Berenbaum to Coordinate Global Health

They say that when man (or woman) makes plans, God laughs. Visiting Lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology Pam Berenbaum started her academic career thinking she would end up a clinical psychologist, a far cry from where she ended up in the field of public health.

“So many of the patients really had public health problems,” Berenbaum said. “They were victims of domestic violence, or they had a sick child and they had no health insurance. And I realized I was so much more interested in working on the structural problems.”

Inspired by her epiphany, Berenbaum then matriculated to the Harvard School of Public Health where she earned her Masters of Science in Health Policy and Management. Her first job after this program was a health economics research position at Harvard Medical School.

Soon after, Berenbaum began working for the lead statistician at a survey research firm in Burlington that the government contracted for public health surveys.  After a year there, Berenbaum moved to a job in the Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Unit at the Vermont Department of Health.  The work there was “more closely tied to the public health topics that I found really exciting,” Berenbaum said.

“I loved epidemiology in my Masters program, so I was excited to do that,” Berenbaum said. “We did all the food-borne stuff, influenza surveillance, vector-borne diseases … for the whole state of Vermont.

After ten years at the Department of Health, “I had developed a surveillance system for hospital emergency departments that was really quite mature and served our purposes really well,” Berenbaum said, “and I was getting bored, frankly.  I had done what I could do, and when you’re grant funded, your hands are tied in many ways…you’re not allowed to be that creative.”

Berenbaum began teaching at the College in J-term of 2010, having found out from a colleague that anyone can apply to teach a J-term class.
She then taught during J-term for three years, starting with Introduction to Public Health Policy and later developing the Disaster Public Health class.  In the Fall of 2012, when Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology and Director of the Global Health Minor Svea Closser went on leave, Berenbaum taught the Global Health class.

Starting in January of 2015, Berenbaum will serve as the Coordinator of Global Health Programs. Through her new role, Berenbaum hopes to expand the program to encompass even more disciplines and to bring awareness among faculty members of how their coursework relates to the study of health.

“Global health is the ultimate interdisciplinary field,” Berenbaum said. Only a couple of classes are unique to the minor, including the signature Global Health class, which is required of all minors, and the Introduction to Public Health Policy class. All electives that count towards the minor come from other departments including economics, geography, history, environmental studies and biology. Additionally, students are required to take a methods course in statistics, GIS, or ethnography.

Berenbaum envisions adding a capstone class to the requirements for the minor, which would tie together said the content from the students’ electives. She also emphasized the need for more sections of the core Global Health class, since the demand far exceeds its supply.

The course also serves as the “gateway class” for the minor, so Berenbaum would like to have spots available for underclassmen so they can decide early if they want to pursue the minor and plan out their coursework.

However, Global Health will likely be the only class Berenbaum will be teaching in the foreseeable future, as she emphasizes that her new job is primarily a staff position. She wants to work to get the faculty  more involved in the program and also promote collaboration with the Center for Careers and Internships (CCI).

“I want global health students to have opportunities to find internships and jobs in the field because it’s such a broad field with tons of different job offerings,” she said. Berenbaum mentioned her desire to offer more pre-professional guidance to students wishing to enter the field.

“It’s not the type of career path where you know what you’re getting into,” Berenbaum said. However, she’d like to help students get on the path they want within public and global health.

“There are many students who have graduated who I’m in touch with still and who I’ve helped get jobs, and that’s really gratifying,” she said.
Many students undertaking the Global Health minor are grateful Berenbaum is staying onboard.

“One of my favorite things about [Berenbaum] is the resources she brings to the table with all her professional experience in so many different forms of public health,” Anna Dennis ’17.5 said. Dennis came to Middlebury thinking that she might be interested in public health, and Berenbaum’s Introduction to Public Health Policy reaffirmed her interest both on an academic and professional level.

“I love teaching … and I love the students,” Berenbaum said.  “Every semester I’m like, ‘I would adopt all of you.’”