In this final episode of the season, we bid farewell to student hosts Anya and Radha. They share their experiences as grad students in epidemiology and plans for the future, as well as highlights and favorite memories from their time as podcasters sitting in “the front row.”

Lauren Lavin:

Hello, everybody. And welcome back to From the Front Row. It’s that time of year again when we say goodbye to the graduating members of the podcast team. Today, I’m excited to celebrate two more of our graduating From the Front Row host, Anya and Radha. Both are graduating with their master of public health and epidemiology. Both of them have made substantial contributions to this podcast. I’m Lauren Lavin, and if it’s your first time with us, welcome. We’re a student-run podcast that talks about major health issues in public health and how they’re relevant to anyone, both in and outside of the field of public health. Welcome to the show, Anya and Radha.

Radha Velamuri:

It’s good to be back.

Lauren Lavin:

So I think the first thing we’re going to talk about is why did both of you choose to pursue a graduate degree in general? And then why did you choose Iowa for that?

Radha Velamuri:

I can go first. I chose to pursue a graduate degree, so I could be on the From the Front Row podcast team here at the University of Iowa College of Public Health. No, I’m kidding. Well, I mean, it was a really good thing that I joined, but I decided to pursue a graduate degree kind of like everyone else, I think. And when I talked to people, the pandemic really pushed us into public health. And I’m going to medical school, fun fact, in the fall, and I thought there’s a lot of times people come by in like MD MPH programs or things like that, but I thought I might as well get the MPH first and go into my medical degree with that foundation.

I had the opportunity to do the undergrad to grad program, where you save a little bit of money, save a little bit of time while doing your master’s, while finishing up your undergrad. So that’s why I chose to do a graduate degree, the MPH before. And then, epidemiology just seemed the most interesting to me. I mean, I think all of them are very interesting, an important community, behavioral health, occupational environmental health. They’re all really relevant. But I think epidemiology was one that I think could be applied all throughout public health. It doesn’t have a specific field that it correlates with. It just can be applied to any sort of practice.

Lauren Lavin:

And so now it’s safe to say that you’re not done with school, you’re just transitioning to a new type. Why did you decide to go to med school?

Radha Velamuri:

Why not? You know, why not? Might as well go to school forever. But no, way back when I wanted to be an engineer, but then I decided to make prosthetics. And then I joined a research lab, and then I was like, might as well do research for the rest of my life. And then I was like, what is something that I can do where I actually interact with people and I also really like teaching and when you’re a doctor, you’re counseling. So I was like, okay, let’s combine all of it and go to med school and become a doctor. I thought that’d be fun.

Lauren Lavin:

I love that. That’s great. So then, Anya? What about you?

Anya Morozov:

So I kind of had the opposite path as Radha. I actually first wanted to be a doctor and then looked at the amount of school I was going to have to do and a lot of other factors, and decided that it was maybe not the path for me. Around the same time, things like the pandemic were happening. I got the opportunity to work in a pretty public health focused lab, and that really was the first queue that public health was a thing that existed for me. And read this book called Mountains Beyond Mountains about Paul Farmer. And that was also really influential.

And just all these things kind of taught me about the world of public health. And made me realize that that was something that I wanted to go into and explore before I decided whether or not to do medicine. And then as I’ve kind of gone through the degree, I’ve kind of really taken to the governmental side of public health and decided to go that route.

I chose epidemiology because my undergrad degree was actually in biochemistry, and so epidemiology seemed like a nice fit there. It’s also, I feel like, a good combination of a lot of the disciplines. You get a little biostats, you get a little community and behavioral health and kind of try to tie everything together. So that was my path.

And then why Iowa? A lot of reasons. It was kind of, my mom had moved to Iowa while I was pursuing my undergrad degree in Nebraska. And so in terms of affordability, it was kind of a choice between Iowa and Nebraska. And as I was learning more about Iowa, I learned a lot about just the community that I felt like was here. I feel like the students, you really do get kind of a cohort feel and you get to know a lot of your peers. I did listen to the podcast and was a fan before I came to Iowa. And that was also part of my reasoning, was like, well, if a school can get folks together to do a podcast, it’s probably a pretty thriving student community. So yeah, that was kind of why I chose Iowa specifically.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, I love that you listened to the podcast before you even came, and then you’re the producer and you’ve led it well.

Anya Morozov:

True fan.

Lauren Lavin:

Okay, so looking back over grad school, what was your favorite memory? Are there any good ones? You got to help the students out who are thinking about coming.

Radha Velamuri:

That’s a hard question. Anya, do you want to go first? Do you have anything-

Anya Morozov:

No good memory.

Radha Velamuri:

I’m not saying there’s no good things. That’s not what I’m trying to say. It’s hard to pick a favorite.

Anya Morozov:

Yeah, I-

Lauren Lavin:

It’s a lot of work.

