How Service Learning Shaped A Career In Public Health

What if one week abroad could reset your definition of impact? We sit down with Olivia Albanese Gordon to map the winding road from pre‑med requirements and ER shadowing to trip leadership in Nicaragua, an MPH from Johns Hopkins, and a mission‑driven role directing public health programs for families navigating epilepsy, autism, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. The arc isn’t linear, and that’s the point: service learning didn’t just add a line to her resume, it rewired how she thinks about prevention, ethics, and sustainable community health.

We start with the origin story: high‑school service hours, a living‑learning community that prized mentorship, and the choice to major in public health with a medical humanities minor. Olivia shares how pre‑departure training lowered the fear of first‑time international travel, why journaling became an anchor, and how language barriers shrank inside a committed team. From maternal health clinics in the mountains to a hospital delivery room, the moments that stayed weren’t just clinical—they were educational. Teaching handwashing and brushing skills felt small, but the behavior change was built to last long after the pill bottles emptied.

Back home, the work expanded. Olivia translated lessons from mission sites to local needs: supporting Spanish‑speaking patients in dental clinics, serving in the ER, and building a high‑school health curriculum that touched every student. Graduate training during a pandemic deepened her systems mindset, and today she leads programs across New Jersey that help families access care, insurance, and medication while advocating for dignity and autonomy. For students weighing a service trip, she offers clear guidance: assess your readiness, seek mentors, don’t let language stop you, and remember that meaningful impact is just as available in your backyard.

If this conversation sparks new ideas about your own path, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s exploring healthcare careers, and leave a review with the pivot you’re considering next.

Recommended Podcast:

1. Public Health On Call - Johns Hopkins

Recommended App:

1. Duolingo

I also want to thank our listeners for joining us as it is our goal to not only share with you our guest’s introduction to international healthcare, but also to share with you how that exposure to international healthcare has shaped their future path in healthcare. As true patient advocates, we should all aspire to be as well rounded as possible in order to meet the needs of our diverse patient populations. 

As a 50+ year nurse that has worked in quite a variety of clinical roles in our healthcare system, taught healthcare courses for the past 20 years at the university level, and has traveled extensively with my students on international service-learning trips, I can easily attest to the fact that healthcare focused students need, and greatly benefit from the opportunity to have hands-on experiential healthcare experiences in an international setting! I have seen the growth of students post travel as their self-confidence in their newly acquired skillsets, both clinical and cultural, facilitates their ability to take advantage of opportunities that previously may not have been available to them. By rendering care internationally, and stepping outside one's comfort zone, many more doors of opportunity will be opened.

Feel free to check out our website at www.islonline.org, follow us on Instagram @ islmedical, and reach out to me @ DrH@islonline.org

Transcript

Dr. H 0:11

Well hey there, I'm Dr. Patrick Hickey, or Dr. H, as many of my students refer to me. I want to welcome you to another episode of the International Service Learning Experiential Medical Education Podcast. During each episode, I will be interviewing healthcare-focused students and faculty from high school to university that have had an opportunity to participate in an international service learning trip. Additionally, I will be discussing the benefits and challenges to international service with healthcare professionals that have served abroad, as well as industry leaders in healthcare, education, study abroad, spirituality, and those living in the countries being served. I'm very excited to have Olivia Albanese Gordon as my guest today. I've had the privilege of having Olivia as a former student, and I'm very eager for her to share with us her unique journey in healthcare. Olivia graduated in 2017 from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and a minor in medical humanities. In 2018, she graduated with a Master's of Arts and Health Studies from the University of Alabama. And in 2022, she graduated with a Master's of Public Health from John Hopkins School of Public Health. During her undergrad years, Olivia joined me on three service learning trips. Olivia presently works in a family resource network as the director of public health programs. Well, it's my pleasure today to have Olivia with me and full disclosure, we've we've known each other for quite a few years. I actually have traveled together. And you know, by traveling together, I have found in my 15 to 20 years of doing service learning trips, you really connect with the students and it really changes that student teacher dynamic that that most teachers unfortunately don't get to experience. And for me, it's just been a true joy where we start off with teacher-student dynamic and then it turns into a friend. And and and I'm a firm believer that that does come about when you work, so to speak, in the trenches with your students, in our case, rendering healthcare to underserved populations. But Livia, it's been quite a quite a few years. I appreciate you uh taking some time uh to join us today. And if you don't mind, just tell us uh a little bit about yourself and and uh where you went to school, your degree path, uh a little bit about your travels and and where you're at now.

