Public Health Practicum:
MPH student Aly Pearce

Registered Nurse Aly Pearce had several years’ experience in intensive care units, when she felt the urge to stretch herself through further learning. Her most recent activities in the workplace had led to her involvement in clinical quality registries associated with critically ill patients, which had sparked an interest in health that went beyond the traditional carer-patient model. She was still interested in health, but on a larger scale.

“Public health looks at health in the context of communities or large groups of people,” she explains. “It asks questions like 'how can we prevent people from becoming ill in the first place?’', and 'if people are ill, what are the most effective and affordable ways to treat them?’'. I liked that approach, so I enrolled in a Master of Public Health at Monash.”

During her studies, Aly opted to undertake an immersive placement subject to put her newly-learnt theories into practice. One particular project on offer caught her eye.

Victoria’s health promotion foundation – VicHealth – were working with Monash and other universities to lead student-driven campaigns to discourage vaping on campuses. A recent survey of more than 1,000 Monash University students had shown that 26.9 per cent of students had used e-cigarettes, with 7.7 per cent reporting daily use. This was despite the many risks associated with vapes, such as the very real possibility of toxic ingredients like paint stripper and weed killer, and their overall addictive qualities.

Associate Professor Chris Barton from Monash’s Department of General Practice had united with public health nutrition lecturer Holly Wild, and the University Health Service, to spearhead delivery of the campaign at Monash. Aly was delighted when her application to assist was accepted.

She took on the role of student lead to create a series of health promotion resources tackling the issue of vaping, managing a team of six other students that were taking part.

“Chris and Holly gave me just the right amount of autonomy to stretch my wings and show leadership, but were always there to guide and support me through new territory. And there was plenty of new territory for me!

“In my nursing work my professional relationships are largely with the patients and their families, and people in my immediate team. Now I was in a role where I was working with a range of external stakeholders that I didn’t really know, including students, student groups, a busy health service, student support services like Monash Sport and Residential Services, and Melbourne’s South East Public Health Unit (SEPHU). Incorporating their diverse views and needs in a way that’s constructive and balanced was a fantastic learning experience.”

The project served as a masterclass in time and budget management. She coordinated focus groups with students to gather their experiences, undertook background research into vaping, and attended numerous stakeholder meetings.

With videos being the project's primary output, Aly also expanded her project management experience into collaborating with a professional videographer as they helped film and edit the products.

“I got to learn so much about project management, contractor management, and research, and about my own abilities to take part in that. I was able to apply my problem-solving abilities, and identify my strengths in driving consensus among diverse interest groups.

“In addition to all of that, it was an incredible opportunity to grow my job network. Study gets you the knowledge – your network gets you the job. I made some brilliant connections with fellow students, researchers, healthcare workers and public health planners.

You can read more about Aly’s project, along with her winning video submission here.