Alumni Spotlight: Mona Haimour, MPH

Alumni Spotlight, Mona Haimour
Mona Haimour, RN, BScN, MSN, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada. As a 2016 inductee to UNE’s Chapter of the Delta Omega Honor Society, she also proved herself to be one of UNE’s brightest Master of Public Health students. From Jordan to Canada Originally from Jordan, Mona earned her Registered Nurse certification and actively practiced as an RN in the area of women’s health, maternal child health and pediatrics for many years there. It was in Jordan that she also earned her Master of Science in Nursing, and began to shift her work from nursing practice to nursing education. After working and volunteering across the Middle… Read more >>

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Faculty Spotlight: Tracey Spinato, MPH, Public Health Program

Tracey Spinato, Assistant Director for Career Services in Public Health at CGPS
Tracey Spinato is the Assistant Director for Career Services in Public Health at CGPS. One of her functions is to be a resource for public health students as they seek out a field experience placement. She is also a resource for UNE students and alumni who are beginning in the field of public health or for those who have decided to change their career to work within the public health field. Here, she tells us more about what she brings to UNE, and how she works with students to add value to their student experience. Can you tell us a little about your background and what drew you to UNE Online? I am originally from New Jersey, but I moved… Read more >>

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Alumni Spotlight: Monica Huelga, MPH

Monica Huelga, who completed her Master of Public Health practicum presentation on environmental health literacy, stands in front of the Pacific ocean with a sailboat in the background
In celebration of our Graduate Programs in Public Health’s successful CEPH reaccreditation, we sat down with Monica Huelga, MPH ’18, who found herself at UNE Online rather serendipitously. Monica is passionate about the power of communication to promote global health and equality. She completed her applied practice experience on environmental health literacy at the non-profit MEarth Carmel while working at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Congratulations again on graduating last year! What inspired you to go for your MPH in the first place? I’ve always been drawn to health and distance studies. I received my undergrad from University of Washington in medical anthropology and global health, and I was trying to look at health in the bigger picture, the cultural perspective… Read more >>

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Ambassador Spotlight: Tannaz Safari Vejin, MPH

Tannaz Safari Vejin, MPH
Tannaz Safari Vejin earned her MPH during the gap years she took after pre-med and before med school. Here, she talks about what she feels is an important skill set to master during the program, and how she feels getting her MPH has given her an edge. UNE Online Ambassadors have been recognized by the College of Graduate and Professional Studies for being exemplary students and enthusiastic members of the UNE Online community. UNE Online Ambassadors serve as liaisons between our extended community and UNE Online, setting a precedent and standard for what it means to be a UNE Online student and community member. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself, and what encouraged you to pursue your… Read more >>

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Alumni Spotlight: Jesse Bell, MPH

Jesse Bell MPH Student
Jesse Bell, MPH, is a UNE Online alumni of the MPH program and is currently working toward getting his Ph.D. We spoke to him about what compelled him to get his MPH, his experience as an online student including his practicum, and his advice for incoming online graduate students. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself, and what encouraged you to pursue your Master’s in Public Health? For the past 15 years or so I worked in clinical mental health in the ER, seeing patients who are suicidal and homicidal and at general risk to themselves. Over the years I began to realize that the root cause of systemic issues was not being addressed, and I found the… Read more >>

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Student Spotlight: Dr. Puneet Saini, MPH Program

Dr. Puneet Saini Student in the Master of Public Health MPH program at UNE Online
Dr. Puneet Saini is a native of Madison, WI, and a second-year MPH student at UNE Online. Having completed his M.D., he is looking to complement and add more value to his education, and also delve more deeply into the realms of public administration and policy-making in order to bring about change on a global level. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself, and what encouraged you to pursue your Master’s in Public Health? I was born in America and come from a multi-cultural family. Growing up in this diverse mix of different ethnicities and cultures made me very aware of the world, and I learned early on to respect other people’s values, ideas, and ways of life.… Read more >>

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Student Spotlight: Carley Anderson, MPH – Public Health Program

Carley Anderson MPH Student
I came to the field of public health nearly by happenstance. I had just finished my undergraduate degree in music which, while fulfilling, didn’t equip me with tangible ways to make a meaningful, practical difference in my community. After graduation, I began working as an administrator in a medical clinic at a military installation, and a year later was assigned to work in the public health program despite no previous experience. I quickly saw public health was a field with unending opportunities – constant opportunities to learn, to benefit the community, and to make a lasting difference in the lives of others. I began networking with other public health staff in similar roles, and soon developed a strong relationship with… Read more >>

