Navigating dynamic terrain: Preparing graduates for success

A festive season is upon us as soon-to-be graduates prepare to take the stage and receive their diplomas. A culmination of many years of reading, writing, studying and most likely stressing has led our graduates to this moment. Are they now fully prepared to enter the labor market?

Increasingly, new graduates are confronted with a landscape shaped by global health crises, environmental threats and socio-economic disparities. With the added pressure to secure employment, it may seem as if the cards are stacked in favor of our recent graduates. It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. What we need is a resilient workforce that can effectively anticipate and respond to society’s challenges.

I believe the following three principles will help our workforce and its future leaders be resilient, agile and ready to tackle the challenges ahead:

1. Operating through a trauma-informed care lens. It must feel like every time you open your favorite news app, there’s a new crisis to process. A new emerging disease, social injustice, natural disasters, wars and civil unrest, and individual life stressors such as conflict at home, job loss, social isolation or economic hardship. It will be important that managers, directors and top executives are trained to understand how different traumas manifest, how to respond to external crises, how to promote the resilience of their employees and, most importantly, create an environment that empowers their workforce supports.
2. Tackling a changing climate and damaging environment. Climate change is one of humanity’s greatest threats – if not the greatest. Equipped with this unwavering truth, affected communities can build resilience by holding those in power accountable for protecting everyone, regardless of income, race, or citizenship.
3. Health equity leaders and policies across the country. A resilient workforce is characterized not only by their ability to adapt to change, but also by their ability to lead, collaborate and inspire others. Whether they are doctors, lawyers, police officers, or teachers, having public health advocates in those spaces means they are practicing from the perspective of health equity. Our community needs healthcare leaders now more than ever as minority groups face health and economic disparities.

I may be biased given my role and background, but the Master of Public Health degree is a smart option for professionals of all levels, especially in the healthcare and health sciences sectors, who want to prepare for an ever-changing world.

The MPH degree is designed to emphasize critical thinking, problem solving, and digital literacy so that they can meet current industry needs, but also anticipate and respond to future shifts. The degree allows students to tackle complex health problems with creativity and ingenuity. Whether creating strategies to combat infectious diseases, promoting healthy behaviors, or advocating for healthcare equity, MPH graduates have the insight to navigate uncertain terrain and effect meaningful change. Interdisciplinary in nature, MPH students engage with diverse perspectives from fields such as medicine, pharmaceutical sciences, nursing, and even law and business, providing them with an understanding of the interconnected nature of health and its intersection with various sectors.

I am hopeful that our future leaders will thrive in our society and in business – as we continue to foster a culture of learning and resilience.