Name: Olivia McLean
Graduation Year: 2022
Additional or Previous Degrees: Bachelor's in Health Science
Briefly describe your current role as a public health practitioner: I'm currently working as a public health analyst with the DC Department of Health, within our Community Health Administration. I work within our Child, Adolescent and School Health Division on our Compliance, Outreach and Policy team where I assist the team with conducting outreach to school leaders, school partners, and grantees of the School Health Services Program.
Why did you choose GW's Milken Institute School of Public Health for your public health education? Milken had been ranked as a top public health school at the time of my application, and it's location in the nation's capital offered a unique networking opportunity.
What skills from your public health degree do you apply in your work today? Ability to collaborate with multisector partners, development of audience-appropriate outreach materials, program monitoring and the implementation of process improvement
Tell us about your CE experience: Under Dr. Vyas and Dr. McDonnell, I participated in conducting outreach to DC providers of maternal care to conduct a survey of which services they provided and which gaps exist within the District. This involved email and phone outreach to providers as well as statistical analysis of survey results to determine geographic and demographic trends.
What advice would you give to the next generation of public health practitioners? Niche and specific experience/expertise can be valuable if you have a very specific position in mind, but general tenets of public health skills are more widely applicable to most public health roles.