Early Service Roots And Motivation

Olivia 2:46

Sure, that would be great. First of all, thank you so much for having me, Dr. Hickey, on the podcast. I'm so excited to speak about my experience. So I'll start at the beginning, I guess. My name is Olivia Albanese Gordon, and I graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2017, where I studied public health as my major and medical humanities as a minor. And those two degree fields really put this medical mission on my radar. I also was in Capstone as a Capstone scholar, and I really loved living there, and then eventually serving as a resident mentor in that residence hall. But that gave me a lot of close proximity to you and also to the abundance of opportunities that the Capstone program offered to students. So that's just a little bit about what my college focus looked like. And we can dive you know more into that. But flash forward to today, I'm located in Pennsylvania working just across the border in New Jersey and serving as the director of public health programs at Family Resource Network, which is a nonprofit committed to serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. So it's an area of work that is really rooted in public health and in the type of service to community that I think was so important to the missions that we did in Nicaragua. I traveled three times with your trips to Nicaragua and had the opportunity to lead a medical mission in my senior year. And, you know, that just ignited a lot of passion. And I can think about the people who I met, people who mentored me, the people who I was able to serve, and very tangible ways that that impacted my life going forward. So it's been, I guess, eight years since doing that.

Dr. H 4:55

Wow. But time flies.

Olivia 4:58

Time flies, and the connection points to that work still feel ever present.

Dr. H 5:04

Livia, thank you so much for sharing. And again, a beautiful walk down memory lane for me when you share those that information. Tell me about your service heart. I mean, I I mean, obviously I got to know you very, very well during your college years. What about before college? I mean, did you were you involved in high school at all? Or did you volunteer or do anything? Because, you know, I I see a lot of students when they come to college, they I hate to say it, but they check the box sometimes that they did service, they get an X number of hours. And then I don't see them continue in that same pathway once they get to college for whatever reason. They they get busy with academics, they get busy with a lot of other things. But I'm I'm very interested in in people that do the service learning trips. You know, it were they very involved before college?

Choosing Public Health And Medical Humanities

Olivia 5:52

So in my education before college, service was always a big component, like a big pillar. So in high school, we had a pretty well-developed service program. We had to do service hours every year, and I think that gave me a strong foundation to see the benefit of service and also understand how I can play a role in helping the community around me. So, you know, some people have hours and hours of service going into college. I had a fair amount. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I think it just gave me a really strong foundation to understand the benefits and to want to lean into more in college.

Dr. H 6:35

Olivia, I'm always intrigued also by the degree paths that students choose. In your case, uh public health and and medical humanities. Where did that decision process come from? Why public health? And tell us a little bit more about medical humanities, if you don't mind.

Olivia 6:53

Yeah, I think there was a fair bit of like kismet in in the universe when I landed on public health. I definitely see it as the career path that I was meant to be on, but the way that I got there was a little bit interesting. So when I was applying to schools coming out of high school, I applied to like 17 different schools. And the University of South Carolina was not one that I saw myself like fitting into. There was a pretty big pull for me to be there. And I still walking on campus even today, I feel that same emotion. So once I decided that that's where I was going to land, I had applied as something else, like maybe biochemistry or something, something more like bio and chemistry science related. And I just started to feel that that wasn't the right fit for me, like prior to actually starting my freshman year. So I made the decision to switch into public health and did that in advance of orientation. So I was at orientation with all of the public health students. And then from there, that was my path the whole time. And I still remember sitting in my dorm room, the 12th floor of the capstone building, like with paper all around me, mapping out what my different minors could be, because I just loved being in school and loved all of the possibility that there was to learn. So I thought about like psychology, sociology. I had every option kind of laid out. But I landed on medical humanities. I loved the ethics component of that and the coursework that came with it. And it I think it's it stood me in good stead to have that ethics mindset, especially as we approach or reckon with public health issues. So yeah, that was a really good fit for me, public health and medical humanities. Just loved my coursework and the opportunities that it brought. And it's not exactly the field that I went into after college, but it's the field that I think I was always, it's the lens that I've always looked through. So it's really a worldview view, I think.

Pre‑Med To PA To Education Pivot

Dr. H 9:27

Excuse me, remind me, were you pre-med on the pre-med path at that time?

