#UMNMCH student Monica Marcial Gutierrez, MPH 2024, wrote this reflection on how her experiences as a WIC nutritionist inspired her to pursue her Master’s in MCH and to become an executive board member of the Maternal and Child Health Student Interest Group (MCHSIG).
Background
I began to consider a career in public health after joining the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) of Delaware as a WIC Nutritionist. While I previously did not have experience working with MCH populations, I embraced the opportunity. I found maternal and child nutrition to be equally fascinating and vitally important for public health. Working with low-income MCH populations in the Delaware WIC Program inspired me to join the Maternal and Child Health MPH program at the University of Minnesota. Through UMN’s MCH program, I have gained an important understanding of the interaction between our systems and our personal circumstances that impact health. Joining UMN’s MCH program has given me the opportunity to participate as an executive board member for MCHSIG. This position allowed me to connect with the University and other passionate public health students interested in MCH. My experiences as a distance learner graduate student and my work with MCHIG have reinforced my passion for MCH nutrition and health outreach as I build my career as an MCH public health professional.
Interdisciplinary and Interprofessional Team Building in the Delaware WIC Program
As a WIC Nutritionist in Delaware, I regularly provide nutrition education and counseling services to WIC participants and connect them to services for other health and personal needs. Through my work with the WIC Program, I have witnessed health obstacles posed by low socioeconomic status (SES) and how these can impact birth and health outcomes. While my role is typically very individual, it has allowed me to identify obstacles in health care availability, nutrition education, and social services experienced by low-income participants.
Through the Delaware WIC Program, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in an ongoing Quality Improvement Project with the Delaware Division of Public Health to improve lead screening and follow-up for WIC participants. Lead screening in Delaware was greatly impacted by COVID-19, with a nearly 40% reduction in lead screening in children ages 0 to 72 months from 2019 to 2020. According to Delaware’s latest Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance report, these numbers improved in 2021 and 2022 but have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. In an effort to improve these screening numbers, the DE WIC Program, along with Delaware’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, our state public health clinics, and other state partners and administrators, are currently in partnership to evaluate the current process of lead screening for WIC participants to make improvements and work towards solutions that increase access to these services long-term. The skills and knowledge I’ve gained from being an MCH student have been valuable to my participation in this project. The use of effective communication and negotiation skills is particularly vital in coming up with solutions across disciplines and balancing a variety of opinions and ideas in a careful and respectful manner. While this project is ongoing and expected to end in October 2023, I am looking forward to how I can continue to use my MCH expertise and skills to benefit child populations in Delaware.
Leadership and Knowledge-building with UMN’s MCHSIG
Being a part of the executive board of UMN’s MCHSIG has been an incredibly rewarding experience as a distance learner graduate student. MCHSIG aims to provide additional educational and support activities for students interested in MCH, with many of these activities shifting to a virtual format after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Being involved in this student group has helped me feel like a member of the university community, even from my home state of Delaware. I have been involved in the planning of several academic and social events in my time with MCHSIG, including virtual documentary screening, and several panel events.
This experience has nurtured my curiosity as a student by providing me with a space to help educate others and discuss public health topics with other students. It also allows me the opportunity to expand my knowledge base with the rest of my peers. In building my knowledge base, my participation in MCHSIG has also opened me to the possibility of moving beyond nutrition in MCH public health and has helped me narrow down my interests and potential career paths in the future. I am now aware that while I enjoy individualized care, I am more invested in wider-reaching interventions to address complex health issues. MCHIG also provides a social space for MCH students, offering executive board members opportunities to help students navigate graduate student life and discover their professional interests within the field of MCH. Being part of the enrichment of other students’ educational experiences has been incredibly fulfilling. My hope is that these efforts supplement students’ professional development and skills as they move into their future careers as MCH public health professionals.
Biography
Monica is a second-year MCH MPH student. Monica received her BS from the University of Delaware in 2016.
References:
Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. (2022a). Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance in Delaware—FY 2021. Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/hsp/files/desurveillancerpt.pdf
Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. (2022b). Childhood Blood Lead Surveillance In Delaware—FY 2022. Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. https://dhss.delaware.gov/dph/hsp/files/Childhood_Blood_Lead_Surveillance_in_DE_2022_Annual_Report.pdf
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