Priyanka Shrestha

In one sentence, what is public health to you?

It’s a health that we decide to choose for ourselves as a community, a country, and the world itself.

What inspired you to study public health?

There is very small representation of minorities and women in this field, specifically in the statistics and analysis aspects. I was inspired to study public health because I wanted to be a part of the change that not only adds on to the diversity, but also makes me a part of the move where my work could have some strong impact on everybody’s health decisions. As the health status we have right now is the result of healthy decisions we have made for ourselves.

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

Not really the best example, but finally being able to better understand and interpret what the numbers and the graphs mean during this pandemic.

Advice:

It’s going to get really tough before it becomes easier, but at the end it becomes your second nature.

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

Dealing with ignorant people. It is easy to explain someone who has no idea about anything, but the mess starts when people know the things, understand the situation, and yet choose to be ignorant about it.