Olivia 9:31

So I did, I was on the pre-med track and I, you know, graduated completing all of those prerequisites because for a while that was my intended path was like medical school. And I think through working with you and other professors at South Carolina and through going on these medical mission trips, I started to see the breadth of like what the medical field has to offer. And so before graduating from undergrad, I made the decision that I was going to apply to PA school. So that's when I started volunteering through the Palmetto program at the hospital in the ER. And I remember you helping me to get set up with that so that I could get my shadowing hours for PA school. So I did a lot of that work in my senior year of college with the understanding that I would take a gap year after graduating and apply to PA school. So that's what I did, and ultimately I was accepted to PA school. And then, sort of the way the world works is that I had another opportunity to stay in the role that I was, which was in education. And I felt really called to that. So I never expected, after having invested so much time and effort through the pre-med program and all of that, that I would ultimately turn down physician assistant school. But that's what I did. And I think that was probably the right decision. And it's helped me get to where I am now.

First-Time Travel Nerves And Prep

Dr. H 11:08

Well, Olivia, it's it's always interesting how people find their future paths in life. We we think you're going to figure it out in undergrad. And as you know, we don't. Sometimes it takes a few jobs after graduation before you finally find where you want to be and and where you can make a big difference. But I'm always intrigued by those that are on the pre-med path, how they make that decision process. In your case, pre-med path, switching to PA, accepted into PA, but then actually accepting something in education. Know that as a medical provider, you're an educator. So it's not that much of a difference, really. You know, you're you're educating people, you're taking care of other needs, so to speak. Um but yeah, thanks for sharing that because it's you know, I I know that a lot of the students struggle with what major am I going to take? Am I doing all the right things needed? I think more importantly, other than the major, is what you were sharing about getting your your hours, actually getting your toe in the water, so to speak, and and getting an experience, because that's going to be the true validation of this is what I want to do, you know, because I can teach everything in a classroom setting, but as you know, with our service learning medical mission trips, you don't really understand until you go in country and actually do something, in your case, volunteering in the emergency room. But that's great that you had you had that opportunity, were given that opportunity, and chose a different pathway. Let's let's look back at your time on on the service learning trips. Was there hesitancy or fear specific to going on that first trip with with a person you didn't know and a cohort of students you didn't know?

Olivia 12:49

So I think I was really lucky in that I knew as soon as the trip was announced that it's I wanted in. And I remember like the first meeting, like informational meeting in the capstone ballroom, like going down and being like, Yep, I want to do this and applying. So there was never any hesitancy about I know that I want to do this. And then the other benefit of like living in that living learning community was that so many of the students going on the trip were students I already knew. So I had a lot of familiarity with the cohort that I'd be traveling with. And then we also did those pre-departure classes, which I think if there was going to be that nervousness or that anxiety, that helped to allay a lot of those fears from the knowledge standpoint of like, hey, these are the diseases that are endemic to this area from a language perspective because I was not Spanish speaking. And then from like a team perspective to understand how we were going to operate as a cohort of students. So it just laid a really good foundation for me that even if there was trepidation, I mean, I think it was the first time I was traveling internationally. I was able to manage most of the variables so that I could be as comfortable as possible with the travel component and just really be ready to hit the ground running once we got there.

Dr. H 14:17

You just reminded me, I believe I have this memory. You traveled independently on your own, didn't you?

Olivia 14:24

Yeah, I did.

Dr. H 14:26

I think in fact, I think I talked to your mom at the time because there was a little worry or fear factor because I I believe you went on your own and and there was some concern about you spending the night in the airport by yourself and wrote to the country.

Olivia 14:42

So, you know, I don't know that that's the choice that I would make today. Like just go with the group. It's gonna be easier. You're gonna have a good time. But in college and to this day, like I'm always looking for the most cost efficient, effective option. And so I did travel on my own and then coordinated pickup with the group once we arrived. But that was a huge, almost like coming out for me of like, okay, I'm in college, I'm doing this thing on my own, I'm traveling.

Independent Travel And Group Dynamics

Dr. H 15:14

For those listening, that's a very unusual story because normally in my 15 to 20 years of doing service learning trips, you know, we we either travel as a cohort and we're very well-organized people travel together. But when it when Olivia took off on her own, it it it caused uh a few red flags to pop up. But but after conversation with your mom and and and and chatting with you, I I felt you were responsible enough and we put a lot of safeguards in place. And and I I share that because when I did my service learning trips, I did speak with a lot of parents because there was a lot of anxiety. The students, as you indicated just a bit ago, you were kind of familiar with each other because you live in the same uh residence area. Uh, so there was there wasn't as much of a fear factor there. But for mom or dad letting you go to another country with a faculty person that they didn't know, that ended up being a few phone calls and and to allay anxiety, and that always worked.

