A group of nine Doctor of Public Health (DrPh) students from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health met at the Incubator representing 3 cohorts (Cohorts 3, 4 and 5) to discuss the community-building that has been undertaken here, and to pass that torch to new participants in the group from Cohort 5. With summer immersion projects looming, the group expressed the wish to have monthly meetings beginning when they return in the Fall. All agree that there are not enough opportunities in their busy program to reflect on their higher aspirations for global health, to think through their roles as future educators in the field, or to build a community of the sort that GHELI, Faculty Director Sue J. Goldie, staff, and the Incubator’s creative space are dedicated to support.
Cristina Alonso and Dominique Rouleau convened the meeting and led the discussion, which focused on the need for broader understanding of the program and its intentions, the need to “blow open networks” to create a broader understanding, and to build institutional knowledge in a way that can be passed on between cohorts. There was much discussion of doing that on different platforms—such as a sharing a Google Drive folder—and sage advice from those who have attended longest, to “go to Delta defenses,” as often as possible, and to respond to “pulse check surveys,” to help craft that identity.
Building on past meetings, DrPH students recognized the need and celebrated being in community and sharing experiences in their program and leadership paths outside of a formal classroom setting.