Students heading into the field of public health are starting their careers at a time when the scientific establishment is viewed with skepticism.
Some of the factors impacting how people view the field include the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Trump administration’s mass layoffs in agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
Students at the George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health in D.C. heard from experts on a panel where the topic was “Combating Health Disinformation in the Digital Age” Monday.
Joel Bervell, a medical doctor and host of “The Dose” podcast with the Commonwealth Fund, as well as the self-titled ‘Medical Mythbuster’ on TikTok and Instagram, spoke at the event. Bervell’s messages on public health have focused at fighting racial bias in medicine as well as training young people to learn to spot misinformation.
Regarding the future that awaits graduate students who will soon begin looking for jobs in their chosen field at a time when widespread cuts are being made at the federal level, Bervell told WTOP there are other options.
“There are so many incredible nonprofit organizations, even for-profit organizations that are doing this work,” Bervell said.
He said recent graduates may find opportunities, “in order to hopefully one day be able to get back into these jobs.”
Allegra Mbwetshangol and Nadia Bey are both second year master’s students at the Milken Institute School for Public Health at George Washington University. Both of Mbwetshangol and Bey said they’re optimistic about their own futures and the future of public health overall.
Bey, who said she’s naturally an optimist even as she sees massive staffing and funding cuts, said: “I’m really thinking about ways that we can still try and do this work in the community,” even with fewer resources.
She added, “I’m just looking for any opportunity I can to help the community. … I think that we’ll come out on the other side of this, one way or another,” regarding the current challenges facing public health.
Mbwetshangol also said she’s optimistic about the future of her chosen profession as well.
“I have to be, or else, how can you go out there?” Mbwetshangol said with a laugh.
She noted the amount of misinformation on social media, including on social media platforms that are popular with young people, such as TikTok and Instagram.
“A lot of people are becoming like our parents, who only took their information from Facebook,” Mbwetshangol said.
She urges her friends and family to ask questions about what they’re seeing on social media.
“Now people are like, ‘I saw it on TikTok!'” and Mbwetshangol responds, “OK great, but like, what are the sources for it?”
Mbwetshangol said before she shares anything she finds on social media, she does her research.
“And when I say research, it’s not looking on TikTok,” Mbwetshangol said. “It’s like, either in my classes, through studies, literature, review, and all that.”
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