Olivia 16:11

And I'll say that the next two times I went, I went with the group. So I I got that out of my system early and out of the program.

Resident Mentor Skills To Trip Leadership

Dr. H 16:19

That it's all good. Hey, you you mentioned earlier, before I get more into Nicaragua, that you're a resident mentor. Share with the listeners what is a resident mentor, what is that role, and did that role actually help you when you were a leader during your senior trip?

Olivia 16:36

Yeah, definitely. So I know listeners of this podcast will be from all over the place, but they'll have to put up with my Gamecock Pride. So at the University of South Carolina, where we went to school, I there were resident mentors. And I just think that that was such a good system to just help students in their first year experience and throughout their process of living on campus. And it aligned with the goals of I think the medical mission as well, which was like service. So I was able to serve as a mentor to first year students and then also work in building that had a mix of like first year and like sophomore junior students. So I did that for two years, actually, or was it three? No, two years, two years as a sophomore and as a junior. Really, really enjoyed my time serving as a resident mentor. And it just was kind of a the thread of service, I think, unites that experience with this experience on a medical mission. Living in Capstone, which was the residence hall that I lived in. I think it really fostered that idea of service. And I was greatly influenced by my resident mentor when I was a first-year student. And I hope that that's the same impact that I've had on students as I was their RM. And it just naturally rolled into the role of a trip leader in my senior year. So I had that experience mentoring students and connecting them with resources. And I think it set me up well to be a good fit for that role.

Three Nicaragua Trips And Continuity

Dr. H 18:12

Well, you you really stood out, obviously. That's why I picked you as one of my leaders. I mean, you you impressed me your role as a resident mentor. Tell us about three trips to Nicaragua. Holy cow. I mean, that's that's um, that's amazing.

Olivia 18:26

Yeah, I was so, so lucky to be able to travel three times to the country. And I think really the first time just ignited this need to go back and to be able to see over the course of four years. So I went my freshman year, my sophomore year, I believe, and then my senior year as a leader. Just the ability to see over time the impact that was being made was like a really cool perspective. I loved the country, the people, the areas that we were working. Everything was just beautiful. We were embraced with open arms. I learned so much from the medical professionals who were mentoring us, and also from the people who were coming to us for care. So I couldn't get enough of it. And each trip was really different, but it was really great to have that similarity of space. Like we always were in the same kind of home base each time. And then we traveled to different clinics within different neighborhoods, but having the consistency and knowing certain doctors and interpreters, I think that was just really helpful for the continuity of experience for me.

Growth From Participant To Leader

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Dr. H 19:46

Olivia, share, I mean, with those three trips, share with us, if you don't mind, your personal growth from trip number one to your final in your senior year. And also during your senior year as a leader, did you see that same growth in your students that you were leading as what you had experienced yourself?

Olivia 20:06

Yeah, it's such a such a nice opportunity to be able to reflect on those three trips. It's not something that I've done in a while, but I think my first year I was there, I was so like green, just so excited to be there, so excited by getting to spend time with these other students who were so passionate about the same thing. I was my whole world was just like lit up with excitement. And that same feeling I took into my second year trip, but I think with a little bit more direction of like, okay, now I know what this is going to be like. I know what the needs are. I could fundraise a little bit more strategically. I could bring the types of supplies that were most needed in the areas that we were serving. So it was just a little bit different that second time around. And I think towards the tail end of that experience, I really started to realize like, I want to lead this. Like, I want to be in a different role the next time that I'm here. So, as a senior, getting to be on the other side and to see those first-year students who are just filled with excitement and passion and also a little bit apprehensive or fearful, and be able to walk them through, like, hey, I've been in your shoes. That that was great perspective to have. And we were just reminiscing before we started recording about this boat ride, my senior year, and just the sense of like ease and I think accomplishment and satisfaction that I felt and that you could sort of see as like a third party observing me. And I really did feel like that. Like there was this sense of I am proud of what we've accomplished here. I'm proud that my undergraduate journey has been so really come to fruition in this full circle moment of like I was here serving as a undergrad, freshman student, not really knowing where this was going to take me. And now look at where I am now. So, in so many ways, it was just this beautiful like bookend to my experience as an undergrad.

