MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University Public Health faculty in the Department of Health and Human Performance showed over 300 students “a day in the life” of health professionals during a recent program at Siegel High School — one of four outreach activities planned at various Rutherford County high schools throughout the spring semester.

Spearheaded by Public Health faculty lecturer Chipper Smith in partnership with associate professor Kahler Stone, the broader goal of the high school presentations aimed at health science students is to raise awareness about the field of public health.

“Public Health is a discipline that often operates behind the scenes to prevent illness, promote health, and create healthier communities,” Smith said. “This was part of a larger effort we’ve been making to engage local students in health science tracks or HOSA Future Health Professionals chapters to consider public health.”

At Siegel, the presentation focused on explaining the diversity of careers in public health and how students might find their passion working in areas that improve health at a community or population level.

“Public health can sometimes be an ‘invisible’ profession because when it’s working well, problems are prevented before they arise,” Stone said. “We want students to know that public health careers touch so many areas — from disease prevention, vaccine access and safe drinking water to disaster response, environmental health and health education.”

Brooke Sherrell, health science career and technical education teacher at Siegel, said her students were excited to learn about pathways they hadn’t even considered before the MTSU presentation.

“While our health science curriculum includes career exploration across various medical- and health-related fields, public health is a topic we rarely delve into,” Sherrell said. “Many were surprised by the diverse career paths within this field. Several students have since expressed a newfound interest in exploring public health as a potential career, highlighting the impact and importance of this exposure.”

Stone and Smith introduced students to the careers of epidemiologists, environmental health specialists and health educators and provided examples of MTSU alumni working in these fields.

“Ultimately, our hope is that these efforts not only raise awareness about public health as a career option, but also help students see that public health is everywhere, shaping the world around them in both visible and invisible ways,” Stone said. “We want to show them that MTSU’s Public Health program can be a place where they find their passion and make a real difference.”

Learn more about MTSU’s Public Health program at https://hhp.mtsu.edu/public-health/.

— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu)