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Episode #172: Interview With Kristi McClamroch, PhD, MPH, Public Health Connected

Interview With Kristi McClamroch, PhD, MPH, Public Health Connected

My guest on this episode is Dr. Kristi McClamroch and you are in for a treat, as always with my guests. We enjoyed our discussion during the interview so much that we scheduled a follow up call for a few days later and continued the conversation.

On this episode, you’ll have the opportunity to hear the interview for yourself and get to know her and all of the creative and innovative ways that she is stepping out and advancing public health.

About Kristi McClamroch, PhD, MPH

Dr. Kristi McClamroch is an infectious disease epidemiologist who lives in the Bay Area. She earned her Bachelors of Science in Mathematics and her Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan, and her Doctorate in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina.

She has experience working in New Orleans, Detroit, Albany (New York), as well as in Madagascar, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Haiti. She has worked in HIV Surveillance, in academia, as a Director at a non-profit organization, and as a consultant.

She is currently the Executive Director of a new organization called Public Health Connected that is working to address the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

Listen To The Podcast Episode

Public Health Rock Stars

"So I started a Facebook group called 'Public Health Rock Stars' as a way to connect to other epidemiology and public health experts. The goal was to create a space for us to share our experiences. I initially sent an invitation to 50 of my epidemiology and public health friends and colleagues and asked them to invite others. I was hoping for a few hundred members. In a day and a half, the group had reached 1,000 members. In a week and a half, it had 2,000 members. And now, we have over 3,000 members, with new people added every day. That’s 3,000 people who have been feeling the same way I was and who are mobilized and ready to contribute and improve the public health response to COVID-19." -Kristi McClamroch, PhD, MPH

From Public Health Rock Stars To Public Health Connected

"I wanted to take this momentum and do something with it. I started talking to other 'Rock Stars' about how we could turn these public health discussions into action that would make an impact, especially for people in the communities hit hardest by COVID-19. That’s how Public Health Connected was born. The mission of PHC is to engage public health experts and communities to collaborate on creating and disseminating messages about emerging health issues, starting with COVID-19. These messages are science- and evidence-informed, actionable, and community-specific. PHC is built around a COVID-19 decision-making framework that Dr. Montgomery and I developed to help people assess their personal needs, their risk of COVID-19, and the potential consequences of spreading COVID-19, and guides them through the process of identifying risk reduction actions that work for them." -Kristi McClamroch, PhD, MPH

Dr. McClamroch’s Career Advice To Students

If you can, find opportunities that enable you to see public health in action, not just in your textbooks and classes. Be willing to volunteer if necessary to get this experience. Whether or not this becomes part of your career path, it’s important for your foundation in public health.
Be open. Remember that great opportunities can come from unexpected directions.
Network, network, network. When you make a connection, follow-up on LinkedIn. And if you are interested, join us on the Public Health Rock Stars Facebook page. You’ll connect with a wide variety of experts and maybe find some support while you maneuver through this pandemic.

Dr. McClamroch’s Career Advice To Graduates

Be vulnerable. Speak up when you have a question. Ask for help if you don’t understand something. And put yourself out there.
Share your public health experiences. Share them with your family, your friends, your graduating classmates, your new colleagues. This will inform others about the importance of public health and remind you of why you are in this field. And listen to other people when they share their public health experiences. There’s so much to learn.
Continue to be open. Maybe you won’t find the perfect job right after graduation. But maybe what you do find will surprise you. Trust the process. And be willing to change course.
Continue to network, network, network. Connect with people in your field of public health. Network with people in other fields of public health. Connect with people outside of public health.
Remind yourself every day that public health is a human right.