The Global Health Student Advisory Board held a Career Pathways in Global and Public Health webinar on April 29, 2021. The hour-long webinar, moderated by Diego Burga (Biological Sciences '21) and Malvika Narayan (Global and Public Health Sciences '21), was well-attended and featured alumni of the Cornell Global Health Program in the Division of Nutritional Sciences. Through this event, current undergraduates were able to gain insight into the variety of career pathways available to them within the global and public health fields such as engaging in public health policy & management and research, serving as a nurse practitioner, and pursuing higher education (M.P.H., M.D., and Ph.D.), to name a few.

Panelists for the event were Kathy Huong (NS ‘10), Nixon Arauz (BSOC ‘13), Tatyana Roberts (BIO ‘16) and Santana Silver (BSOC ‘17). Jeanne Moseley, Director of the Global Health Program, provided opening remarks which were followed by each of the four panelists introducing themselves and providing a brief overview of their career journey and their experiences working in the fields of global and public health.

Kathy Huong ('10) holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from the University of Pennsylvania. She splits her time as a primary care provider and an improvement advisor at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, helping clinical teams implement their quality improvement ideas.

Nixon Arauz ('13) is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and holds an M.A. in Public Health Education Promotion from Columbia University.  During the summer of 2020, Nixon worked closely with the first all-Hispanic/Latinx Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) response team to respond to a COVID-19 outbreak among Hispanic/Latinx communities in Richmond, Virginia.

“Use your global health training to reach people in your community...
Having the global health perspective and training has served me very well to think globally but also think locally." - Nixon Arauz '13

Tatyana Roberts ('16) holds a Master of Public Health from U.C. Berkley School of Public Health and is currently an M.D. candidate at the University of California San Francisco. After graduating, she served as the Cornell Global and Public Health Fellow from 2016-2018.

“My biggest advice to those who are about to graduate soon is that when you are thinking about your next job or opportunity, pick the one in which you can identify at least one person in that organization that will be your mentor or has your best interest at heart." - Tatyana Roberts '16

Santana Silver ('17) is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health in Health & Social Behavior at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Santana previously served as a community health navigator for the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers.

"During my MPH, I have been reaching out to professors, being really intentional about forming those connections, and it has been incredible and has opened the doors for many opportunities." - Santana Silver '17

The moderators facilitated a guided Q&A and fielded additional questions from the audience which included asking the panelists about their current occupations and journey, advice for current undergraduates, the different degrees they have pursued, and extracurricular activities/courses they recommend during undergraduate education. A consistent theme among the panelists was an emphasis on the importance of networking and maintaining connections with peers, professors, and mentors.

To learn more about the Global Health Program, please visit our Global Health website or contact us at DNSGlobalHealth@cornell.edu.

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