What do you do?
I'm an adolescent health consultant for the Thriving Children and Youth section.
Describe your educational path. What was your area of study?
I started off at a community college and earned an associate degree in art studies. I went on to finish my bachelor's in psychology through an online program. I really loved research with people, so I moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to attend Colorado State University where I earned a Master of Arts in anthropology. After that, I ended up working in a critical access hospital and sort of fell into social work. I decided to make it official and earn my Master of Social Work from the University of North Dakota's online program.
How did you enter your career in public health?
Most of my background is in health care. I have worked in healthcare for 15 years before coming to the Washington State Department of Health (DOH). I started working as a receptionist at an optometry office. Since then, I've worked in hospitals and clinic settings, in private practices in big cities like Chicago, and in small and very rural critical access hospitals and nonprofits in the mountains of Colorado.
I actually started at DOH as an intern during my last year of my Master of Social Work program. I was hired as the coordinator to launch DOH's formalized Maternal Mortality Review Panel in 2016. That first year of work here doubled as my last internship for my studies. I was lucky to get to work with another DOH staff person with a Master of Social Work for my supervision. She was so helpful during that first year. I learned so much from her about applying my social work skills and health care background to public health.
What is your typical day on the job?
Most of my days are really fun. I get to hang out with teens and young adults during Youth Advisory Council meetings where we talk about challenges and barriers in health care and youth-friendly solutions. I meet with our Youth Voice volunteers and interns to plan for social media posts on Instagram that are focused on teen and young adult health issues.
I also collaborate with my colleagues in adolescent and young adult health, other DOH programs, and other state agencies to explore opportunities to improve health care, conduct community engagement and gather qualitative data, plan for cool projects like our new Teen Health Hub WA, and weigh in on policy and legislation that impacts young people's health.
What previous experiences most helped you with this role?
Overall, I think it's the unique combination of my health care experience, my educational background, and my social work skills. Over the last 20 years over the many different health care, research, and social work roles I've held, I've learned a lot about the ins and outs of health care, about facilitation of meetings and groups and bringing people together, about planning and implementing programs and policies, about the importance of data — both qualitative and quantitative — and about being effective and thoughtful.
I've also learned a lot about how people's different backgrounds, experiences, and social determinants have such a huge impact on health care and health-related outcomes; it affects how I do my job every day.
What advice would you give a student pursuing career opportunities in public health? What is something you wish you knew earlier in your career?
My advice would be to spend time exploring. Young people are rushed by adults to figure out what they want to be when they grow up and to choose a major in college when many haven't even had a chance to get to know their communities or learn about different careers or educational options. I wish I would have known or had been reassured that nontraditional educational and career paths can take more time to complete and can still lead to rich work experience and successful careers.
Do you see any bright spots or opportunities as you look to the future of public health for the next generation of public health professionals?
Young people today really want to make the world a better place. They are far more serious about it than anyone I knew when I was a teen. I had the honor to work with several Youth Voice interns who are currently public health majors. DOH would be lucky to have them. Their perspectives and ideas are innovative, equity centered, and driven by justice. They truly give me hope for the future.