PhD, Health Behavior Health Promotion (Tucson Campus)
"I am proud of MEZCOPH's interest in helping the community and being active members of many projects around Tucson, Pima County and Southern Arizona in general. I find my fellow students to be very collaborative as well and interested in making a difference in the world."
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Email:
mgblock@email.arizona.edu
Hometown:Rio Rico, Arizona
Prior Degree(s):BA in Biology at Hendrix College, minor in Philosophy.
Before entering the program:Peace Corps Cameroon 2016-18, Teaching at the American School of Yaoundé 2018-19, MPH degree at MEZCOPH in HBHP 2019-21
Why did you choose public health?I started working in public health when I was in the Peace Corps. I held several reproductive health workshops, helped put up bed nets to help prevent malaria, and held radio programs on nutrition and HIV. I found it rewarding to share information with people on health and wanted to continue to do more of that work.
Why did you choose MEZCOPH?I chose MEZCOPH because it is near my hometown and I wanted to come back to serve my home community. I also wanted to be in a community where there were other RPCVs and found that the Coverdell Fellowship was a great way to do so and also help pay for my school.
Public health interests:Behavioral Health, Disease Prevention, Global Health, Health Disparities, Health Promotion, Planning and Evaluation, Public Health and Emergency Preparedness, School Health
Dissertation:I am studying vaccine hesitancy with Purnima Madhivanan - specifically for the COVID-19, Seasonal Influenza and HPV vaccines.
Interests/hobbies outside of school:I play music (piano, guitar, mandolin, uke). I love to go out hiking and rock climbing with friends. I play ultimate frisbee. I like to also volunteer at Casa Alitas.
Tip for future students:Don't be afraid to say no. Try as many activities as you can and get connected in the college and community, volunteer, discover all of the different amazing resources we have on campus, but also set your limits because it becomes a lot very quickly.
