Utano Public Health Chats Fiona Gambanga

In this episode we hear from Mrs. Soline Mugeni from Rwanda. 
Mrs. Mugeni holds a BSc in Microbiology and an MSc. in Community Health.She has 10+ years experience working in the health sector with INGOs and supporting governments in multiple areas such as community health, human resources for health, health financing, and most recently immunization. She is passionate about serving communities and making an impact.

Check out our conversation with Dr. Nkechi Olalere , the Special Advisor on Health Economics to the Honorable Minister of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone on her career journey.Dr. Nkechi has over 17 years’ experience in health insurance implementation, spanning private, public and development sectors. She is also passionate about digital health, sustainability of country health systems and strategic purchasing, especially provider payment reforms, several of which she led, successfully, in the private health insurance space.She recently served as the Executive Director of Strategic Purchasing Africa Resource Center (SPARC) and the chair of Africa Union’s Tracker sub-committee tasked with developing indicators and measures of progress for ‘More Health for the Money’.She is the chair of the Rapid Cycle Monitoring sub-group of Global Financing Facility’s Results Advisory Group.

In this episode we hear from Dr. Godfrey Musuka, an international Public and Evaluation Consultant, HIV/AIDS M&E and public health expert with over 25 years of experience.
We talked about:
Who is Dr Musuka? His background and how ended up working in public health.
Countries and areas he has worked in
Key career experiences that shaped his expertise
How many years’ experience does he have in the field?
What has changed and what has stayed the same?
What does Dr. Musuka call himself?
How did Dr Musuka end up studying Veterinary medicine? And how did he end up pivoting into public health more specifically?
A run through of Dr. Musuka’s key career experiences, where they led him, and what he worked on
Does he find that all his experiences and trainings have connected or intersected over time?
Was One Health a thing back in the day?
What was his approach for the different opportunities in his career? Did he plan it out?
The importance of being open and being willing to try new projects and challenges (even if you fail!)
What is Dr. Musuka working on now? -Highlights of current and recently completed projects
Working with different stakeholders at different levels as your career grows
What working with and in different countries looks like and key things to keep in mind to ensure success
Different key people Dr. Musuka has worked with that have been influential and key in his growth and development
Always reach out and ask questions so you can listen and learn
The importance of relationships and having people who can hold you accountable
Different people can help you in your career and that includes your family and your children
Another BRTI guest on the show! Making the connection
How many degrees does Dr Musuka have?
The importance of continual learning and what that looks like for Dr Musuka
Public health can have people from different areas and backgrounds in training and still eg Accountants and Economists
How does Dr Musuka define Public Health?
Public health as a broad, inclusive and evolving field
Key challenges and issues that Dr Musuka has seen in the field with all his experiences
Words of wisdom to young people out there regarding career success

Check out our season finale with Dr. Constancia Mavodza , a global and public health (process evaluation) practitioner, with experience in coordination, implementing and evaluating public health projects focusing on HIV/AIDS, SRHR, human resources for health, and AGYW.

Who is Chrystal and what does she do? 
What led Chrystal to the work she does today?
What Chrystal studied at the undergraduate level and how that led her to public health work 
Chrystal’s decision to pursue a Master of Public Health degree (MPH) and what she is focusing on in her program as she is pursuing it (Community Health)
Why Chrystal chose to do the online option for her MPH degree
A day in the life of Chrystal and her roles 
Dzidzo safepad initiative: what its about, what motivated it and what work goes into it 
Where funding and support for Dzidzo Safepad comes from 
Global Changemakers and their support for Dzidzo safepad-https://www.global-changemakers.net/ 
How long does each pad last?
How they target and decide which schools to work with 
What Chrystal enjoys and loves about working on Dzidzo Safepad 
Chrystal’s role as a Her Voice ambassador through the Global Fund
How Chrystal defines public health for herself 
Importance of equity and inclusivity in public health work and interventions
Word to the wise- advice for young people and people looking to enter the field
Resources and links:
*https://twitter.com/dzidzo_safepad 
*https://www.instagram.com/dzidzo_safepad/ 
* The ecocash number for Dzidzo Safepad donations is +263 772935923  

In this episode our guest is Sandra Isano a Rwandan pharmacist, Lecturer, and Coordinator for Community Based Education in the Department of Community Health, and Social Medicine at the University of Global Health Equity with over 10 years of experience in the field. 
 
We talked about:
Sandra’s background and the work she does now and where she works 
Where Sandra’s journey in public health started, and what she wanted to be when she was younger
How working as a community pharmacist got her interested in patients beyond the treatment and medication they were coming to seek 
Her work as a fellow with Global Health Corps 
Rwanda’s High School pathway and where people choose to specialize 
Which one’s are the community pharmacies?
How and why pharmacies serve as a first line of care and health service delivery 
How capacity building at pharmacies can be an additional solution in provided primary care
How pharmacy, GHC fellowship and now her current work as a lecturer doing community community research all inspire and motivate her interests
What her current work at UGHE looks like and includes 
Teaching, research and community service 
Highlights of some of Sandra’s research projects and outcomes from them 
Sandra’s PhD project, and what motivated her to study for a PhD a focus on teen mothers at refugee camps in Rwanda, and what questions and information she will be looking into 
Sandra’s favorite thing about working in public health 
How Sandra defines public health 
Sandra’s least favorite thing about working in public health 
Words of advice to those starting out in the public health field and their careers
Love as a public health intervention and the social ecological model! 
https://ghcorps.org/ -Global Health Corps website
https://ughe.org/ -University of Global Health Equity website
https://ur.ac.rw/- University of Rwanda website