Public Health SPOTlight Podcast - podcast cover

Public Health SPOTlight Podcast

PH SPOTphspot.org

Sujani Sivanantharajah, the founder of PHSPOT.org sits down with public health heroes of our time to share career stories, inspiration, and guidance for building public health careers. 


The message she hopes to share through these conversations is that building a career is not only about climbing up the ranks, but about crafting a life that you want, around your unique needs, and one that gives importance to your mental health, wellbeing, and building relationships and friendships: you can only do good in the world if you take care of yourself. 


Through PH SPOTlight, you will connect with peers you have never met before, and build relationships in a deep and meaningful way.

Last refreshed:
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Download Metacast podcast app
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

Quick career tips: Open up a wealth of career opportunities with an elevator pitch

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Today’s career tip is on how to pitch your public health experience and skill-set to land that job, interview, or opportunity you’ve been eyeing for some time! Pitching yourself to a stranger can definitely be daunting, but with the help of this week’s episode, you’ll feel confident enough to start crafting your pitch. You’ll learn: What an elevator pitch is and how it can open up a wealth of opportunities throughout your public health c...

Feb 23, 202214 minEp. 53

Public Health Resources Series: Public Health Connect, with Harman Sandhu and Aditi Garg

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! On this episode, Sujani sits down with Harman Sandhu and Aditi Garg from Public Health Connect (PHC). They discuss what PHC is and how it supports students and early-career professionals to succeed in the workforce. You’ll Learn What Public Health Connect (PHC) is and what problem space it focuses on The history of PHC What services are offered through PHC including networking events What the monthly opportunities round-up posted by PHC ...

Feb 16, 202246 minEp. 52

A Day in the Life of a Community Health Nurse and MBA student, Brandon Kober

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! On this week’s episode, Sujani speaks with Brandon Kober, a community health nurse, who is currently pursuing his MBA. Brandon explains the role of a harm reduction nurse and discusses his own personal journey of discovering his career interests and how he got to where he is today. You’ll Learn What working in the area of harm reduction may entail and the challenges and rewards of working in this field What the everyday responsibilities ...

Feb 09, 202251 minEp. 52

Quick career tips: Use this job satisfaction checklist as your career compass

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! In this episode of Quick career tips, Sujani discusses job satisfaction. Depending on which study or survey result you review we know that not 100% of the population is satisfied with their job. This number ranges anywhere between 50% to 75% for job satisfaction in North America. We know that many things contribute to job satisfaction. While an organization/employer is responsible for some of these things, we also have a role to play in ...

Feb 02, 20227 minEp. 51

The public health resume, CV and more, with Career Coach Alison McAlear

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! In this episode, Sujani sits down with Alison McAlear to talk all things CVs and resumes. These documents are tools we all need in our careers, whether it's related to the public health field or not. Alison explains the differences and similarities between CVs and resumes and gives us some helpful tips on how to create successful documents specific to public health jobs. Grab a pen and some paper and let's learn together You’ll Learn Wha...

Jan 26, 202255 minEp. 50

Leveraging the power of LinkedIn for career success, with Jeremy Schifeling

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! On this episode, Sujani sits down with Jeremy Schifeling, a former LinkedIn employee in the Higher Education Team. Jeremy has devoted his career to helping students succeed in theirs. From recruiting top students at Teach For America to leading student marketing for LinkedIn, he’s touched the lives of millions of people just starting their journeys. Along the way, he’s published a top-selling book on job applications, served as the Unive...

Jan 19, 202247 minEp. 49

ABC's of informational interviews in the public health world with Shanna Shulman

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! On today’s episode Sujani speaks with Shanna Shulman about informational interviews. Informational interviews are very important and key to a successful career, whether it’s in public health or not. Shanna gives us the rundown of what informational interviews are, how to do them, share her experience, and a whole lot more insight into the topic including some homework for you. Grab a notebook and let’s get into it. What You'll Learn from...

Jan 12, 202254 minEp. 48

New year. New you. New job? Introducing a new mini series & Career Workshop.

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! This year, January 14th to be exact, PH SPOT celebrates 5 years. It’s unbelievable that 5 years have gone by already. Sujani created PH SPOT in 2017 after seeing a gap online for a career development resource dedicated specifically for public health professionals. Since graduating from her public health degree, Sujani spent countless hours between 2013 – 2016 guiding public health students and new grads one-on-one with their careers. As ...

Jan 05, 202221 minEp. 47

2021 Wrap-up!

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this episode the whole team sits down to discuss the past year at PH Spot. Join Sujani, Kajanth, Lis, Janu and Kelsey as they talk about all their favourite from 2021 and what they’re most excited about the year to come at PH Spot. You’ll Learn More about the team as they introduce themselves and talk about their role with PH Spot What is playing on the team members highlight reel for the year at PH Spot PH Spot stats on ho...

