Utano Public Health Chats

Episode 9 - Interview with Joy Kamunyori

In this episode we hear from Joy Kamunyori, a digital health and project management professional from Kenya about her 14 year career assessing, developing and implementing public health IT systems in sub-Saharan African countries. 
We discussed:
Joy’s background what she studied and how she ended working in public health 
How her passion for education and development and skillset landed her in a public health role that started of her career
How she became interested in Computers  and eventually chose to study computer science 
What she likes and drew her to coding and computer science 
How mentorship played a significant role in her career and choices at many junctures 
Her experience pursuing graduate studies in Computer Science 
What her work looks like now, in scale and range and the kinds of problems she supports solving 
How she considers herself an interpreter in her work in digital health and what that looks like 
How her roles have changed as her career has progressed in the field 
The relationship between Public health, education and development 
How Digital Health as a field  and use of technology for health started, emerged and has now expanded to be integral in public health systems 
Challenges and key considerations for countries as they transition to having fully digital health information systems and how Joy has come across and been part of these conversations
What are Joy’s favorite things about doing her work 
What public health means to Joy 
Joy’s advice to a younger self 
Top 3 skills she recommends to work on in the field
 
 

Episode 8- Interview with Will Moyo

In this episode we talked with Will Moyo an Bioengineer from Zimbabwe. Will is the Engineering Innovation Design Studio Manager for Rice 360 Institute for Global Health Technologies.
We discussed:
Will’s background and the kind of work she does now
What is Bioengineering and what training she received to get there
What motivated her to pursue a career in Bioengineering 
Invention education and how its used at the Design studios where she works 
What are Design Studios and training offered there 
What Will does on a day to day basis in her role 
The different kind of funders who support their work 
The need for support and investment in inventions, innovation and education for long term success “Funding people to fail”
Challenges associated with innovation and global health technologies in an African context 
What is Will's favorite part of the work that she does 
The value of impactful work and seeing effort come to fruition
What public health means to Will 
Everything is Public Health!
Is Will Shuri from Black Panther??? 
The importance of medical devices and access in public health 
The Importance of investing in education for health so as to improve  health outcomes 
The need to train engineers and technical workforce practically so they know how to work with biomedical equipment in the real world 
Other African countries where the model of design studios are currently being implemented
Who makes a good Biomedical engineer?
What it takes and good skills to have in the field 
The different kind of stakeholders Will and her students get to work with 
Regulation and standardization for medical device design and invention in African countries
Challenges and frustrations from working in education and invention and innovative work in the global health technologies space
How their program was able to generate income for themselves by being innovative at the beginning of the pandemic 
What does Will know now, that she wishes she knew earlier
Words of Wisdom 
Resource plugs 
Tips of reaching out and getting opportunities in the field 
 

Episode 7-Interview with Dr. Itumeleng Ntatamala

This episode we heard from Dr. Itumeleng Ntatamala, an Occupational Medicine Specialist and Senior Lecturer in the Occupational Medicine Division in the School of Public Health at University of Cape Town’s Faculty of Health Sciences.
We talked about: 
Dr. Itumeleng’s background and his current roles 
What drew him to medicine, public health and then occupational health 
How his interests in clinical care influenced his interest to do public health work 
Defining occupational health and occupation medicine and how they sit under public health 
The aim of occupational health 
What occupational health looks like and the different types of workers and professionals who work in it 
Examples of the types of work dealt with in occupational health 
How he splits his time between clinical work, public health work, research and teaching 
The wide range of patients and medical issues that they see and the different work industries they work with in occupational medicine
Where Dr. Itumeleng finds the most joy and fulfillment in his work 
The need for more people to be interested and work in Occupational health, in South Africa and beyond 
COVID and its impact on occupational health 
Different types of trainings that people can undergo to gain skills in and pivot to start working in occupational health 
Why there is not as many people going into the field and being aware that the field of occupational health exists as a career path in public health 
Challenges in limited opportunities for training in South Africa and in the region 
How he defines public health and what public health means to him 
Advice for anyone looking to go into medicine and/or public health 
Following  your passion and taking it one step at a time
Advice for those that might be interested specifically in pivoting into occupational health 
Skills that he has found the most useful 
Attending short courses in what you are interested 
Reading more about occupational health  eg :International Labor Organization ILO https://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm 
Health & Safety Executive(HSE)  https://www.hse.gov.uk/ 
National Institute of Occupational Health SA (NIOH) https://www.nioh.ac.za/# 
and local National Occupational health bodies 
Areas that connect to occupational health eg psychology or social work or physiotherapy 
Can reach out about programs to him on Linked in or via email at for questions about the field and programs 

