Q&A with Anjali: Epidemiology, Public Health, & More

Hi everyone! My name is Anjali (she/her) but most call me Anj for short. :)  I’ve just completed my Masters of Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Epidemiology is essentially the study of disease trends, the determinants of disease, and how we can better prevent and control diseases! It involves a lot of statistics and research, but an MPH also generally provides you with training in social determinants of health, health policy, public health programming, and population-level health interventions. Prior to this degree, I completed my undergraduate degree in Health Sciences at McMaster University. While in my undergrad, I pursued an “interdisciplinary minor in globalization studies” which involved taking elective courses outside of my faculty. These were often courses that were different from the “traditional” health science courses (although anyone from Mac’s Health Sci program will tell you that the program is everything but traditional haha). I took courses that surrounded topics of political science, economics, global health, anthropology, law, and human rights. I loved learning about different worldviews, and how health is impacted by so much more than just disease. Our world is ever-complex and so is our health, yet we often fail to emphasize the role that politics, economics, environment, geography, race, class, or circumstance play into our wellbeing. Taking these types of courses and expanding my understanding of different disciplines is what primarily inspired me to pursue a Masters of Public Health. 

The field of public health is incredibly diverse with respect to the type of jobs people end up working in. This is a wonderful thing because it allows us to work across so many different interests and find our niche, but I’ll be honest, sometimes I’ve found myself feeling as if it’s too large and uncertain! On the first day of my graduate program, they asked us “What is Public Health?” It may seem like an easy question, but I still struggle to adequately define it today. Recently, I’ve liked to think about it as the intersection of the following 4 pillars, in the context of population health: Policy, Research, Programs, and Practice.

People work within these main areas in several different ways. You have health policy advisors who work within the public sector or with not-for-profit/other lobbying organizations in order to improve our health and social policies. Then you have researchers or epidemiologists who look at disease trends, clinical trials, surveillance data, or conduct systematic reviews to produce evidence in which policy can be informed by. You also have more local or community-level health programs and initiatives, such as smoking cessation programs, infectious disease prevention models, sexual health campaigns, safe injection sites, active living programs, child and youth development and more. And to round it out, you have medical professionals who are providing more acute health care to patients. These 4 pillars work symbiotically to improve the broader health of the population. However, this is not to say these are the only areas that the field of public health spans. I’m constantly learning about new career paths and expanding my knowledge of this ever-growing field. And I’m sure that other public health professionals will say that I’ve left out some key field or component to my definition, so please feel free to share your definition of public health - I’d love to hear! All this to say, public health is not one of those degrees that will lead you to only a couple types of jobs. It truly is up to you!

As for me, I currently work full-time as a Junior Epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), which is also where I completed my second practicum as part of my Masters program.  My first practicum was completed as a Research Trainee at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health. In my first practicum, I was able to be involved with 2 peer-reviewed publications which are now published in reputable journals which I am super proud of! At PHAC, I have been able to really hone my data management and statistical programming skills, as well as engage in stakeholder relationships which has been really exciting. Some of my other work experiences over the years have been with the Provincial Government’s Office of the Chief Coroner as a Policy and Programs Research Assistant, the McMaster Health Forum as a Senior Office Lead and Research Assistant, and the McMaster Student’s Union. Overall, my educational and work experiences thus far have taught me many valuable and transferable skills in research, policy development, written and verbal communication, data management and analysis, problem-solving, and critical-thinking, which I am ever-grateful for. 

However, I won’t pretend to have it all figured out yet. I’m not really sure what’s next for me! I hope to take some time off and travel a bit before settling into a job more permanently. I have always wanted to work abroad, and I was supposed to during the summer of 2020, however COVID had other plans. This is still something I’d like to pursue! I’d also be interested in exploring a health policy or community-level public health program role in the future to see what that side of the field is like! I suppose I’m in my exploration era (taylor swift reference anyone?) 

Outside of studying, I love to read and I’m open to any book recommendations! I’ve always been a fiction girl, but recently I’ve gotten more into historical non-fiction and wellness books. On my off days, you can normally find me at a new coffee shop or cafe with a book, but I also love walks/hikes and have recently been enjoying Spin/Cycle classes! Overall, I’m looking forward to pursuing new passions and trying new things that challenge me over the next chapter of my life!

