MCH Student Perspectives
Episode description
Maternal and Child Health is powered by academic and community perspectives. But what about the behind-the-desk outlook? On this special episode, we hear from four Boston University School of Public Health students and current MCH fellows through the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health as they share their stories, takeaways, and hopes for MCH’s future.
Fiona Schicho is entering her final year of the dual degree MSW/MPH program, concentrating in macro social work, health policy and law, and maternal child health. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a clinical research recruiter, served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in research and evaluation, volunteered with a hospice agency, and trained as a birth doula. Fiona believes in the power of public health to create more equitable systems to have and raise children.
Sarah Rowan is a part-time MPH candidate specializing in Community Assessment, Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation (CAPDIE). She works full time as the Community Relations Specialist for Graduate Medical Sciences at BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, where she oversees communications and manages the GMS Community Catalyst Center (C3). Sarah also co-founded the BUSPH Reproductive Justice Student Alliance (RJSA) in Spring 2024. She loves public health for the opportunity to contribute to sustainable advances in the health and wellbeing of communities.
Jill DeMaria is a rising 2nd Year MPH Student concentrating in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Prior to BUSPH, she served as an AmeriCorps member in the New York City metropolitan area. Besides being a fellow, Jill works full-time as a site coordinator for home healthcare and is currently interning as an infectious disease research assistant with Civilence. Jill loves public health as it is ever-evolving, and she can explore and make an impact in society with her interests in reproductive health, global health, and infectious diseases.
Sargam Choudhury is a student in the 4+1 BA/MPH program at Boston University, concentrating in Healthcare Management. Prior to BUSPH, she was a pre-med undergraduate studying Neuroscience and Medical Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Additionally, she worked as a Clinical Research Assistant for the Dekel Lab at MGH, assisting in maternal and child health research studies. Sargam loves public health because of its interdisciplinary approach to health, as well as the dynamic nature of the field.
For more information on each fellow’s sites and projects, check out these resources:
Fiona: Our Bodies Ourselves Today and the Bay State Birth Coalition
https://ourbodiesourselves.org/
Sarah: Accompany Doula Care (and the BUSPH club she co-founded)
https://www.accompanydoulacare.com/
Instagram: @busph_rjsa
Jill: Dr. Lora Sabin’s Lab
https://www.bu.edu/sph/profile/lora-sabin/
Sargam: Dr. Collette Ncube’s Lab (website coming soon!)
https://www.bu.edu/sph/profile/collette-ncube/
The production of this podcast was supported by Grant 6-T76MC00017-27-01 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the host and guests of this podcast episode and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HHS.