Why YSPH?
The small, tight-knit community is what drew me to YSPH. When I visited during the Open House, I instantly fell in love with the school. All the faculty were so incredibly intelligent and interested in my research interests and all the students were genuinely excited to get to know me. I loved the sense of community I got here and coming from a really big undergraduate program, this was a big change for me. It was so hard to navigate a big school but I felt like I could get any help I needed once I got to YSPH.
What is your favorite aspect of the academic program?
There is such a diversity of classes and a good amount of freedom to pick and choose the classes to fit your taste. I love how you have the freedom to take classes outside of YSPH too.
What is the most impactful experience you’ve had outside of class?
I’ve been working at the HAVEN Free Clinic as the Referrals Directors where I help our patients access specialty services. With the healthcare system so hard to navigate, we strive to help our patients obtain the care they need. It has been amazing engaging with the community and has been extremely rewarding getting to have an impact on other people’s lives. Working to operate a clinic during the pandemic hasn’t been easy but fighting to properly support our patients has been a fantastic learning experience.
What are your post-YSPH aspirations?
I plan on going to medical school. Being here at YSPH and in environmental health sciences has actually shaped my career goals of what I want to specialize in medicine. I’ve been looking deeper into occupational medicine and realizing how much I love it and want to immerse myself in it. In addition, I am a very strong advocate of doctors having a public health background in order to properly understand important concepts such as social determinants of health that are essential in providing patients with the utmost care. I hope all my public health education will help me grow into all the compassionate physicians in both public health and medicine that I have interacted with here at Yale.
Favorite New Haven food?
I absolutely love BAR’s mashed potato pizza. It’s exactly what I need after a long week of classes.
Is there anything you wish you knew or considered when looking at MPH programs?
I wish I knew that rankings didn't matter and would have rather looked at the different career paths that students have taken at the specific MPH programs. I initially relied on US News rankings to pick a MPH program, but realized that without actually visiting the school, you would never know what it was actually like.
What does a typical week look like during the semester?
Your busiest semester, first semester, is mainly packed with classes. Although you have classes every day of the week, there is a lot of free time for you to study, find a job, or take on an extracurricular. Throughout the week, there are seminars practically every day that you can attend that feature amazing speakers!