Deanna Bautista is a soon-to-be graduate of Global Campus’ online Masters of Public Health degree program with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavioral Science. Prior to pursuing her graduate degree, Deanna attended the University of La Verne where she graduated from in 2016 with a dual degree in Biology and Chemistry and a minor in English.
Deanna’s interest in the field of public health arose after having her own set of health challenges as a young child and witnessing the challenges that her family had to overcome when navigating through the healthcare system. This experience and her newfound interest in the field of public health led her to pursue various roles at health organizations, including an internship at Kaiser Permanente. This work allowed her to better understand the importance of preventive care, population health, and how to work towards reducing health disparities among marginalized populations.
Deanna’s interests lie in wanting to become a public health program director at a health organization that serves to implement intervention programs to eliminate barriers to access to healthcare. Deanna would also be interested in working along with a health organization as a program evaluation analyst – to assess intervention programs for possible improvements. Deanna has also continued to grow an interest in preventive care since her days as an intern at Kaiser, and would really like to make a difference in the field of public health in this regard.
For her senior thesis, Deanna completed a literature review on how mind body therapy techniques such as yoga therapy and complementary alternative medicine can help treat healthcare conditions within groups of minority women, specifically African-American women. This review focused on how the introduction and use of holistic medicine, along with regular or traditional medicine, could be used to help treat minority women with certain conditions.
In her spare time, Deanna enjoys volunteering and giving back to her community. This includes volunteering at an organization called Heal One World, where health techniques such as yoga, are introduced and taught for free to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Deanna is especially thankful for the structure of her MPH program and for the faculty and staff who have cultivated her interest in the field of public health and have made themselves available to her to answer questions or provide guidance.