A Passion for People, Public Health
Emily D'Iorio '13 parlays her major and penchant for helping others into a graduate school acceptance to pursue a public health career
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BRISTOL, R.I. 鈥 It鈥檚 the question that nearly every undergraduate is asked at least a hundred times before they graduate: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your major?鈥
Less often are they asked what their passion is. Perhaps because, for many of them, it鈥檚 much more challenging to determine what it is they want to dedicate their life to than what they want to study for four years. Such was the case for Emily D鈥橧orio 鈥13, who spent the first three years of college searching for a way to join her passion for service with her academic interests in anthropology and sociology. As a member of the Roger Williams University chapter of , and eventually a member of it鈥檚 executive board, D鈥橧orio saw firsthand the impact of inadequate housing on families in low-income communities 鈥 still, halfway through her junior year she struggled to find that intersection. It wasn鈥檛 until last spring, when she took the Essentials of Public Health course with Associate Professor of Biology Kerri Warren, that D鈥橧orio found her calling.
鈥淚t was such a comforting, relieving feeling - confirmation that this is what I want to do,鈥 D鈥橧orio says.
With Warren鈥檚 guidance, D鈥橧orio soon after began applying to graduate school programs with master of public health programs. She has since been accepted to Emory University, where she will study Behavioral Science and Health Education, or as she describes it, 鈥渇inding out why people make the health decisions that they do and how to change them, if necessary.鈥
With curious and service-minded students like D鈥橧orio paving the way, 澳门六合彩 has officially adopted into its offerings a . As interest in the program grows, the departments of anthropology and sociology hope to create a public health major as well, a case that D鈥橧orio and her peers have helped strengthen.
Not one to rest on her laurels, D鈥橧orio partnered with Warren and classmate Jessica Reade 鈥14 to put her passion for public health into action this year. With a $2,000 grant from the Rhode Island Public Health Institute, the trio developed a project with Farm Fresh Rhode Island to fight obesity in the Ocean State. In applying for a $2,000 grant from the , D鈥橧orio, Dr. Warren and Reade, developed a unique project and were approved. Partnering with , the group鈥檚 three-tier project aims to help fight obesity by increasing knowledge of the farmers market in a small Providence neighborhood. The research will be presented to Farm Fresh Rhode Island, officials and members of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute on May 22.
As for those students still seeking ways to put their academic knowledge into action?
鈥淓xplore. Public health is everywhere,鈥 D鈥橧orio says. 鈥淚t can be related to every field, and your professors are one of your greatest resources.鈥