Author: Matthew Hayhurst, Sophomore Public Health Major
This summer, I attended the Future Public Health Leaders Program provided in conjunction by the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the CDC. The program is a 10-week public health intensive meant to introduce students to the principles of public health and provide them with the experience of real-world public health practice.
I started the application process at the end of last semester. The application requires that you write a personal statement and provide two letters of recommendation from faculty who you have worked with closely in the past. The application took some time, and I was able to submit it just before the deadline. Once I submitted the application, I got invited for a panel interview. The interview was different than any I had ever experienced because it was virtual with no cameras to reduce bias when selecting participants.
On March 18th, I woke up to an email saying that I had been selected for the 2022 Future Public Health Leaders Program cohort! I was then notified just how selective the application process was. The program had 750 applicants and interviewed almost 400 of them. I was one of 43 people that were selected in the end, giving the program a 6% acceptance rate. I was nervous but excited and spent the rest of Spring semester preparing for my departure.
I landed in Detroit on May 23rd. I was so nervous but ready to explore the area and get started in the program. Ann Arbor is about 45 minutes west of Detroit and is where the largest state school in Michigan (University of Michigan) is located. Ann Arbor was eerily like Fayetteville, with a cute downtown area and a sprawling college campus. The program housed us in dorms on-campus, and it was my first experience with communal housing. I was lucky enough to get a single room, but it was an interesting adjustment getting used to communal bathrooms!
The first week of the program was busy. We spent most of the day everyday meeting program staff and faculty, going over expectations for our field placement, and learning about some important issues in public health. Evenings were spent exploring Ann Arbor and hanging out in the study room with other members of the cohort. I was amazed by the diversity of the participants in the program. All cultures, backgrounds, and orientations were represented. We had a girl in the program who had flown all the way from Guam to participate. Other members of the program were from places as far away as Miami, Seattle, and Los Angeles. The Midwest was represented by members from Iowa, Oklahoma, and Austin, Texas.
The program consisted of three main parts. On Mondays and Fridays, we were in the classroom learning about different public health issues and meeting faculty from the School of Public Health. On Tuesdays through Thursdays, we were at a field site where we got to do real-world public health work. Some Saturdays were spent doing community service. Sundays were spent working on projects and exploring Detroit. We also got to work closely with Michigan Medicine and help conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) on infant mortality in the area.
For field placements, we went through a matching process where we ranked them based on interest and they ranked us based on our resumes. The choices for field placements ranged from the EPA to HIV prevention programs. I was placed at ACCESS (the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services), in their Community Health and Research Center. There were some changes in the organization right before I started, so my preceptor was not expecting to have an intern. However, he gave me a gracious welcome and we quickly got to work on some big projects. My most significant project during my time there was applying for a grant involving funds for behavioral health services for refugees. My preceptor got COVID my last week with ACCESS, so I spent a lot of my time designing the program and collaborating with other employees across the organization that last week. I also designed an Excel database for my preceptor, shadowed employees across the organization, and worked in their syringe exchange/harm reduction program.
One of the greatest experiences during the program was getting to go to Detroit. Detroit is a $6, 45-minute bus ride from Ann Arbor. Many of us hadn’t gotten to explore Detroit yet, so this was the perfect opportunity to go! I loved the architecture of Downtown Detroit and how strong the community was within the city. I got to go to Detroit Pride, which was the largest Pride festival I had ever been to. On Juneteenth, I got to visit Eastern Market, which is one of the most historic farmers markets in the world! It sprawls across eight buildings and consists of local vendors selling a wide variety of goods.
The program concluded with a symposium with the other five CDC programs, as well as a closing FPHLP poster session and ceremony. The CDC symposium was sadly virtual this year but was still beneficial. During the symposium, interns presented their work and heard from speakers from different areas of the CDC. My favorite part of the symposium was the speed mentoring sessions. During these sessions, interns had 23 different topics and “mentors” they could talk to and hear more about their work. I got to talk to an HIV epidemiologist during that session and it reaffirmed my dreams of getting into HIV medicine and research.
The last day of the program was the saddest. Many tears were shed as I said goodbye to the 42 other interns who I had spent 10 weeks with and reflected on the memories I had made. When I took off from Detroit, the plane turned towards Chicago and flew right over Ann Arbor. I was able to see the town that I had stayed in and made so many memories in. I will always be thankful for this experience and the people I met. I am also thankful to the Honors College for giving me the financial and academic support needed to make this happen.
What’s next, you might ask? I am interning with Community Clinic NWA this semester to apply my newly gained skills and learn more about my biggest public health interest, HIV prevention. The experience re-affirmed for me that working in the public and the healthcare field is my life’s mission!