MPH Student Takes A (Virtual) Global Journey
Shivani Ramolia is an MPH student from Parsippany, NJ who chose JCPH because she knew the program would provide her with specific tools to succeed in medical school. Shivani states, “The program gave me the opportunity to select a concentration and the electives offered is what encouraged me to submit my application. However, talking to the public health program director, Rosemary “Rosie” Frasso sealed the deal for me. She is very persuasive!”
For the past year, Shivani had the opportunity to work as a research assistant with Assistant Professor, Amy Henderson Riley, DrPH, MCHES. Dr. Riley’s research interests include global health, health communication, and entertainment education. “Working with Dr. Riley has helped me find my own interests within public health while introducing me to new topics, such as global health” explains Shivani.
Shivani recently participated in a Zoom workshop Dr. Riley led for members of the Ghana Health and Education Initiative (GHEI), an organization aimed at empowering marginalized children and alleviating poverty by providing innovative health and education programs in rural communities.
GHEI is planning to implement a COVID-19 response in their local town of Humjibre and Dr. Riley led a session on how logic models can be utilized to successfully plan a public health program – material covered in the Program Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation course she teaches for students in the MPH program. Shivani explained, “As I joined in on the workshop amid the time-zone difference, connectivity issues, and the occasional roosters scurrying in the background, I was amazed at how something that Dr. Riley has facilitated several times before could positively impact the health of thousands on the other side of the globe. Before this, I had been too preoccupied about COVID-19’s impact on America. I had not even thought about how countries with limited resources to combat COVID-19 would be disproportionately affected. Participating in the workshop helped me better understand global health and gain a perception of what’s transpiring around me, even if it is 6,000 miles away.”
Shivani is interested in women’s health and is headed to Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School for the next phase of her education.