In addition to her studies as a graduate student at Rollins School of Public Health, Guan Ming Chen enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, biking and running.

When Guan Ming Chen, Huyen Tran Pham and Abby Berns chose to pursue public health careers, their enrollment at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University would bring them together in the classroom and at the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as future epidemiologists.

"I wanted to address the root causes of poor health on a population level," said Tran Pham.

"I originally was on the pre-med track. After taking a few anthropology courses and from personal experience, I realized that there was more to health than just biology. There are behavioral, social, and cultural aspects too, among many other things. Public health is one of the few professions that can adequately address the multi-faceted determinants of health."

Ming Chen's college professor at Syracuse University presented a lecture on epidemiological modeling that helped her see the mathematical and analytical components of public health. Before this lecture, public health was described to Chen in an anthropological sense. She became very interested in epidemiology since it was a great combination of biology and math.

Berns discovered her passion for science and public health early on in middle school.

"I have always been interested in epidemics and infectious diseases, choosing middle school projects on polio and penicillin," said Berns. "In high school and college, I gravitated toward microbiology, eventually realizing that I was more interested in the factors contributing to the spread of infectious disease than the organisms themselves."

DPH provided invaluable experiences for all Rollins' interns. Chen, like most of DPH's interns, has interned at the Environmental Protection Agency and the CDC, where she learned that any analysis is limited by the amount of information provided to the researcher. Because of this, in her opinion, the researcher must take a very realistic approach to what he/she can or cannot do. DPH provided a closer look for her in research at the state and local levels.

"Before this internship, my understanding of public health came from an analytical standpoint," said Chen. "I worked on the BRFSS and YRBS where I used these databases to find prevalence and trends of certain behavioral risk factors, such as binge drinking, attitudes towards sexual education, and HIV testing."

Berns' work involved looking at data from 2007 to mid 2009 when there was a shortage of Hib vaccine, one of the routine childhood immunizations. During the shortage, CDC recommended that children not receive the last dose of this vaccine, revising that recommendation when the shortage was over. At DPH, Berns used DPH's Georgia Registry for Immunizations and Transactions (GRITS) database to determine if those children ever caught up on their Hib booster following the shortage.

"We investigated the impact of the vaccine shortage on rates of Hib vaccination in the state of Georgia," said Berns. "In addition, I helped with the Active Bacterial Core Surveillance (ABCs), which tracked cases of invasive bacterial disease."

Ming Chen, Tran Pham and Berns shared their views on the greatest health disparities facing Georgia and the U.S.

"The greatest need in addressing health disparities in Georgia and the U.S. is to use the epidemiological data and results from analysis to effectively apply it to policies and community programs," said Ming Chen.

Traveling, exploring different food and wine, being out in nature, and thrift store shopping are all favorite hobbies and ways to spend free time for Tran Pham.

"Access to quality care is the greatest need to address the issues around health disparities here and abroad," said Tran Pham.

Berns identified poverty in Georgia and the nation as the greatest need to quality care. Her belief affirms that the socioeconomic status of populations, meaning income, education and occupation, are the root causes of health disparities. Research backs up their opinions that health disparities have to be addressed to adequately ensure populations are healthier by maintaining routine immunizations, eradicating poverty, or accessing healthcare.

Just before returning to the classroom to complete their final course work for a Master of Public Health in May, Ming Chen, Tran Pham and Berns contemplated whether they would remain in Georgia after graduation. They agreed they wanted to contribute substantially to public health after interning with DPH and to serve all populations.  

"We face public health challenges that did not exist before," said Tran Pham. "At the same time, so much has been accomplished within the past 50 years by our predecessors. Likewise, the actions we take will affect future generations."
 
-Story by Connie F. Smith, DPH Communications