Maternal Health Clinic And Birth Experiences

Dr. H 22:26

For those listening, before we start recording, I chatted with Olivia a little bit and I had a many fond memories of of our time together. But excuse me, one in particular when we were on that boat ride, and I just looked over and she just looked so peaceful and it's in such a zen state. And you know, at that moment when I looked at her and she was just so content. And you know, I I I I guess I I saw a little bit of myself in you, and that as a role as a teacher, I feel I feel what you just described. I feel a sense of accomplishment and and you know, for having brought these students along and they're nervous and they're anxious in the beginning, and the level of self-confidence that they have by the end of the week is just unbelievable. And to know that you had a role in that, and you did extremely well in your role as a senior leading a cohort of 18, 19, 20-year-olds, which in itself is a challenge anyway, but you did a great job with them and and they looked up to you as a leader. And and it was just so nice to see that level of contentment that you had with knowing you did a job and you did a great job, and these students were were better for your assistance in that. Reflecting again back on on Nicaragua, I know it's been a few years, but was there anything that stood out or anything you want to share of three different trips and so many patients and so many scenarios? Or are there any any one or two incidences with patients or families or or with the healthcare team that that come to mind?

Olivia 23:55

So many things come to mind. I think I'll pick maybe just two, maybe three things to highlight. I think it was my sophomore year, so my second trip, we had the opportunity to go to a maternal health clinic, and it was kind of up in the mountains. We only took a certain group of people who had an interest in that area. And that was incredibly eye-opening because the patients they were seeing were pretty much my age. Some of them were pregnant, and I remember feeling really impacted by that experience and just almost conflicted in a sense of like, it's so great that this resource exists for people, but there's still a lot of need here. So I I remember reflecting on that a lot when I came back from the trip. And that has continued to be something that's an area of interest for me.

Dr. H 24:51

That was a great clinic. I was there with you. I still have a picture of that clinic. And I I admire the physician at the time that that set up that clinic. And I believe a lot of the ladies would come to the clinic days before they delivered so they could rest and and have you know a peaceful time with with childbirth and then stayed there for a certain length of time. But yeah, that was a pretty dynamic doctor that that pulled all that together. And uh, yeah, that that's a great reflection.

Olivia 25:18

Yeah, I loved that experience. As I'm talking about that, I'm also remembering our hospital visits. And I I'm not sure which year it was, but getting to see childbirth was amazing. And as a new mom, like reflecting on that experience, witnessing that when I was on a medical mission, and then the experience of childbirth myself has again been like a really full circle moment. So that was a huge takeaway for me.

Dr. H 25:48

Uh that's let me let me just add that that was a dynamic uh opportunity. I do recall. I I remember a good number of my students just crying, I mean, with with the joy of childbirth and and to see it for the first time. What what a bonding situation and opportunity that was for us to be there, you know, with the mom at that time. The mom's been carrying this baby for nine months. We're there at the last minute. We get to see what such a beautiful uh childbirth, uh, very dynamic opportunity that we had to see that.

Health Education As Lasting Impact

Olivia 26:17

And she welcomed us with so much grace, you know, to be part of that experience. So I always feel a lot of gratitude for it for that. And then just the other highlights, I think, are like the health education pieces of things. So after undergrad, I did a master's degree in health studies. And I was doing that in my sort of gap year, but like while I was applying for PA school. So I had a fellowship at a school where I was living on campus and working in resident life, which really was aligned with the work I had been doing in college. I was doing this master's program in health studies and I was applying to PA school. So I say all that because the health education components of my time in Nicaragua really, I think, catalyzed that interest. So teaching, teaching children how to brush their teeth and wash their hands. Like that to me felt very impactful because once we left, those people can still do that, and that is going to set them up for better health in the future. So I really appreciated from my time in Nicaragua the activities and teaching moments that we did that ensured that when we were gone, people would would still have access to healthy behaviors.

Dr. H 27:35

I'm glad you brought that up because, you know, almost on every trip, students will come to me sometimes a week or two later, very, very depressed and upset, saying, you know, we all the medicine we gave is probably gone by now. The treatments we provided are probably gone, and and that patient is back in the same situation as as before we came. But I I always try to reassure them that what was most powerful was the fact that we educated the patients and their family on how to manage their sit their situation as best they could. So you you've just validated that the education component was was very important.

