Lisa Wyman
“Take your time with your program. Enjoy your doctoral degree. Learn more. Think outside of your department what other learning opportunities are available to you.”
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Epidemiology, PhD 2012
Manager at Oregon Health Authority
Lisa‘s Podcast Episode
In this episode, we discuss what sparked Lisa’s interest in public health and what led her to pursue a PhD in epidemiology, her experiences working in state government and the fulfillment she derives from being on the front lines of public health, and her advice for getting your feet wet and taking advantage of different learning opportunities during your doctoral studies to help prepare you for your future career.
Learn More About Lisa‘s Story
This was taken at Yellowstone National Park the summer of 2003 when I interned with the Wyoming Department of Health. It was a magical summer seeing all the scenery in the state while being introduced to the world of state health departments. Wyoming would be the first of four state health departments for which I would work (Wyoming, Utah, Texas, and Oregon). I was just an intern completing my MPH practicum at the University of Michigan, but was able to travel to all the national parks to distribute West Nile educational materials. It was a busy summer with everything from foodborne outbreaks to syndromic surveillance to influenza surveys. The internship really gave me a taste of state health department work and a year later, after I graduated with my MPH, I moved to Salt Lake City to work with the Utah Department of Health.
This image represents the transition I made from individual contributor to leadership roles in state health departments. When you move into leadership roles, it stops being about you and starts being about your team instead. Success stops being about competition and shifts to contribution. My goal is to advocate for my team and make sure they all have what they need to succeed. It is not about what you need as an individual any longer. What my team needs is what matters. I have always aimed to ensure my teams are calm, healthy, and organized.
