like for Leah (taking client work), and how she then moved into supporting other consultantsServices one may offer as a consultant and industries to find prospective clientsThe benefits of niching down versus being a generalist (jack of all trades)Whether an online presence is a good ideaWhen it’s the right time to get into consultingDifferences and similarities around the world in public health consultingHow to deal with financial fluctuationsThe best part about being a public health consultant (for Leah)(The most exciting part) How to take the next steps into consulting, including additional resources and trainingSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Today’s episode is not with a public health professional, but rather a “friend of public health” – this is what we are calling the individuals who can support us with the services, advice/tips, and value they are able to share.Today’s friend of public health is Kiriga Konalingam, an HR recruiter who has worked in public health organizations hiring public health professionals. We wanted to bring someone like Kiriga on the show to talk about a topic we could always use some guidance on: job applications, specifically resumes and interviews.We wanted to hear first hand from someone in HR about things to keep in mind when applying to jobs, preparing and submitting resumes, and even tips around evaluations or exams, and interviews.This episode is a lengthy one because Kiriga is extremely passionate about these topics…and you’ll hear towards the end that we didn’t want to finish the conversation because there was so much more to talk about! If by the end of the episode you are still left with additional questions, please let us know through our podcast form (choose “I would like to recommend a topic and/or guest for the podcast” option) other questions/topics you’d like us to discuss with Kiriga (we would love to have her back on for another episode).Podcast show notes available here: https://phspot.ca/public-health-job-application-tips-hr-professional-resumes-interviews-kiriga-konalingamSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!I am so excited to introduce you to today’s episode because it marks the beginning of a mini series of episodes that will be a part of PH SPOTlight: The Entrepreneurship Series. It’s a topic that I am particularly passionate about so I am thrilled to have the opportunity to produce this series. The goal of the entrepreneurship series is to share stories of entrepreneurs in the public health space who are building great products. The hope is that their journeys will inspire you to think about building a product to tackle a public health problem, as well as give you the tools and direction to take your first step, or next step.In this episode, I sit down with the team at ThriveHire, a company on a mission to build up the global health workforce by profiling organizations and helping connect them to top talent so they can solve the world’s greatest health challenges.You’ll hear Hayley Mundeva, the founder of ThriveHire, along with Annalise Mathers and Malaika Kapur in our conversation. These three amazing people don’t only share their story with us, but also give us a lot of great tips for building a company of our own.So, I hope this episode leaves you feeling a bit inspired to think about the problems you are working on, in a new light, a light that includes you as the individual that will build a solution.Podcast show notes available here: https://phspot.ca/public-health-entrepreneurship-series-thrivehire-global-healthSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!We have Amalia Plotogea here on this episode; and Amalia’s name might sound familiar because you may have read about her experience being a surveillance officer in Bangladesh to support the World Health Organization’s response to the Rohingya refugee crisis on our Blog.I brought Amalia on the podcast to ask her more about her field epidemiology experience because you all wanted to hear more. She tells us about two different deployments she was on, which gave her two different experiences. We also talk about high-stress environments and uncomfortable situations she has been in, and how all of these experiences prepared her for her field deployment. And the most inspiring part is that we get to see how she actually puts herself into such situations, because right off the bat Amalia tells us how uncomfortable she is feeling recording this very podcast episode!After we hear about some of her experiences, Amalia tells us about the importance of building relationships, and trust, and how it helps with your career, and also expands on the tips she shared in her blog post, for those of us thinking about getting into public health fieldwork.Podcast show notes available here: https://phspot.ca/field-epidemiology-deployment-and-tips-with-amalia-plotogeaSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!Networking is undoubtedly one of the most important things you can do to build your public health career, but it’s a topic that doesn’t get enough attention or training in public health. It is also an activity that most people don’t enjoy (at least the conventional idea of networking). You’ll be happy to know then that when we say “networking”, we are not only talking about attending large events to pitch yourself to strangers. To us, you are always networking, and it’s about more than meeting someone once for a favour, but rather about building meaningful relationships with them.Our guest today, Sarah Martone, shared networking as her number one advice in a University of Guelph feature of Graduate Students. When we read this, we knew we needed to get her perspective and dive into networking a bit more!Podcast show notes available here: https://phspot.ca/network-like-your-public-health-career-depended-on-it-with-sarah-martoneSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text!It’s January 28, 2020, and today we launch PH SPOT’s very own podcast show, PH SPOTlight.In this first episode, Sujani Siva (the host of the show) tells you about herself, PH SPOT, and PH SPOTlight, and what this podcast means to us.In future episodes, Sujani sits down with public health heroes of our time to share career stories, inspiration, and guidance for building public health careers. From time to time, she also has conversations with friends of public health – individuals who are not public health professionals, but their advice and guidance are equally important.We believe that to build a successful career in public health does not mean that it has to live up to a certain level of standard set out by somebody else…or that we need to burn ourselves out in the process. We believe that you can craft a career perfect for you, and your unique life. The message we hope to get across through these conversations on PH SPOTlight is that building a career is not only about climbing up the ranks, but about crafting a life that you want, around your unique needs, and one that gives importance to your mental health, wellbeing, and building relationships and friendships: you can only do good in the world if you take care of yourself.Podcast show notes available here: https://phspot.ca/welcome-to-ph-spotlight-with-sujani-siva/Support the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers. Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!