Processing Poverty, Culture Shock, And Return

Olivia 28:11

And I think that's why I that ultimately helped me make the decision to continue on the path of public health rather than for me going to PA school or pursuing an MD. I really loved that prevention piece and that education piece. And so that's been the thread that I sort of followed post-medical mission is to focus on health studies and health education, and then ultimately to get a master's degree in public health.

Dr. H 28:41

And it it is interesting you share that, Olivia, because I've had a few students that have gone on to both med school and PA school and have changed gears, so to speak, and have gone back to school and got their master's in public health and gone down the education uh pathway. So kudos to you for doing that. Do you recall when you came back? I mean, I know it's been years ago. Was there any any culture shock after having seen the poverty that we did, the the challenges in the healthcare system, and then coming back to our normal lives? I mean, do you do you recall any of that?

Olivia 29:16

Yeah, most definitely. I think it was for me like a bit of a sense of guilt of the experience and the trips opened my eyes. Like I've been so fortunate to live in the area that I do and to have the resources that I do and go to a beautiful university and to not have to worry about, you know, food insecurity or where I'm getting medicine from. And when you have this experience, you see that that is not the case. And it sounds so naive, but I guess as a freshman in college, like I knew in theory that that was the case all around the world, but to see it and to work so like firsthand. With it was really eye-opening. So I think that catalyzed me to continue going back because I knew that there was always going to be this need. And it it wasn't just a week that we spent there. It was, you know, a mission that we carried forward beyond that.

Serving At Home: ER And Dental Clinics

Dr. H 30:18

Well, it it's it's interesting that you share that, Olivia. I don't know if you can recall, but you know, we when we come back from our trips and the classes afterwards, I usually try to present to the students that we have other opportunities in our own backyard. You know, we had this wonderful opportunity to go internationally to work with an underserved population, challenged by language we didn't speak, eating different food that we've never had before, and living in conditions that may not be the best. But yet here in our own backyard, we have a lot of poverty. Did you feel that or did you get connected in that way?

Olivia 30:53

Yeah. So it must, it was probably after my first trip that I worked in Colombia at a dental clinic for predominantly like a Spanish-speaking population. So I think that sent that sentiment of you don't need to travel to serve in this way, I really did, that did resonate with me. And I was able to take that back to Colombia. And then also when I worked in the emergency room at the hospital, I think it was along those same lines of like there's people, there's a need here. There's a need in your backyard. And to have the opportunity to travel is amazing. And I would, you know, never trade that experience, but you also don't need to go very far to make a meaningful impact.

Career Path To MPH And Nonprofit Leadership

Dr. H 31:41

Now, Olivia, tell us about what you're working in now. You know, trying, I was trying to connect the dots between the, and you've you've done a great job of saying how the experience you had actually led to you taking your master's in in health education.

djust]

Olivia 31:55

Yeah, so I I guess I'll fill in a little bit of the pieces between graduation from undergrad till now. I moved back home to New Jersey. I had a role at a private boarding school in a fellowship position. And so that's that one-year position that I was focused on as I applied to PA school and did the first master's degree. So that worked really well. And it was never meant to be like long-term. I thought this will be a great spot to land for a year and then I'll be on my way to PA school. Coincidentally, I was actually traveling with a group of students when I found out that I had been accepted to PA school. I was in Greece on an experiential learning trip. So I think that my role as a leader of the trips in Nicaragua and sort of the seed that you planted around experiential and service learning continued to grow with me in my career. I decided to stay at the school because I had the opportunity to really champion their health education efforts for high school students. And I spent the next six years building a health education curriculum for ninth through 12th grade students, working on Health and Wellness Day programs that impacted middle school and high school, teaching health education, living on campus, coaching, just being really immersed and enmeshed in the community. During that time, knowing that public health was the lens that I see the world through, I started looking into options for a remote program, master's program, and decided that I would accept the offer from Johns Hopkins University to get my MPH from there. So I started that in 2020 and did that simultaneously with my role as a dean at the school and really, you know, loved that time. Like I loved being in school and learning and just being surrounded by a group of individuals who had that same mindset. And so I got the MPH in 2022, continued my work at the school. And even though I loved that, I felt strongly that I wanted to be on a different side of public health and to work more closely in that field. So I started pursuing options that would get me closer to that. And thankfully, there was a position that fit really well with what I was looking for at the Family Resource Network, which is where I work now as the director of public health programs. So Family Resource Network is a nonprofit in New Jersey. We serve individuals in all 21 counties, and our focus is really individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. So day to day, I'm doing a lot of work in the epilepsy space, in the autism space, and in the caregiving space. And the ability to kind of continue that thread of service that I think really began in undergrad has been a great opportunity for me. And then also just to think about how what we were just saying, that the need is right in our backyard. So I'm able to serve individuals in New Jersey with need, whether it be affording medication, enrolling for health insurance, connecting with doctors around a new diagnosis. It's just felt like a real blessing to be in this line of work that aligns so well with my experience and also with my passions.

