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Sujani Sivanantharajah from PHSPOT.org 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. The emotions, energy, and passion that comes from these stories act as a reminder that this space we’ve created for the public health community is a space that you can lean on as you navigate your career. 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 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. Through PH SPOTlight, you will connect with peers you have never met before, and build relationships in a deep and meaningful way. What you will hear the most, from every single person is also passion. Passion to do good. Passion to advance human health and the human race. And a passion to share back with the public health community.
In this episode, Sujani sits down with Glenn Laverack, a seasoned public health professional whose career has spanned continents and been shaped by his diverse experiences. His early years engaged with grassroots initiatives laid the foundation for a deep understanding of the local context, an asset that would become invaluable as he navigated the complex world of global health. They explore the significance of community empowerment in making a meaningful impact and touch upon the multifaceted nature of public health careers that are often characterized by an ongoing process of learning, adapting, and seizing opportunities explore the significance of community empowerment in making a meaningful impact. This episode not only serves as a compass for those looking to forge a career in global health but also highlights the collective mission of improving community health and shaping policy.
You’ll Learn
Today’s Guest
Dr. Glenn Laverack is a social scientist and an international leader in health promotion and empowerment with a distinguished career for 40 years as a practitioner, an academic, researcher and consultant in more than 50 countries. Dr Laverack has been an advocate for the value of ordinary people at the centre of health promotion and has developed several innovative solutions to co-create successful programs in different cultural contexts. He formerly worked as a Coordinator (Empowerment) in neglected tropical diseases at WHO, Geneva and as a research fellow at Flinders University, Australia. Dr Laverack has managed several large-scale health programs including in Ghana and India and worked as a consultant on more than 100 contracts worldwide. He has a wide range of publications including 26 books, 12 in English and 14 in other languages including in Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, Farsi, Italian, Chinese and Thai. Dr Laverack has been a visiting professor at 6 universities in Denmark, Italy, the UAE and the UK and was the Director of Health Promotion, University of Auckland, New Zealand. His PhD investigated the collaborative role of communities in health promotion programs in Fiji and is presently an independent adviser with the UN, governmental and international development agencies.
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This week, our guest Christie VanHorne shares her career trajectory into public health from a background in history and involvement in humanitarian efforts. From working as a health educator to creating her own public health consulting business and teaching at Vassar College, Christie's story highlights how hard work, staying true to yourself, and having a solid network are all crucial to building your dream career. Her journey emphasizes the dynamic nature of professional and personal evolution, encouraging listeners to embrace change and growth.
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Today’s Guest
Christie is a seasoned public health consultant with 20 years of experience. In 2015, she founded CVH Consulting, LLC., offering services to create impactful health education and training experiences for her clients. Christie has worked with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the New York State Department of Health, the Hemophilia Federation of America, and many more organizations to design, develop, and update programs. She is also a subject matter expert on the social determinants and health equity for many continuing education projects for community-based organization staff and healthcare professionals. From her time in the Peace Corps in South Africa to teaching at Vassar College and all the career experiences in between, Christie's dedication to public health shines. Last year, she was recognized with the prestigious ATHENA Award, an international honor for women who demonstrate excellence in their profession, community service, and mentorship of future leaders. One of her current volunteer roles is serving as the Vice-Chair of the National Women’s Health Network Board of Directors. In August, Christie will start her Doctor of Public Health degree at Tulane University, specializing in Equity, Leadership, and Advocacy. She resides in the Hudson Valley, NY, with her beloved pups and husband.
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In our latest podcast episode, we delve into a story of transition, courage, and the unwavering human spirit as our guest, Yasir Essar, swapped his dentistry scrubs for a career in public health amid the chaotic backdrop of a global pandemic and geopolitical turmoil. Yasir shares how visualizing achievements can provide a push to overcome challenges and demonstrates the powerful role mentors and community support play in guiding career paths, particularly for international students and professionals in new environments. His career transformation teaches us that with resilience, the right mindset, and community support, we can navigate through uncertainty and emerge with renewed purpose and aspirations.
You’ll Learn
Today’s Guest
Yasir is a former refugee from Afghanistan who holds an MSc in Global Health from McMaster University.
Prior to moving to Canada, he lived as a refugee in Tajikistan after fleeing Afghanistan. During his time as a refugee, he continued to share his lived experience of refugee life.
Currently, he works as a Research Assistant at Western University in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and as a Community Scholar at the University of Calgary. Additionally, he holds a visiting academic position with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton.
