What an MPH Taught Me: Reflections on Graduate School with Student Host Raj

In this episode of Plugged In To Public Health, Lauren sits down with former podcast host and recent University of Iowa MPH graduate Prithvi Raj Daliboyina ("Raj") to reflect on his time in the College of Public Health. Before coming to Iowa, Raj completed physician training in India. During his MPH in Epidemiology, he expanded that clinical perspective through coursework and projects in epidemiology, biostatistics, qualitative research, data analysis, and healthcare quality improvement. Raj discusses the transition from thinking about health at the individual patient level to examining the broader systems and population-level factors that shape health outcomes. He also shares how projects involving medication adherence and hospital length of stay helped him see the importance of issues such as transportation, communication, health literacy, care coordination, and access. The conversation also covers some of the less obvious parts of graduate school, including adapting to a new academic system, moving to a new country, deciding where to specialize within a broad field, and learning how to turn complicated public health data into information that can be understood and used by people outside the field. Raj also reflects on his time as a host of Plugged In To Public Health and the value of podcasting as a space for asking questions, challenging assumptions, and communicating different perspectives. For students beginning an MPH or still figuring out where they fit in public health, Raj offers a simple piece of advice: explore broadly, talk to people, take advantage of opportunities, and give yourself permission to discover your interests along the way. A transcript of this episode is available at https://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/n... Have a question for our podcast crew or an idea for an episode? You can email them at CPH-GradAmbassador@uiowa.edu You can also support Plugged in to Public Health by sharing this episode and others with your friends, colleagues, and social networks. #publichealth #healthcare #graduateschool #mastersdegree #MPH #epidemiology #podcasting #studentperspective #healthliteracy #iowacity