By: Mira Garin
A new Public Health Boutique Career Fair was introduced as an appetizer to this year’s National Public Health Week. The fair provided students the opportunity to connect with fifteen local public health employers including multiple departments from San Diego County, Health Corps, Visiting Angels, UCSD Moores Cancer Center, and Jewish Family Service (JFS) of San Diego. The ninety-four students in attendance were able to see the myriad of public health arenas these local organizations operate within including environmental health, media advocacy, cancer epidemiology, food insecurity, asylee health, and homelessness among veterans.
Continuing on the tails of National Public Health Week, a major federal public health employer came to campus as well. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hosted a week of well-attended events, beginning with two days of workshops on how to effectively tailor a professional resume for applying to positions within federal agencies. An interactive panel discussion was held, where students asked the panelists about the diversity of their educational backgrounds, their winding career paths to CDC, and how they navigate complex workplace dynamics of gender and race throughout their careers. The week of student-focused programming wrapped up with CDC representatives hosting a table at SDSU’s university-wide Just In Time Career Fair. To conclude the week, faculty from the School of Public Health among other SDSU departments reserved time with the visiting CDC representatives to discuss methods for strengthening this cherished institutional partnership and brainstorm future collaborations, including CDC’s invitation for SDSU undergraduate students to apply for their summer internship opportunities.
