This course will illustrate and investigate the relationship between experiential learning and career readiness in public health. Primarily through listening to relevant podcasts, students will reflect on their skill development, think critically about industry trends, and identify best practices for success in the public health workforce. Students will bridge the gap between their current skills and their career aspirations through strategic planning of curricular and co-curricular engagement. Student learning will culminate in the creation of a career roadmap- an individualized action plan to move fearlessly forward into career success.

The long-term social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are only now beginning to become evident, especially with regards to public health policy and practices. This course will provide a retrospective analysis of the pandemic from a variety of social and public health perspectives with the aim of discussing what went right, what went wrong, and how these perspectives may shape future pandemic preparedness and public health policies and practices. Students will be introduced to a variety of topics related to the pandemic to gain the proper background and context for further discussion, such as the history of previous pandemics, the biology of SARS-CoV-2 and the major players in governmental policy and decision-making processes. Students will then examine the major policy and health-practice related decisions made during the pandemic and discuss the positive and negative impacts of these decisions from a variety of perspectives, including their own lived experience. Using the knowledge and perspectives gained during these discussions, students will draft their own pandemic policy and action plan in response to a hypothetical future pandemic.