Reflecting on the public health practicum experience

A practicum experience during graduate school can be tranformative as students are exploring skill sets within in public health. But some may not be aware what it entails including the lengeth skill sets or where they can do them. 

Lisa Folda and and Abinethaa Paramasivam, both graduates of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health share the importance of practicum experience and the goals of a practicum while completing the public health training at the School.

Lisa is the Practicum and Alumni Partnerships Manager for the Department of International Health  and Abinethaa Paramasivam is a United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Analyst, where she leads impactful midwifery and sexual reproductive health projects to improve health outcomes for girls and women in Rwanda. 

During her time at Hopkins, Abinethaa worked with the World Health Organization, supporting research on human resources for health in low- and middle-income countries. Her field experience included conducting qualitative research in Mozambique on preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV and providing technical assistance in Ethiopia for the USAID-funded project on food security and resilience with Catholic Relief Services. 

Lisa Folda, MHS '05, is the Practicum and Alumni Partnerships Manager for the Department of International Health. She works closely with faculty, alumni, and employers to establish practicum programs and mentorship experiences for the Department's MSPH students. She facilitates career development and placement strategies to help prepare our students to become successful public health practitioners. Ms. Folda has a background in both student advising and public health practice. She is dedicated to making meaningful connections that benefit both students in their learning and practicum sites in their important work. 

Abinethaa holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Master of Science in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.She previously worked with the Ontario Ministry of Health’s Midwifery Programme in Canada where she managed a three-year, CAD $600 million budget. In this role, she led initiatives to establish midwifery clinics in urban, rural, and remote Indigenous communities, expanding access to maternal health services in underserved areas.   

During her time at Hopkins, Abinethaa worked with the World Health Organization, supporting research on human resources for health in low- and middle-income countries. Her field experience included conducting qualitative research in Mozambique on preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV and providing technical assistance in Ethiopia for the USAID-funded project on food security and resilience with Catholic Relief Services. And lastly, she worked with Jhpiego, contributing to the development of a policy toolkit to guide policymakers in developing context-specific solutions aimed at improving maternal and newborn health outcomes in low-resource settings. Outside of her professional work, Abinethaa enjoys traveling to new places, playing tennis, and spending time with her friends and her dog. 

 

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