Yasir’s professional journey is marked by an unwavering commitment to knowledge and a passion for making a real-world impact. His scholarly work has been published in prestigious journals such as The Lancet, BMJ, and PLoS. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and holds multiple certificates from Wayne State University, the University of Geneva, McGill University, and the LinkedIn Learning Academy.
During his tenure as a Research Assistant at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center, he focused particularly on tuberculosis research, further enriching his expertise in infectious disease research.
Yasir is always eager to connect with like-minded professionals, share insights, and explore collaborative opportunities. He is open to guest lecture invitations on the topics of refugees, mentorship, and global health.
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Join The Public Health Career Club: the #1 hangout spot and community dedicated to building and growing your dream public health career.
In this episode, Sujani delves into her personal struggles with speaking in public and how it affected her career in public health. She reflects on her initial reluctance to speak in various settings and her journey of self-improvement through the creation of her podcast. Sujani shares that by creating opportunities to practice speaking, she was able to progressively build confidence and improve her communication skills. She emphasizes the importance of small, consistent steps toward facing and overcoming fears. Her transformation led to better engagement in conversations, more profound connections with colleagues, and the ability to speak up in meetings, which were once daunting tasks. By sharing her story, Sujani hopes to inspire listeners to embark on their own journeys of self-improvement and career advancement, proving that the challenges we face can become the catalysts for our triumphs.
Join The Public Health Career Club: the #1 hangout spot and community dedicated to building and growing your dream public health career.
Today's episode features Dr. Charlotte Huntley, a public health entrepreneur and leader. We peel back the layers of her dynamic journey from a liberal arts and microbiology background to an influential career in epidemiology and entrepreneurship. Our dialogue uncovers her dive into the pharmaceutical industry and how the entrepreneurial flame was kindled within her. As we pivot towards the impact of her work during a global pandemic, Dr. Huntley delves into the importance of communication in public health and the gratification of specializing her consulting services to aid BIPOC organizations. Join us as we draw inspiration from Dr. Huntley's narrative, illustrating the power of readiness for opportunities and the joy of a career intertwined with core values.
You’ll Learn
Today’s Guest
Dr. Charlotte Hughes Huntley, MPH is a public health entrepreneur and recognized leader in the public health industry. She has over 20 years of experience as an accomplished epidemiologist, microbiologist, consultant, and podcaster. Dr. Huntley is the CEO at DrCHHuntley, LLC, a public health and epidemiology consulting firm supporting large nonprofit organizations and government agencies that serve black, indigenous, and people of color commonly referred to as BIPOC communities. Her team is often invited to support tribal organizations and are always humbled and honored to serve. Through another arm of her business, Dr. Huntley and her team also provide resources and support to public health entrepreneurs.
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Join The Public Health Career Club: the #1 hangout spot and community dedicated to building and growing your dream public health career.
Welcome to the Public Health Career Club. From sitting down with accomplished public health professionals who will spill the beans on making the most of your degree, to personalized career advice during our office hours – it's all happening here. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. We've packed our calendar with monthly resume clinics, mentorship sessions, and social mixers to spark lifelong connections. Stay tuned for our weekly workshops and special talks that promise to keep your professional growth on a constant upswing. If you're listening from April 10th to 12th, 2024, don't miss this golden opportunity to become a part of the Public Health Career Club. Let's roll up our sleeves and make a difference together!
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This week Sujani unveils the transformative power of weaving relationship-building into the very fabric of your daily life. From striking up a conversation with a colleague to reaching out to a professional you admire online, I'll demonstrate the omnipresence of networking opportunities. Whether you're taking your first steps in public health or you're a seasoned expert, this episode promises to revolutionize your approach to building relationships and expand your professional network in ways you never imagined. Let's get ready to transform the way you think about networking in public health.
Join The Public Health Career Club: the #1 hangout spot and community dedicated to building and growing your dream public health career.
Have you ever found yourself at a career crossroads, contemplating a leap into uncharted territory? Join us as we navigate the captivating realm of public health careers with Dr. Vinu Ilakkuvan. She shares her remarkable shift from engineering to public health, shedding light on the serendipitous ways that one's professional journey can unfold. We discuss the strategic reframing of skills that allow for such shifts, and the interplay between work experience and academic learning. Our dialogue unveils the empowering process of aligning personal values with professional ambitions, leading to a career that's not just a job but a calling.