Dec 24, 202142 minEp. 46

Quick Career Tips: Set public health career goals

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Today’s career tip spotlight is on setting public health career goals. As we prepare for the new year, Sujani shares her annual goal-setting practice, one she picked up when she entered the public health workforce. She talks about the importance of goal setting for your public health career (why she picked it up), how it has helped her, and a couple of systems and tools that she uses. Resources mentioned on the episode: Download the Goal...

Dec 09, 20219 minEp. 45

The landscape of public health education and employment, with Senior Director of Data Analytics at Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Christine Plepys

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this episode, Sujani sits down with Christine Plepys to talk about the variety of career paths that she’s had and how this has informed her work as senior director of data analytics. In a follow up from episode 34 with Heather Krasna, Christine describes the changing landscape of public health and the research that she’s conducted on the diversity of this workforce. You’ll Learn Christine’s different employment opportunitie...

Nov 24, 202149 minEp. 44

Quick career tips: Get yourself a mentor for your public health career

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes One of the top career advice you will receive, regardless of whether you are in public health or not, is to find yourself a mentor. A mentor is "someone who gives...help and advice over a period of time, especially help and advice related to [one's] job" ( Collins Dictionary ). A mentor is someone who is typically more experienced and has travelled the path you wish to go on. You can lean on a mentor to make difficult career d...

Nov 10, 202110 minEp. 43

Should I pursue a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree?, with Elizabeth Loftus

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this episode, Sujani sits down with Elizabeth Loftus to discuss Elizabeth's options for her potential career in public health. Elizabeth holds a BA in Health Studies and through this conversation, Sujani answers Elizabeth's questions about the field of public health. You’ll Learn What drew Sujani to pursuing a Master's in Public Health (MPH) over a Master of Science degree Sujani's advice for people who are equally interest...

Oct 27, 202153 minEp. 42

A senior health executive’s career journey, with York Region Public Health’s Chief Nursing Officer and Logistics HR Chief of the Health Emergency Operations for COVID 19 response Julia Roitenberg

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this episode, Sujani sits down with Julia Roitenberg who took on the role of Chief Nursing Officer at York Region Public Health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Julia talks about her journey from bedside nurse to having a doctorate in public health and much more. You’ll Learn Ways that York Region Public Health has integrated the social determinants of health Ways that community prevention and promotion has been prioritized in...

Sep 29, 202141 minEp. 40

Quick career tips: Tap into your network - Strategies to gain public health work experience (Part 3)

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! This three-part career tips series is inspired by a blog post written and published in 2019 by Sujani titled: 3 strategies to build up your public health work experience, tested and proven by me . Today’s career tip spotlight is the third of these three strategies: tap into your network! Prior to starting PH SPOT, a common question that Sujani would receive from students and new grads she was mentoring was related to gaining work experie...

Sep 15, 20216 minEp. 39

Adapting to the future of online learning and teaching during a pandemic, with Siobhan Hickling & Gina Arena

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this episode, Sujani sits down with authors of the paper “Adapting to Teaching during a Pandemic” Siobahn Hickling and Gina Arena. Together, they talk about different models of teaching public health and what they have found to be most effective ways to relay information to students. You’ll Learn About the changing visibility of public health education How the pandemic and lockdowns have affected university classrooms in Au...

Sep 08, 202145 minEp. 38

Quick career tips: Offer up your skills - Strategies to gain public health work experience (Part 2)

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! This three-part career tips series is inspired by a blog post written and published in 2019 by Sujani titled: 3 strategies to build up your public health work experience, tested and proven by me . Today’s career tip spotlight is the second of these three strategies: offer up your skills! Prior to starting PH SPOT, a common question that Sujani would receive from students and new grads she was mentoring was related to gaining work experie...

Aug 18, 20219 minEp. 37

Journey to becoming an Assistant Professor, mentoring graduate students, and launching an initiative to close the communication loop during the pandemic, with Dr. Katelyn Jetelina

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this episode, Sujani speaks with assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center and the author of Your Local Epidemiologist blog, Dr. Katelyn Jetelina. They discuss Dr. Jetelina’s career in public health as well as her motivations to share public health information in an accessible way on her blog your local epidemiologist. You’ll Learn More about Dr. Jetelina’s journey in transitioning from a pre-med ...

Aug 04, 202143 minEp. 36

Quick career tips: Don’t take yourself out of the game - Strategies to gain public health work experience (Part 1)

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes This three-part career tips series is inspired by a blog post written and published in 2019 by Sujani titled: 3 strategies to build up your public health work experience, tested and proven by me . Today’s career tip spotlight is the first of these three strategies: DO NOT take yourself out of the game! Prior to starting PH SPOT , a common question that Sujani would receive from students and new grads she was mentoring was rela...

Jul 21, 20217 minEp. 35

A discussion on the public health workforce, with Assistant Dean and Director of Career Services at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Heather Krasna

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this episode, Sujani speaks with Assistant Dean and Director of Career Services at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Heather Krasna about the public health workforce. They discuss the 3rd edition of 101+ Careers in Public Health, Heather’s co-authored publication that is set to be released in the fall. Heather relays her advice for getting employed in the public health sector after spending 22 years as a c...

Jul 07, 20211 hr 4 minEp. 34

Quick career tips: Invest in your professional relationships

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Today’s career tip spotlight is on investing in your professional relationships, because, like in life, relationships take you far in your career. Sujani provides a few examples of how relationships have taken her far in her career, and follows up by answering the following two questions: Who do I build relationships with? How do I build strong professional relationships? You’ll learn: You can choose anyone in your professional circle to...

Jun 23, 20219 min

The Burnout Gamble, with Hamza Khan

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this episode, Sujani sits down with managing director of the Student Network and author of The Burnout Gamble , Hamza Khan to talk about the subject of burnout. They explore the ways that the pandemic has affected everyone during the pandemic, as well as the ways that healthcare workers and students have been impacted specifically. You’ll Learn How to identify burnout as well as how to address it About the personal experien...

Jun 09, 202155 minEp. 32

Quick career tips: Practice communicating technical content, with Sujani Siva

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Today’s career tip spotlight is on practicing being a good communicator of technical content. Communicating public health content to non-public health professionals such as decision-makers/management, communication team members, the public or statisticians and data scientists requires you to take the technical content that you are an expert in and translate it to a language they can understand. This is difficult! Being able to effectivel...

May 26, 20216 min

Leadership in Crisis with Lawrence Loh

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this episode, Sujani sits down with Peel Region of Ontario's medical officer of health, Lawrence Loh to talk about what leadership looks like in times of crisis. You’ll Learn About Lawrence's work that he's been doing as a public health figure in the Peel region of Ontario during the COVID-19 crisis The difference between responding to public health challenges in times of normalcy versus a crisis Skills for a public health ...

May 11, 202136 minEp. 30

Quick career tips: Master the skill of writing concise emails

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Today’s career tip spotlight is on developing a non-technical skill: mastering the skill of writing concise emails. Writing concise emails that are short and to the point has been one of the greatest pieces of advice Sujani has received, and one that she tries to practice as much as possible. Concise emails are very beneficial, not only because the response rate is much higher, but it forces you to summarize your thoughts clearly so that...

Apr 14, 20216 min

Let’s learn about the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree - a candidate’s journey and experiences, with Meghan Haffey

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this episode, Sujani sits down with Meghan Haffey to talk about her journey from discovering public health to the present day, where she is a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) student in the Health Promotion & Health Education program at the University of Texas, School of Public Health. You’ll Learn Meghan’s journey prior to pursuing her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree, including the premed route that she first start...

Mar 31, 202156 minEp. 28

Dentistry, public health, and entrepreneurship, with Daniel Faber

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Sujani sits down with Daniel Faber to talk about his public health journey. Dr. Daniel Faber started his professional career as a dentist where he developed as a clinician and entrepreneur. He started his dental practice from scratch, where he learned skills in business, marketing, branding and a focus on effective patient communication which has helped scale into other types of ventures. And 10 years into his practice, he felt this desi...

Mar 17, 202140 minEp. 27

Launching the public health book reviews blog series, with Tasha McAbey

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In today’s episode, Sujani sits down with a fellow public health professional, Tasha McAbey, to announce the collaboration on a new series for the PH SPOT blog! Sujani met Tasha on Instagram through her page @Public.Health.Bookmark where she shares reviews on public health books she’s read. Knowing that the PH SPOT community would love this, Sujani and Tasha are launching monthly public health reviews on the blog! Before the l...

Mar 03, 202127 minEp. 26

Quick career tips: Standing out during student job interviews

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes We are adding a series of a new type of episode on the PH SPOTlight podcast, titled QUICK CAREER TIPS. These episodes will be short, typically ranging between 5-10 minutes and will spotlight a tip for public health professionals. Today’s career tip spotlight is on student job interviews and how to stand out during these sessions. Recently, Sujani has been chatting with many students and new graduates about finding summer jobs,...

Feb 17, 20216 minEp. 25

For students and new grads – a conversation with Career Education Specialist, Ken Lee

Tell us what you thought of this episode - send us a text! Show Notes In this first episode of 2021, Sujani sits down with Ken Lee who is a Career Education Specialist at Ryerson University. His role is to specifically support students in the area of health. I love this conversation because the episode offers practical tips for students and new graduates. We really wanted to provide guidance to help navigate their careers. You’ll Learn What a Career Education Specialist’s role (also known as a C...

Feb 03, 202155 minEp. 24
Hosted on Buzzsprout
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android