Jacqueline Clabeaux

What inspired you to study public health?

The COVID-19 pandemic opened my eyes to how much public health affects what goes on in healthcare facilities and amongst healthcare professionals. As I am very passionate about healthcare, public health allowed me to see the entire picture of what goes on outside of healthcare and how populations and communities can be affected by multiple factors, which in turn affects how healthcare operates. Overall, I wanted to learn more about what goes on outside of a healthcare setting that affects how people receive care and how different populations can be affected by certain elements.

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

The single most rewarding experience of my studies so far is that I have been able to interact and meet with many people from diverse backgrounds and listen to their stories on how public health has affected them.

Where did you do your practicum? What was it about?

I will be doing my practicum this summer with Cancer Support Community in Washington, D.C. to investigate cancer trends within the Northern Virginia population.

What do you hope to accomplish in your career?

My hope is to go to Physician Assistant (PA) school. I want to apply my knowledge that I have learned being a George Mason student, ambassador, leader, and a community member into my studies to positively impact future patients’ lives to maintain/stay healthy, teach the benefits of making a healthy lifestyle a habit, and how small actions such as these can have a tremendous effect on other community members and populations as a whole.

Advice:

One piece of advice I wish someone had given me when I first started out in public health is that there is no clear cut answer/solution to a problem in this field. There may be strong associations or relationships, however, there can be many things that influence decisions of populations that can have a positive or negative effect. Public health requires thinking “outside the box” and considering other plausible causes to a problem, requiring one to diversify their thinking.

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