Anya Morozov:

I agree. I didn’t pick one. I wrote a list of a few. And I think especially, honestly the past few months, there’s been a lot of really good memories. It’s kind of bittersweet that the program goes by so fast because I feel like there’s a lot of people in my classes and stuff that I just got to know in the past few months. And we went through the applied practice experience and capstone and poster sessions and things together. And just the experience of having classmates that we’ve spent so many nights in a computer lab, trying to get assignments done and getting to know each other. That’s been really fun. We took graduation photos yesterday. That was a good memory. But other than that, I guess going to APHA in Boston was pretty cool. Yeah, it’s hard to pick just one.

Radha Velamuri:

Yeah, I think I’m going to also go with going to the American Public Health Association conference in Boston as my favorite memory, maybe. It was just so, it was fun. It was exciting to see the world of, combination of research and practice and all of that going on in this huge setting in a big city. We’re Iowa folk. We don’t, or at least I’m hardcore Iowan, grew up here, and I don’t know too much about the big city.

It was my first time going to the East Coast, really. I mean, going to Boston, I’ve never been to some of those big places. So it was a lot. It was really interesting. And it was kind of a peek into the future where you get to see all the unpublished public health stuff and the goals people have, big dreams. That’s the whole point of going to these conferences. So yeah, I’d say going to a conference. That was a fun time. Would recommend.

Lauren Lavin:

I know, I’m trying to figure out how I can go to that next year because so many people have talked so highly about the APHA. Is that what it is?

Radha Velamuri:

Mm-mm.

Lauren Lavin:

Conference.

Anya Morozov:

Would recommend.

Lauren Lavin:

So noted.

Anya Morozov:

Plus it’s in Atlanta next year.

Lauren Lavin:

Which is the home of Coca-Cola, and I am a die hard diet Coke drinker. And so that just seems like it could be a coming home.

Anya Morozov:

Yeah.

Radha Velamuri:

Yes. Go for the Coke, stay for the public health.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, sounds right. I don’t know if those two things really go together, but we’ll pretend that they do. So how long have you guys each been involved with the podcast and what initially drew your interest?

Radha Velamuri:

Well, we joined at the same time, didn’t we Anya?

Anya Morozov:

We did, yep.

Radha Velamuri:

We both applied at the beginning of our first year as public health students, and we stayed on board I guess, for two years. And then Anya became a big shot, becoming the lead producer. I stayed my own little podcast host on the side, but Anya became the big deal.

Anya Morozov:

You’re a big deal too, Radha. Your picture’s-

Radha Velamuri:

This is just turning into us hyping each other-

Anya Morozov:

In the College of Public Health.

Radha Velamuri:

We’re just hyping each other up now.

Anya Morozov:

Yeah.

Lauren Lavin:

Sometimes that’s all we need.

Anya Morozov:

I’ll also say I actually, like I said, I was a fan of the podcast before it was cool. No, but before coming to the university. And so I actually met Alexis Clark, the previous producer, at a graduate student hangout event to learn more about Iowa before deciding to come here. And then that summer, I think I messaged her on LinkedIn and I was like, “Hey, I decided I’m coming to Iowa and I’m starting there in the fall, and I’m wondering how to get involved in the podcast?” and she was like, “You have to be a grad ambassador first.” And so that’s how I applied in the fall.

Radha Velamuri:

We made it work. We made your dream come true. That’s what happens at the University of Iowa College of Public Health. We make dreams come true.

Lauren Lavin:

Do you have a favorite episode either of you, that you’ve been a part of?

Radha Velamuri:

All of my episodes that I’ve ever hosted have been my favorite, if I’m going to be honest. But there’s two memorable ones I think, that stick out. The first one that I hosted by myself was terrifying because it was me, hosting an episode with three people on rural health. And I don’t know, it was just scary because it was three people. I didn’t know any of them because sometimes we try to interview people, maybe we’ve had a connection with or something like that. But that was really memorable.

And then I think my most favorite would have to be the one that I did with Garrett and Austin on a spatial geography and public health mapping because I thought it was super interesting. It’s something that’s really applicable in the future. Mapping is super important. And I ended up applying some of those concepts into my practicum experience, so it was a good time.

Do you have a favorite episode, Anya?

Anya Morozov:

So I was thinking about it, and there’s a lot of really good episodes. I think one that sticks out is the episode that Radha and I hosted recently on period poverty. And that was with Jada McDonald and a few other folks with the Women’s Resource Action Center. And I think I liked that episode because it talked about an issue that’s relevant to the university and efforts that folks in the College of Public Health are making to try to address the issue. And they also, they were coming from a student perspective and they had some really good lessons on activism and how it can be just small things. It doesn’t always have to be these really big grand gestures to still make a positive impact. And so I just thought that episode had a lot of really good lessons and it was just cool that it was such a topical thing right here at the University of Iowa.

Lauren Lavin:

So obviously, Radha, you said that it’s kind of helped you academically, so it helped you gain a skill that you didn’t have before. But has it helped you grow personally or have you noticed any personal development as a result of being a part of this podcast?