You’ll Learn
Today’s Guest
Vinu Ilakkuvan, DrPH, MSPH, is passionate about strengthening community-driven efforts to address the upstream, root drivers of health (pophealthllc.com/tedx). She is Founder and Principal Consultant of PoP Health, a public health consulting practice that partners with community coalitions and collaboratives to transform health in their communities through policy and systems change (pophealthllc.com). PoP Health helps coalitions engage in community collaboration, action planning, participatory evaluation, and effective storytelling. PoP Health also issues a biweekly newsletter, Community Threads, with tools and strategies for anyone seeking to improve community health (pophealthllc.com/newsletter).
Vinu received her DrPH in Health Behavior from the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health as a Milken Scholar, a Master’s degree with a concentration in Health Communication from the Harvard School of Public Health, and Bachelor’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Economics from the University of Virginia. She currently serves as a Professorial Lecturer at George Washington University. Vinu began her public health career coordinating the Virginia Department of Health's bullying and youth violence prevention program and later, evaluating the national truth antismoking campaign and managing policy and communications projects at Trust for America’s Health.
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Join The Public Health Career Club: the #1 hangout spot and community dedicated to building and growing your dream public health career.
Unlock the code to public health job success with Zoila Reina of Public Health Hired, who graces our podcast with expert tips on mastering the language of the sector. If you've ever felt lost in a sea of job applications, Zoila's creation, the Public Health Key Terms Guide, is your beacon. We zero in on the power of terms and how they're not just buzzwords but keys to your next career move. From decoding job descriptions to enhancing your resume and shining in interviews, our conversation is the guiding light for public health hopefuls ready to make their mark.
You’ll Learn
Today’s Guest
The founder of Public Health Hired, Zoila Reyna MPH, has single-handedly, with no outsourcing, helped secure over 240 public health job offers and internships through her virtual presentations, online masterclass, tailored mentorships, and social media content. Zoila's unwavering dedication to the diverse public health workforce is evident through the Public Health Hired's mission to demystify the public health employment process and help others master best practices and proven techniques to be successful in the job search. She has a full-time job in healthcare as a consultant for community health and loves spending time in her Los Angeles home with her baby girl Jhara, her son Giovanni, dog Lulu, and spouse Jimmy.
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Join The Public Health Career Club: the #1 hangout spot and community dedicated to building and growing your dream public health career.
Our guest this week, Angeza Mohammed, is a testament to the power of aligning one's passions with their profession. Follow her strategic yet dynamic career path and learn how mentally and physically envisioning her ideal life, strategic networking, and taking risks led to her creating The Consulting Nest and How did you learn to do that?, The Successful Candidate.
You’ll Learn
Today’s Guest
Angeza Mohammed is the CEO and Founder of How did you learn to do that?, The Successful Candidate and The Consulting Nest Inc.
With over 10 years of professional experience, Angeza brings a unique and strategic approach to creating the career you want, feeling fulfilled and knowing how to take the next step in your growth!
Angeza’s career has taken her through and into all aspects of the health care system in British Columbia, Canada and it all began before she even graduated from her undergrad, all thanks to her unique strategy which has been instrumental to her success!
Angeza’s purpose in life is to share and inspire you to create the life that you wish existed for yourself. In addition to her successful healthcare career, Angeza coaches recent graduates and professionals to help them discover what fulfills them, how to align that with their career and how to take action every single day towards creating the life they always wish existed for themselves!
Angeza’s biggest piece of advice to you is to always remember that investing in yourself has the ability to catalyze your life from ordinary to extraordinary.
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Join The Public Health Career Club: the #1 hangout spot and community dedicated to building and growing your dream public health career.
Amanda is a wife. A mother. A blogger. A Christian.
A charming, beautiful, bubbly, young woman who lives life to the fullest.
But Amanda is dying, with a secret she doesn’t want anyone to know.
She starts a blog detailing her cancer journey, and becomes an inspiration, touching and
captivating her local community as well as followers all over the world.
Until one day investigative producer Nancy gets an anonymous tip telling her to look at Amanda’s
blog, setting Nancy on an unimaginable road to uncover Amanda’s secret.
Award winning journalist Charlie Webster explores this unbelievable and bizarre, but
all-too-real tale, of a woman from San Jose, California whose secret ripped a family apart and
left a community in shock.
Scamanda is the true story of a woman whose own words held the key to her secret.
New episodes every Monday.
Follow Scamanda on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Amanda’s blog posts are read by actor Kendall Horn.
