Danielle Harmon

Danielle Harmon, MPH

George Mason University Graduate Programs in Public Health
Master of Health Policy

What inspired you to study public health?

I was inspired to study public health because I knew I had a passion for the world of healthcare but I knew I wanted to work on the preventive side of medicine. I soon become even more inspired because I found my passion in wanting to help give everyone a equal opportunity to healthcare services and tackling health disparities in underserved communities.

What has been the single most rewarding experience of your career/studies so far?

The most rewarding experience of my studies so far is working with a local non-profit in Syracuse for my senior capstone project and seeing how the research I was helping the organization produce, be used to create health information sheets for community members and also be used to improve an already existing program.

Advice:

One piece of advice that I wish somebody had given me when I was starting out in public health is that public health is a huge field! Don’t limit yourself by thinking you can’t apply your other gifts and talents to the field of public health because there are so many opportunities for you to flourish whether you are interested in economics, marketing, photography, graphics- that can all be applied to public health!

What do you think is the biggest challenge that the public health field should be focusing on?

I think that the biggest challenge that the public health field should be focusing on are boundaries that prevent all members of society from obtaining health care services especially those who are victim to generational poverty and low socioeconomic status that makes them susceptible to low health literacy levels and health disparity issues.