#10

Why do so many people die each year of preventable disease? That is my first response when asked why I am entering the field of public health. I had always believed that I was going to become a doctor or veterinarian, however the more I was able to shadow and work with people in those fields the less I believed that a career as a doctor was right for me. I was more enthralled with why this patient, and not that one, had got the disease, how the disease was spreading, and what could be done to prevent the next patient from getting the same thing, over the simple act of seeing the patient and treating just that one person and then sending them out the door. This lead to and interest in the study of public health, specifically epidemiology and health care administration.

I spent much of my childhood in hospitals and doctors offices as a result of a heart condition and a myriad of childhood diseases. In spending so much time at these places I became aware, at a very early age, of the amount of suffering and financial burden that is caused by preventable diseases.