In the past before moving into academia, I worked in two different state health departments (Washington State and New Mexico) as an epidemiologist for a variety of different programs (Parent Child Health, Disease Prevention and Control, Immunization and Epidemiology).  I enjoyed the hands-on application of epidemiology and working with different local and state public health agencies.  However, my passion has always been in education, whether it is teaching students or public health professionals.  For the past 22 years, I have been a faculty member of the MPH program at the University of New Mexico, serving as the director since 2007.  I enjoy working out solutions to teaching public health in an exciting way to diverse learners.  Recently, we received funding for an online Maternal Child Health Public Health Certificate which targets MCH practitioners in rural areas of the state.  Creating a formal link between our university and state/tribal health agencies would be a very valuable approach to address the many health issues our state is facing.

 

As someone new to this area, I am excited to learn from others who have established AHD's.  Developing relationships with others around the nation who have this expertise would be invaluable to efforts in my state.