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Student Spotlight: Thomas Troelstrup, MPH Program

Thomas Troelstrup, MPH
“Thanks to this terrific program, I was just offered my dream job on Tuesday as a Foodborne Disease Outbreak Epidemiologist for the Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville! I never thought I would land it by the age of 28!” MPH student Thomas Troelstrup reached out to us with some exciting news about his career this week, so we wanted to connect with him to talk about his new opportunity and his experience with UNE! Like so many MPH students, Thomas came to study Public Health in a somewhat roundabout way. After high school, he attended community college, playing college baseball and majoring in History. Shortly thereafter, he was offered the opportunity to transfer to UNC Greensboro, to play… Read more >>

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Student Spotlight: Amber Auger RDH, MPH – Public Health Program

Amber Auger, MPH Student
Doors have flown open for Amber Auger since earning her MPH online at UNE. Growing up in a single parent family, Amber was taught from a young age to to value education. “My mom wanted me to get a great education so I wouldn’t have to work three jobs every day, like she did.” says Amber. Amber took her mom’s advice to heart. It was at a very young age that Amber decided that dental hygiene would be the direction that she would take her career. She’d always been interested in dental health, and she later came to realize that choosing that career came with the added benefits of great pay and a flexible schedule. For her undergraduate education, Amber… Read more >>

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Student Spotlight: Alison Braid, MPH – Public Health Program

Alison Braid, MPH student at UNE Online
MPH student Alison Braid is more than halfway through her degree, and loving it. After spending over 15 years in the professional translation and website localization industry, she wanted to make a career switch. Says Alison, “I decided that it was time for a change!” Alison is based in New York City, and most recently managed a localization team of engineers, linguists, and graphic designers, evaluating certain websites, translating and adapting them into several languages. Her day-to-day activities involved working across diverse industries and cultures, and making the websites they’re localizing appealing to each culture. With her Master’s Degree in Translation Studies, she started in the firm as a project manager, and worked her way up through the ranks of… Read more >>

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Student Spotlight: Katy Krings, MPH – Public Health Program

Katy Krings, MPH
Katy Krings is in her final semester of the MPH program and is an excellent example of how online education can be used as a powerful tool to reach qualified individuals who wouldn’t otherwise have access to higher education. Originally from Wisconsin, Katy now lives and works as a public health nurse in rural Southwest Alaska. In fact, the area in which Katy works is so remote that her patients are not accessible by road or boat for much of the year – she has to fly between these arctic villages to provide her patients with care and public health education. Now that’s going the extra mile. Some background on Katy and her career Katy discovered Public Health nursing after… Read more >>

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Student Spotlight: Jessica Healy, MPH – Public Health Program

Jessica Healy, MPH
Recent UNE Online graduate, Jessica Healy, makes strides against underage drinking in Massachusetts Jessica Healy, Regional Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator for the Health Department in Hudson, MA, is spearheading a five-town substance abuse initiative to fight against underage drinking. Through a 3-year, $300,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, town coalitions have spent the last several months exploring how underage drinking affects their communities. Taking action against underage drinking Working along with the towns of Framingham, Ashland, Northborough, Southborough, and Hudson, the project involves addressing the issue of underage drinking, creating action plans and spreading awareness of this epidemic. “It takes a village to raise a child – and it takes a community to fight substance abuse,”… Read more >>

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Student Spotlight: Christina Melvin, MPH – Public Health Program

Vet Tech Program
One of the best parts of what I do here at UNE is talking to MPH students. Every grad student at UNE that I’ve ever spoken to has been passionate. Passionate about a job well done, passionate about a new program or initiative that they’ve been able to start directly because of what they’ve learned in class, passionate about their field. Grad students seem to have a laser focus on what they want, and they are determined to get there. At UNE, the two years it takes to get your MPH online is an intense time period and a sizable amount of sacrifice. But you finish with far more than a piece of paper. Your hard work results in a … Read more >>

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Student Spotlight: Brittany Roy, MPH – Public Health Program

Brittany Roy, UNE MPH candidate, 2015
This August, a group of UNE students and advisors participated in an immersion experience in Ghana. Students worked alongside Ghana Health Service, community health educators and the community to provide healthcare services to the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. Participants of the program engaged in direct health services, interprofessional collaboration, community education and academic and cross-cultural exchange. Here, Brittany Roy gives us a glimpse of her involvement with the program in Ghana, and her most important takeaways from the experience. About Brittany Roy, MPH Class of 2015 I currently live in Biddeford, Maine with my fianceé. I graduated from Stonehill College in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree where I majored in Neuroscience and minored in Music. I… Read more >>

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