Alumni Spotlight: Kristen Provencher, MPH – Public Health Program

The Public Health major at UNE presented me with a life changing opportunity during the summer of 2012. I traveled to Ghana, West Africa with about 20 people from the UNE community and beyond. We set up a health clinic and served over 100 people in and around the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. The trip inspired a strong interest in global health and health inequities across the globe.

It was the end of my freshman year at the University of Maine at Farmington when I realized that health was my passion. After graduating in 2006 with a BS in Community Health Education, I realized that I wanted to be in a classroom sharing my passion with young people. I started working at the high school I graduated from, Mountain Valley, in 2007.

Health is such a broad topic and there is so much to learn; that’s why I decided to apply for the MPH program at UNE. As a full-time teacher and mom to a then 1 year old, an online program was the only option for me to further my education. I also coach lacrosse in the spring and the flexibility offered by the MPH program at UNE was ideal for me.

What do you like about UNE and your major?

I love learning about all aspects of health and the MPH program offers a wide variety of topics between required classes and electives. Some of the classes built on classes I took during my undergrad, and others were completely new topics, such as Health Information Literacy and Health Information Systems.

In addition to course work covering many important health issues, the Public Health major at UNE presented me with a life changing opportunity during the summer of 2012. I traveled to Ghana, West Africa with about 20 people from the UNE community and beyond. We set up a health clinic and served over 100 people in and around the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. The trip inspired a strong interest in global health and health inequities across the globe.

What are your plans for the future?

I plan on teaching and coaching for a long time. I truly believe that health is the most important topic to learn about in school, and having my MPH has enabled me to broaden the health topics I cover in class and offer my students so much more in terms of health information. At some point I hope to make another trip overseas as a public health advisor for the CDC.