Public Health Programs In IDD Care

Dr. H 35:39

Well, speaking of blessings, I feel very blessed to know you, to see the path that you've been on and to have been just a little bit of that path to help to where you get to be. While your your patients and families and peers are very fortunate to have you as part of the team or leading the team. That's that's fantastic. As you know, my master's and my doctorate are public health. So I've always loved being in the public health arena and have a great respect for people like yourself that are doing what you do day in and day out, probably doing a lot more with less all the time, says you probably don't have enough of the funding that you need to do the programs that you need to. That could be a whole other podcast. Olivia, reflecting back on your experiences, what would you say to the freshman or sophomore, or maybe even junior that is kind of on the fence right now about doing a service learning trip? They've they maybe they've never been out of the country, they don't know if if this is something that that is good for them. How would you convince that person about the value of doing a service learning trip?

Olivia 36:42

Yeah, I the value is so robust and so obvious to me on the other side. But I think that's because I was looking for something like this. It's it maybe it's not for everyone. And there has to be that reckoning, I think, as an individual about is this right for me? I mean, you are traveling to a new country, you're there's a ton that is out of your comfort zone. So I think it's important to have a realistic sort of conversation with yourself and with mentors about is this something that's right for me at this time? If those boxes are checked and you're like, yes, I want to do this, talk to people who have gone. Look into the resources that are available in the community. I think if it's something you know you want to do, you're going to see the benefit and the payout. You'll see it immediately, like the moment you set foot back on the, you know, in South Carolina or wherever you are, and then you'll see it years from now. Like the fact that we are having this conversation, I think is a testament to the benefit of the experience. It's just something that has so many layers of benefit if you are really engaged in it and if you're all in. So I think if if someone's feeling that way, like, you know what, I'm really interested in this. I'd like to learn more, just having those conversations and making the decision for themselves if it's what they want is their next step.

Dr. H 38:16

Well, that seed that was planted in you many, many years ago sure has blossomed, you know, to see where you're at and what you're doing. Now you're uh you're you're a great ambassador for international service learning. What if what if that same student doesn't speak Spanish and they're going to a Latin American country? Should that be a problematic uh issue?

Advice For Students Considering Service Trips

Olivia 38:35

I wouldn't let that be a barrier. That was my experience. So I did have the benefit of beginning Spanish language classes my sophomore year. I had taken some, you know, in like elementary school. I was a Latin student in high school, and that had great benefits, especially from a medical terminology standpoint. But no, I was not and am not able to speak the Spanish language with any fluidity. So don't let that be a barrier. In my experience, everyone was so accepting and so graceful in terms of my like language deficits there. And the benefit of working in a team is that there's often people who do have that skill set when you don't. So you're never on an island and leaning into the skills of your peers can be really helpful.

Dr. H 39:27

Just a couple more things, Olivia. Uh, one is reflections. I don't know if you recall that that I would encourage the students to diary and and and to reflect on their experiences. As a senior, you probably led them through some of those reflections. Can you speak to the to the reflections part, especially for an 18, 19-year-old, speaking about their feelings while they're in a foreign country?

Olivia 39:49

Yeah, I think the opportunity each night to reflect in journal was such a benefit. And to have that guidance from you and then from our leaders about the value of that was huge. You're you think that you're, you know, putting everything down in your head, but to put it down on paper is so much better. And then I can look back at those journals and say, wow, I was really impacted by this experience, or this is something I want to dig into a little bit more. So I that's a practice that I think is just a good idea in general, whether you're engaging in a week-long service program or you are thinking about a career move, or just always having that space to process is really, really important. But I I always appreciated those reflection times and then the opportunity when we came back to have those follow-up meetings and kind of debrief as a group. I thought that that served a similar purpose and gave a sense of closure, but also opportunities for next steps.

