Every year, the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health selects a cohort of student ambassadors, or This is Public Health (TIPH) Ambassador Cohort to elevate awareness in public health education and careers. This year’s cohort, the largest to date, features 97 graduate students from 61 ASPPH member schools across the globe. From this exceptional group, two of our very own UC Irvine Wen Public Health graduate students have been selected to be ambassadors: Kalani Phillips and Baljot Chahal.
Kalani Phillips is a current PhD student in disease prevention and Baljot Chahal is currently pursuing her master’s in public health. As ambassadors, the two play a key role in raising public health awareness by hosting virtual events, managing TIPH’s social media platforms, engaging with their cohort online, and creating projects and presentations to spark interest in public health education and careers.
In the following Q&A, Kalani and Baljot share their passion for public health, the challenges they hope to tackle, and how they hope to inspire future public health health students within the Wen Public Health community.
Question: How do you feel being named a TIPH ambassador and what do you wish to accomplish?
Kalani: I feel excited, honored, and refreshed as TIPH ambassador. I hope to find opportunities to think creatively and advocate for health and justice, by spreading awareness about what public health is and ways to get involved. Learning about this field has changed my life, and I hope to continue to promote interest in public health education and careers, as well as serve as a mentor or resource for students looking to join the field.
Baljot: I wish to represent UCI Wen Public Health in the best light and use this opportunity to open doors for our school.
Question: What made you choose to pursue public health?
Kalani: I discovered my passion for public health as an undergrad. After struggling a lot in my personal life and grappling with the fact that I didn’t want to be in the medical field, I ended up taking my first public health class (PUBHLTH 1). I later switched my major to public health policy and was fascinated by the field’s ability to make such positive changes on a population level. My interests were then reinforced through the Master of Public Health program, where I delved deeper into learning about disease prevention, health equity, reproductive justice, and more. Improving lives at such a large scale is exciting to me.
Baljot: I chose public health as a career as it is centered on health equity and health justice. As an undergrad, I started as a pre-med wanting to go into healthcare and save lives. My career goals became uncertain when I switched to Environmental Studies as my major. I had a deep passion for environmental justice and wanted to incorporate it with my passion for health. During my time as an undergraduate at UC Santa Barbara, I was able to participate in the Medical Humanities Program, which essentially opened me to the field of public health. Through this program, I was able to partake in internships that were focused on community-based participatory research. Having this experience solidified my choices to pursue public health as a career and encouraged me to apply to graduate school to further my education and field skills.
Question: In your opinion, what’s the importance of having a new school of public health in Orange County and at UCI?
Kalani: I think it’s incredible that we finally became a school. Being a part of this program since 2014, it’s been so exciting to see the program grow this much. I hope we can keep this momentum going to better support students, improve OC communities, and address the lingering public health issues that OC faces specifically. We can only improve and go up from here!
Baljot: For me, having a new school of public health at UCI and in Orange County is very important as it will help generate new resources and create new programs to support the local community. Since Orange County serves a diverse population, many communities are underserved and face health disparities inequitably. I believe Wen Public Health can better assist these communities and tackle issues that these communities experience. UCI is already involved in cutting-edge research, and Wen Public Health can strengthen and broaden research initiatives as well as prepare leaders to work in the local community.
Question: What do you hope to accomplish during your time at UCI?
Kalani: Well, first off, I hope to graduate and earn my doctoral degree as well as get more involved in research supporting health equity, but I have also been a part of the UC Irvine community for a while now. I first joined the campus in 2012 when I started undergrad here, and have established many long-lasting relationships with students, faculty, and staff across the UC system. I’ve learned so much through my experiences and relationships and just finished wrapping up teaching PUBHLTH 1 over the summer. It was a great experience, and I was inspired by my students’ dedication and passion to learn more about the field. There is nothing I love more than advocating for my community, spreading awareness about public health, and inspiring others to do the same. I am most excited to continue giving back by volunteering, teaching, and mentoring, but I also hope to be continually evolving into a better version of myself, where I can support people in the ways that they need, and conduct research that is impactful and makes a difference.
Baljot: During my time at UC Irvine, I wish to develop the personal and professional skills that are needed to work in the public health field. As I take courses and get more involved on campus, my interests increase as well. I hope to use my experiences to discover which sector of public health I want to pursue and to narrow my interests. I am interested in staying in academia post-graduation and would love to join teams that can help me in my areas of research interest, particularly environmental health, pesticide regulations, reproductive health, and nutrition.