As mentioned, I currently work at the Public Health Agency of Canada as a Junior Epidemiologist, but I started as a Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP) student in November 2022 working part-time, and then progressed to full-time work in January as a practicum student, all of which were paid. I work within the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch, in the Centre for Surveillance and Applied Research, and within the Surveillance Systems and Data Management Division (sorry, it’s a mouthful!)  My role is primarily in data management as opposed to traditional “epi,” although I still utilize a lot of my statistical programming and surveillance/trend analysis skills which are emphasized in epidemiology. I work with the national pediatric cancer surveillance database called the Cancer in Young People in Canada Database (CYP-C). Some of my main roles and responsibilities here are to extract data, prepare and manipulate datasets for external researchers or for internal projects, ensure a high standard of quality in the CYP-C database, pull data to evaluate trends and statistics, answer ad-hoc requests regarding the data, and investigate any concerts that come up regarding the data. I also work closely with some of our internal and external partners, including pediatric oncologists, research associates at hospital sites, and government stakeholders. 

Some highlights within this role have been that I’ve really gotten the chance to grow into myself professionally. Although I’ve been working within the field of public health and health research for quite a while now, this is the first role where I’ve truly felt like a part of my team and I know that my thoughts and input to each problem makes a real difference. I’ve had my own workload, while equally helping out to support each of my team members, and collaboratively working on projects together. I feel like I’m always busy, but that’s the thing I love! I also feel like I’m using a lot of critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in this role, which is something that I’ve loved having the chance to better develop. When I’m faced with a data problem, or something that just doesn’t quite add up, I’m able to successfully brainstorm reasons and investigate them to come up with a solution to present to my team. This is a really incredible feeling! I absolutely adore my team members and the work environment is so positive and uplifting. Looking back on when I started in November, I’ve seen SUCH a big difference in how confident I’ve gotten professionally and how I’m able to critically think through a problem. My communication skills have improved and my quantitative data management and coding skills have excelled far past what I could have imagined in such a short time. Having grown my confidence in this role, I’m now also better able to gauge what it is I want out of a career in public health, and what I find important and stimulating in a role which is a big win for me!

I originally came across this opportunity by hearing about the federal government’s Federal Student Work Experience Program, also known as FSWEP. This is essentially a talent pool where you can put your general information and upload a CV to the Government of Canada, and then relevant department’s managers can pull your CV if they need to hire someone with your background and qualifications. I had my current manager pull my CV from this pool because she was looking for a junior epidemiologist, and so we set up a coffee chat. When she reached out to me, she was looking for a student for the summer, however I had already committed to my practicum at CAMH at this point and therefore, couldn’t commit to PHAC. But she told me to reach back out in September to see if anything was available. I ended up doing this, and voila, it worked out! So I guess in the end it took a bit of networking, but I highly recommend the FSWEP pool to any current students looking for a job with Health Canada or PHAC! I also think just having coffee chats with people who you find interesting is really helpful. This is advice that everyone gives, but there’s a reason everyone gives it. It really can make a difference! Do a bit of LinkedIn stalking! Or if you’d like to stay in touch with interviewers or people you’ve networked with, ask them if it would be okay to reach out in the future for more opportunities or to simply stay connected! It doesn’t hurt to ask. Another thing I think is vital is to really showcase your personality and your eagerness to learn when you network with people. Be personable, approachable, and enthusiastic. This ensures that someone wants to be a part of your network as much as you’d like to be a part of theirs!

This job started as a student experience but I’ve continued onward full-time with my team which I am so grateful for! I’ve been able to get involved more with the government, and it’s definitely made me feel more confident in networking within the field of public health. I have no doubts that this experience will help me when I take the next step in my professional life. In the future, I’m excited to pursue more public sector health work that intersects with both my background in research and data, and my passion for policy and health promotion! I still haven’t decided where exactly I’m happiest, and public health is such a huge field that it may take some exploring to get there, but I’m certain that this experience at PHAC and everything I’ve learned thus far will help push me to new, exciting opportunities! I can’t thank my team enough for the kindness and support they’ve shown me, from before I even started, until now.

You should definitely check out the FSWEP pool here: canada.ca/en/public-service-commission/jobs/services/recruitment/students/federal-student-work-program.html 

Another good resource for federal government jobs is here: canada.ca/en/services/jobs/opportunities/government.html 

And of course, feel free to add me on LinkedIn if you’d like to connect! linkedin.com/in/anjali-behal-mph-697696159/

And if you’re wondering about Dalla Lana public health program, go here: dlsph.utoronto.ca/program/mph-epidemiology/

Thanks so much for reading this! Please feel free to connect with me if you have more questions or want a bit more of an in depth understanding of some of my various other experiences within public health. If you’re thinking of pursuing a career in public health or a master’s in public health, I’d HIGHLY recommend you reach out to current students or alumni and ask their honest opinions on the programs they were in. It’s the best way to really make a decision on a school/career, and it’s one thing I wish I did more of at the time! Public health is a really diverse and exciting field, and I can’t wait to see where you end up in it :) 

Thank you so much to Invite Health and Sachi for having me feature!