Episode 6-Interview with Dorcas Kareithi

In this episode with Dorcas Kareithi a clinical trials statistician from Kenya currently based in the UK we discussed:
Dorcas’s  background and how her love for Math led her to study Applied Statistics
What she calls herself 
Dorcas’s love for data, data  puns and t shirts with them
All the key steps she took to end up working in health with her skillset
Difference between being a researcher and statistician 
What influenced her interest in health from family to books she read growing up 
How she ended up working in health after her Bachelor's degree  and key steps she took to lead herself there
Mentorship and the role it has played in her career
Different types of mentors
Highlights from her current and previous work
What is her favorite thing about her work and working in public health 
What she likes the least about working in public health 
Ethics in public health research
Inequalities in healthcare access
The importance of government buy in and will to bridge research findings to policy and implementation 
Importance of documenting failures in research 
Her top 3 software recommendations
Words of wisdom especially to people looking to have careers in statistics 
Her resource plugs:
Young African Statisticians (YASA): https://twitter.com/africanyas
Words that count:  https://twitter.com/wordsafrica
RLadies Nairobi: https://twitter.com/rladiesnairobi

Episode 5- Interview with Siyabonga Ndwandwe

In this episode we talked with Siyabonga Ndwandwe, a computational health economist from Eswatini currently based in London about his to journey to working in Public health and what it has been like for him. In the episode we discussed:
What is computational health economics and what that entails 
His background and motivation to study health economics and work in public health 
Using an economic framework, economics principles and tools, to understand health care system and answer and solve health related problems 
What type of health data is there, the different sources, who collects it and why?
Privacy , security and the need for regulation of using health data in the world of Big Data
Stakeholders in public health and how they are involved in the work
The kinds of questions being answered in the field of health economics and in Siya’s work 
What a typical day, or typical week looks like in his current role 
Highlights of different roles and projects that Siya has done in the different roles and countries he has worked in
What public health means to Siyabonga and how he defines it
The Public Health Elephant!
What he likes about Health Systems Research 
Siya’s favorite things about working in public health 
A little bit of ethics and philosophy of economics in health systems using COVID as an example
Challenges that come with working with data  depending on the context
The difference between learning how to work and learning the work 
Word to the wise

Episode 4-Interview with Nang’andu Chizyuka

In this episode we chat with Nang’andu, a health promotion specialist from Zambia about her 11 year career in public health.
 
We discussed:
How Nana started her career in public health and what motivated her to focus on health in development
Secondary prevention in Cervical cancer
All things Cervical cancer 
What work she currently does and what that looks like on a typical day/week 
Monitoring and Evaluation in public health programs 
It's not just M&E
Nana’s multi year experience and the different amazing work and areas she has worked in
Digitalization of M&E and how Nana has taken it in stride 
What digital applications and platforms Nana uses in her work 
How her role requires her to be flexible, adaptable and translate between different kinds of experts 
How she has continued to learn new skills and dedicated time to that to keep up to date with the work
The importance of prioritizing the population as a receiver of information and evidence generated in public health work 
Data for decision making - Decisions in health begin at the individual’s health 
Beyond data collection and M&E in public health work 
Data as an empowerment tool for people
Nana’s definition of public health and what it means and looks like for her 
There is so much work to do! 
Frustrations and challenges working in public health 
What is Nana’s favourite thing about working in public health 
What keeps Nana working in public health? 
Public Health saves lives 
Skills that Nana has found useful in public health
Top things that Nana recommends investing in while working in public health 
The value of relationships in public health work 
What she does when she feels demotivated in her work or in a slump 
The value of humanities and social sciences in public health with examples from a reproductive health program that Nana worked in 
The value of innovation in public health 
Who are we doing public health work for?
Public health interventions need to be inclusive and not discriminatory 
Tips and words of wisdom to young people
Challenges in career guidance and learning how to explore 
Visible women Zambia and mentorship for young women and girls
 

