- Which of the four Master in Public Health (MPH) Tracks you intend to pursue?
My goal is to pursue a career in Healthcare Management. My continued education is focused on acquiring the professionalism necessary to become a leader in an organization. I require the ability to understand complex problems and financial structures. In addition, I must know how to communicate n the unique language of population health.
The role of healthcare management professionals addresses not only the care of patients and the services delivered to them, but accepts responsibility for the flow of the business organization. By contributing to the industry of healthcare as a whole, they follow best practices for the business and ensure compliance with regulations set by legislation.
Population health focuses on the health outcomes of a group of individuals. It also considers the distribution of those outcomes within the particular group. In an effort to improve the health of an entire population, it is necessary to segregate specific problems for solution. For instance, social determinants have an impact on health inequities or disparities within different population groups. The healthcare services provided to an individual contribute to the information for the population group to which they belong.
Current practices of population health complement the classic effort of public health agencies. It is important to address factors with a broader range of influence to determine the impact on different population. The World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) report in 2008 that these factors were responsible for the majority of diseases and injuries in all countries.
When discussing health, it is important to remember that wellness is not simply freedom from disease, but the ability of people to accept and conquer the challenges of life and the changes it requires. Health includes:
- Protection of women by reducing high-risk pregnancies.
- Protection of children by promoting adequate time between pregnancies.
- Fighting against the contraction of HIV/AIDS through public information, individual counseling, and provision of male and female condoms.
- Reducing the need for abortion.
- Supporting the rights of women and providing opportunities for employments, education, and participating wholly in society.
- Stabilizing the growth of population to protect the environment.
- How your academic and/or professional background prepares you to study within your chosen MPH Track?
I currently serve as a Care Coordinator for population health. In doing so, I contribute the perspective of a social worker for individuals; at the same time, I question the implications of care for groups or communities as a public health professional. I often translate for the community, assisting in the development of policies and promoting prevention at the level of a population. My training in public health has afforded me a broader knowledge and skill set than average, emphasizing community health and safety. Involvement in both fields has enabled me to be an advocate for policies and legislation to improve mental health services for patients with brain injuries.
Social work integrates identification, prevention, and solutions to health problems. Drawing on the theories of social work and public health, the discipline creates the framework, research, and practice necessary to implement individual and community health care.
Social workers have the ability to work well at different level to use their training and skills in multiple disciplines as policy analysts, community service administrators, program directors, and other positions. Fields open to social workers are child and maternal health, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, disaster response, tracking disease and preventing it, trauma intervention, outreach services, substance abuse, and advocacy. Individual intervention is provided by social workers trained as caseworkers. Public health professionals aim at prevention on the level of the population with a larger significance.
3) Why are you choosing this particular MPH Track and how do you hope it will help you
Adding a Masters in Public Health degree to my Bachelors in Social Work will boost my research skills with statistics and epidemiology. I will expand my knowledge of prevention and promotion techniques for health across the span of an individual’s life. This information will influence public and private sphere also. My professional background has prepared me to study with your Healthcare Management MPH Track; I have the skills of a social worker in communicating with community cultures and responding to their needs. I combine them with training in science of a public health professional. Also, I have the ability to recognize problems with existing community services.
Obtaining an MPH degree will enhance my problem-solving skills to augment my past work in:
- Improve treatment outcomes of HIV/AIDS patients in a community-based program.
- Promoting mental health screening for pediatric patients, assisting patients in attaining therapy and consultation.
- Applying empowerment-based intervention and prevention strategies in an approach to victims of sexual assault.
- Reducing need for hospitalization for frail older adults by introducing social work into primary care settings.
Graduating with a MPH degree affords me the skills of applying all the tools and skills of social work and public health. I could work across systems and disciplines to reach individuals, groups, communities, and population. My ultimate concern is to protect the health of entire populations whether they are as small as a local neighborhood or as big as an entire country.
With a Masters in Public Health I will be a pioneer, joining public health methodology with social work skills.
