Bethlehem Tesfaye is currently working towards an MPH in Global Health Concentration and an Advanced Certificate in Public Health Disaster Science, Policy, and Practice. Originally from Ethiopia, Tesfaye graduated with her first bachelor’s from George Mason University in Health Science Management and completed an accelerated nursing program at Marymount University. After working as an oncology nurse in Washington, DC for eight years, she relocated to Pretoria, South Africa.
Practicing in South Africa and the United States, Bethlehem could see the differences in resource availability, health systems, health service delivery, and the factors influencing patient outcomes. This experience has motivated her to invest her career in improving people’s lives and minimizing disparities among populations. Due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided to pursue a master’s degree in Public Health.
To learn more about Bethlehem Tesfaye, we spoke with the master’s student about her public health journey and her plans after graduating. Read our Q&A with Tesfaye below!
Q: : What draws you to the field of public health?
A: Public health is holistic. It has many branches addressing different issues and needs impacting communities on a larger scale. I have experienced how fragmented healthcare delivery is and the severe gap between service delivery and outcome.
Q: What interests you specifically in the field of emergency preparedness and response?
A: I view emergency preparedness and response as the backbone of any disaster outcome. It is comprehensive and has many opportunities to work with people with diverse backgrounds. It is rewarding and, at the same time, challenging as every emergency is different.
Q: Can you describe a project or experience that helped you in making a decision to pursue a career in this particular field?
A: I have always been interested in working in a field where I could help people in need. However, I believe my nursing experience exposed me to other ways of providing care instead of only clinical care. Having been exposed to the ways other countries with fewer resources become creative to respond to emergencies, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was evident for me to explore and understand the complex systems that feed into public health while incorporating my clinical experience.
Q: Who do you consider to be vulnerable populations and why?
A: I consider children, people with disabilities, the elderly, immigrants, and the homeless, as vulnerable populations because they have limitations in expressing their needs and are often the most disregarded groups during emergencies.
Q: What is a current emergency or disaster that you believe is critical to address?
A: I believe it is the COVID-19 pandemic that needs to be addressed because it has been ongoing since late 2019. This pandemic is multifaceted because we are still dealing with its impact and is worse for some countries than others due to resource constraints and readiness impacting vaccine availability, delivery, and distribution. The severity would have been much lower if the medical experts had managed it from the start instead of political parties influencing the guidelines and recommendations.
Q: How do you handle stress and pressure?
A: I try to prioritize tasks to avoid stress and pressure. However, I like to cook and swim to help refocus and strategize when it is unavoidable. I also call my best friend to chat about random things to help ground me.
Q: If you could cure a disease which would it be and why?
A: It would be cancer. The treatment is ongoing and complex. It changes people’s appearance, and remission is short-lived in some types of cancer. Cancer affects not only the patient but everyone around them. It is one of those diseases that many do not get equitable treatment for because of lack of resources, income, or other disparities.
Q: Who is your favorite public health figure and why?
A: There are many favorite public health figures, but the one that stands out to me is Alexander Fleming, who discovered Penicillin which led to the introduction of antibiotics. His discovery has saved many lives worldwide.
Q: What is next for you after you complete your MPH degree?
A: After completing my MPH, I want to work for a non-profit organization invested in changing people’s lives and minimizing disparities. It might be challenging to find opportunities because I will be in Pretoria, South Africa, for the next two years. However, I am hopeful I will find a remote position to gain experience related to any branch of public health discipline.