Episode 3 -Interview with Temitope Ben-Ajepe

In this episode we chat with Temitope Ben-Ajepe, a pharmacist and public health consultant from Nigeria.
We discussed: 
Her pharmacy background and how she ended up studying pharmacy
Her motivations to explore regulatory work and work at a macro level 
Details of different internship and placement experiences, what she enjoyed and what she learnt there
Overview of Pharmacy training Nigeria and the national requirements for licensing 
The different types of pharmacy practice and the different levels 
How her many internship experiences influenced and motivated her to want “more”
What more looks like for Temitope in public health
Some research projects she has worked on
The value of data in health care work
Research and ability to generate evidence that makes an impact in 
The power of trying out different things in your career and being open to different experiences
Importance of mentors and aligning with mentors that focus on what you are interested in
Skills and training that she has found valuable in her current work form Pharmacy school and beyond

Episode 2-Interview with Dr. Nikki Kay

In this episode we talk with Dr. Nikki Kay a specialist Public Health physician currently based at the Duke-NUS Medical School Centre of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE) and SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI) in Singapore. 
We discussed:
Her 16 year career in public health medicine starting from her background and what motivated her to want to work in public health
Her experience taking care of family during the peak of the AIDS pandemic in Zimbabwe and similarities of the HIV pandemic with COVID for health care workers
The decision to pursue medicine and what she enjoys about being at the frontlines of patient care
What she studied for her undergraduate and her many interests and work experiences as a public health swiss army knife!
Working at the frontlines of COVID in Singapore in 2020
Taking breaks in your career and learning to avoid burnout-Take care of you!
What public health means to her
The particular value of patient care experience in public health 
Skills that she has that she found useful in her clinical-public health roles
How she navigates working with different stakeholders at different levels in her work and maximizes her experience and knowledge for the benefit of communities and people
Nikki the public health shapeshifter? Public Health CIA or FBI? Let's find out!
Word to the wise:
Knowing that you have what it takes for roles- believe in yourself!
You don't have to be perfect for an opportunity so do not talk yourself out of it
Don't skimp on Quant skills!-Do a little bit more math than you are comfortable with. It will come in handy
Work on your writing skills 
Qualitative methodology is key 
Soft skills- get to know to people in the field- stay connected
To those especially looking to pivot- say hi to people and Network

Episode 1-Interview with Mandi Tembo

In this episode we talk with Mandi Tembo, a Menstrual health enthusiast and  PhD research fellow with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine about her journey and career in public health. 
We discussed:
Mandi's introduction to and start of her public health work 
How she started her PhD and the opportunities that led her to that point
The decision to get a PhD and timing for it 
Working back in your home country and at the community level 
How do you describe yourself? What do you day you do?
What does Public health mean to her?
How does she define public health for herself?
What Mandi likes and loves about working in public health 
Feminist leadership in public health 
Public health as activism 
Challenges that come with working in public health 
Funding, research barriers and Global North-Global South equity in global health 
Public Health is hard work! 
Leadership in public health 
Website to check out : https://www.thruzim.org/ 
 

Introduction to Utano Public Health Chats

This episode covers the goal, vision and background of Utano Public Health Chats and gives an overview of what the episodes will be looking at and covering.