How to bring your public health passion to life - from teacher to public health student at Yale, with Neal Patel

In this episode, Sujani sits down with Neal Patel, a current MPH student and former teacher. Neal shares an inspiring story of what led him to pursue an MPH degree and how those in public health can take action in helping their communities of interest.You’ll LearnHow Neal’s experience as an educator inspired him to pursue public healthNeal’s experience of taking action and organizing community health projects What skills an MBA can provide for those who want to make changes in the health of their communityHow business administration plays a role in addressing health disparities in the communityAdvice from Neal on how to find your niche in public health Advice from Neal on how to move past contemplation and into actionHow Neal’s background as a teacher has helped and shaped his public health careerWhat teachers can learn from public health, and what public health can learn from teachersToday’s GuestI was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, but grew up in Charleston, SC. I graduated from Clemson University in May of 2017 with a BS in Genetics and a BS in Biochemistry. I was not super clear as to what direction I wanted to pursue post-graduation – I was thinking about medical school, but after speaking with several physicians about their experiences, I wanted to delay and try something new. So after college, I moved to Tulsa, OK to serve as a Teach For America Corps Member. I taught 7th/8th grade Math at Hale Junior High School. My experience in the classroom exposed me to the breadth of disparity in health outcomes/experiences for my students/families compared to many of my peers in college. As I transitioned to work as the Manager of Alumni Leadership for Teach For America, where I did a fair amount of organizing work for community health initiatives, I began to see how systemic these disparities were, so I decided to learn more. I'm currently at the Yale School of Public Health pursuing my MPH in Health Policy, where I have further developed my passions in data-driven solutions, health economics, policy evaluation, and health communications.As I continue on this path, I hope to connect with more folks in the healthcare world to ideate and reimagine health in our country. Happy to chat whenever! ResourcesLearn more about Teach For AmericaConnect with Neal on LinkedIn Other PH SPOT resources:Share ideas for the podcast: Fill out this formNever heard of a podcast before? Read this guide we put together to help you get set up.Be notified when new episodes come out, and receive hand-picked public health opportunities every week by joining the PH SPOT community.Contribute to the public health career blog: www.phspot.ca/contributeUpcoming course on infographics: phspot.ca/infographicsLearn more about PH Spot's 6-week training programSupport the showJoin The Public Health Career Club: the #1 hangout spot and community dedicated to building and growing your dream public health career.

Om Podcasten

Sujani Sivanantharajah from PHSPOT.org sits down with public health heroes of our time to share career stories, inspiration, and guidance for building public health careers. From time to time, she also has conversations with friends of public health - individuals who are not public health professionals, but their advice and guidance are equally important. The emotions, energy, and passion that comes from these stories act as a reminder that this space we’ve created for the public health community is a space that you can lean on as you navigate your career. We believe that to build a successful career in public health does not mean that it has to live up to a certain level of standard set out by somebody else...or that we need to burn ourselves out in the process. We believe that you can craft a career perfect for you, and your unique life. The message we hope to get across through these conversations is that building a career is not only about climbing up the ranks, but about crafting a life that you want, around your unique needs, and one that gives importance to your mental health, wellbeing, and building relationships and friendships: you can only do good in the world if you take care of yourself. Through PH SPOTlight, you will connect with peers you have never met before, and build relationships in a deep and meaningful way. What you will hear the most, from every single person is also passion. Passion to do good. Passion to advance human health and the human race. And a passion to share back with the public health community.