Dr. H 40:58

I've had a few of the people I've interviewed have actually pulled up their diaries and reflected on them. And they still kept them, which is great. One last thing, if you don't mind, uh and I didn't prepare you for this. One former student that I interviewed, she said, Can I share some books that I've read that people might like to hear about? So I've been asking everyone since. So are there any books? And again, I I didn't prepare for this. Are there any books that you've read recently or any medical or ethical books that you would recommend for the listeners that would help them to be in a better place?

Language Barriers And Team Interpreting

Olivia 41:36

Yeah, that's a great question. So, full disclosure, I'm like I have a six-month-old. So the books that I read lately are a bit more, well, fiction. Um, but let me think. I I I'll take a different approach to this question if that's okay, and go the podcast route.

Dr. H 41:56

Oh, there you go. No, yeah, they've offered podcasts before too. Yeah, that's really good.

Olivia 42:00

Okay, good. Yeah, that's a little bit more accessible for me right now. I love public health on call from Johns Hopkins. I think that's a really timely publication or podcast that offers both like local and global perspectives on public health issues. So if people are interested in a public health perspective, I really highly suggest that. I think that's probably my best recommendation for now. And one other, and it's a bit broader, but I really enjoyed like Duolingo for honing my Spanish skills. So if there are people who are interested in endeavoring into this type of experience, I found that even when I made an effort to speak the language, even if I knew I wasn't doing it very well, that was people were so gracious and so appreciative. So doing that sort of in my spare time has sort of been like reading, learning a new language type of thing.

Dr. H 43:04

Do you have to speak any Spanish at all in your in your present position?

Olivia 43:08

We have colleagues, I have colleagues at my agency who do speak Spanish. So we serve a large Spanish-speaking cohort. It would be amazing if I were fluent in Spanish, but thankfully I have colleagues who are able to manage that. But yeah, it's not, you don't need to go to another country just to have that be a really great skill. We're serving people in many different languages right here in New Jersey.

Journaling, Reflection, And Debrief

Dr. H 43:38

Well, Livia, it's been such a joy uh catching up with you, and I'm I'm really excited for where you're at in life. I'm really excited that that your path has been what it has been. You, you, you, you came in with the pre-med focus, you switched to PA, an opportunity in education came, you you went back to school, you worked on your degree in public health, and now you're working in that realm. I mean, that's that's just fantastic. I mean, uh I believe there's probably very few people that can say they're they're they're passionate about what they do. You know, some people may say, I I don't like going to work, I don't like my job, I don't like my boss, but here you've made this choice and you've gone down this path, and you're you're making a difference, a huge difference in the lives of patients and their families on a daily basis. And kudos to you for for your for your for your choices and what you're doing right now. Any any last words you want to share with us, Olivia, before we um before we end up?

Olivia 44:33

Just thank you so much for letting me speak on this podcast. It's such a great opportunity to reconnect and reminisce about the times that we had in Columbia. I'm so grateful to have had you as a mentor and to continue to have you as a mentor. And I hope that the people listening to this can benefit from this as well, just to know that you know there's so many opportunities to serve people, that that discernment about how they fit into that is really important, and that there's that opportunity to leave a legacy. So I think it's thank you for capturing all of that.

Dr. H 45:10

I was going to say I think that's a good point to end on that there are so many opportunities to serve. And you're exactly correct, because a lot of people can't afford to go on an international trip. But if they just look in their backyard, we can find areas to serve, we can find areas where where we can volunteer. And that's a perfect way to end this up. And and yes, it it does kind of sort of become our legacy, you know, what we do. I mean, at your age, at your young age, you're not thinking of legacy at my old age of 70. I'm probably reflecting more on life now than than normally. Um, and in my mind, I'm I'm wondering have I done enough? What more can I do? So so I do enjoy the opportunities to continue to serve and and to help because there is a great need. And I I again I do appreciate your time. Well, thank you so much, Olivia, again, and I look forward to keeping in touch.

Olivia 45:59

That sounds great. Thank you so much, and we'll talk soon.

Recommended Podcasts And Learning Spanish

Dr. H 46:03

I want to sincerely thank our guest, Olivia, for her willingness to join us today on the International Service Learning Experiential Medical Education podcast. But most importantly, I want to thank Olivia for the passion that she has shared with us, specific to her own unique journey in healthcare. As a public health practitioner, actively engaged in her community, Olivia has touched many lives of patients and their families and continues to pay it forward through her role as a director of public health programs.