Radha Velamuri:

I’ve gotten better at talking to strangers. Not that I wasn’t too bad at that before. I’m really good at talking to strangers, apparently. I got more exposed to different areas of public health that I would not have otherwise because when I’m in epidemiology, I’m more focused on, like I said, it’s a broad field, but I’m more focused on the data behind studies or more research, stuff like that. But then when I was talking to a hospital epidemiologist, I learned about different surveys that are done in the hospital setting. And then when I talked to the rural environmental health people, they were talking about how farming is such a big deal and how the public health data needs to support the, say farming practices. And period poverty, we talked about how that’s a big deal on campus, but also for homeless people and also for schools and things like that. And it was just very eyeopening to a lot of different areas of public health I might not have originally had exposure to.

Anya Morozov:

The whole talking to people thing reminds me, because I do feel like you’re a lot better at talking to strangers than I am. And I remember there was an episode we were going to do with Dr. Williams when he came from Harvard University to the College of Public Health. And I had been planning for this episode for a few weeks, and the original co-host at the last minute, had something come up and could no longer co-host.

And so I had spent so much time learning about just how much amazing work that Dr. Williams has done in the field of health disparities research. And I was a little bit nervous, and then I was like, “Radha, can you fill in as co-host?” And you just walked into that room and you were so just chill and confident. And I think that episode went a lot more smoothly because you were there.

Radha Velamuri:

I think it takes two different types of people. You were prepared, you knew what to do. We learned about collaboration. You know what to do. You were prepared. You had a script. You were dressed up. I showed up in a sweatshirt, and I mean, granted, I wasn’t expecting to host an episode, but I was wearing a sweatshirt and I walked in and I was just like, “Hi, nice to meet you”. And then we just talked and it was great. It was an engaging conversation, and I think we both brought a lot of good things to the table that day. But we learned about collaboration. Just this whole podcast was a learning experience. I’m being so cheesy right now, but it’s true.

Lauren Lavin:

That’s what graduation and the end, looking back is for. But I also think you made a good point about the wide breadth of public health topics that being on this podcast or listening to it, if you’re a listener, can expose you to, that you might not know existed if you just stayed in your field. [inaudible 00:15:00].

Radha Velamuri:

Benefit of podcasts in general, or specifically this one. This is very good at exposing you to a lot of different areas of public health.

Lauren Lavin:

And hopefully we can continue that in the future.

Radha Velamuri:

Yeah, we will, Lauren.

Lauren Lavin:

What advice would you give students who are interested in pursuing a degree from the University of Iowa College of Public Health?

Radha Velamuri:

Reach out. Everyone’s pretty friendly here. If you want to talk to a student, you could talk to me. You could. I am willing to share. This is Radha. You can find my email, probably anywhere. I could talk to you. You can talk to anyone in admissions. They’re pretty chill. Everyone’s open to talking, basically, if you have any questions. I haven’t met anyone who has been like, “No, go away.” So I think that’s a good sign.

Anya Morozov:

Yeah, yeah. Reach out and ask for help when you need it, because people generally are pretty understanding about that. So if you need help, just reach out. And there will probably be someone who is available to help. I’d also say just try to get involved, because the two-year programs especially, go by fast as we well know. There are times where I had my plate very full and it was difficult. But looking back, I am glad that I’ve had the experiences that I’ve had throughout the degree. Just get involved and join the podcast.

Radha Velamuri:

Only reason you should come to the University of Iowa College of Public Health is to join this podcast.

Lauren Lavin:

I don’t think anyone ever regrets good new experiences. So I think being involved is really important, and that’s how you make new friends. And some of these people will last you a lifetime, whether it’s a professional kind of relationship with them in the future, or friends.

Anya Morozov:

That’s something too, is get to know your classmates. I feel like a lot of learning has happened from instructors in the classroom, but you also learn a lot just from your peers because we all bring such different experiences. And one person might be really good at, R, and another person might be really good at making logic models, and so learn from each other.

Radha Velamuri:

And it’s different from undergrad because when a lot of people are in undergrad, you mostly have traditional students, who come in straight out of high school and you’re all taking classes with people in your major or you’re meeting up with strangers. It’s a chaotic experience, but I’d say it’s relatively standard. But then for this Masters of Public Health, everyone I met came from a different background. People came from all over. More people came from all over the country or internationally even. We had this whole applied practice experience class where I was put with a med student, I was put with a pharmacy student who was getting her master’s. There were veterinary students getting their masters. There were all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds trying to get this education. And so, you learn a lot from the people, in addition to the coursework.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, I think it is a different experience just because you have so many different backgrounds that are all coming together, and as such, it’s really valuable. So take advantage of that. Do you have any advice for future podcast members who might be listening?

Radha Velamuri:

Give it a try. You can have stage fright and still do it. I had stage fright and I still did it. So it’s fun.

Anya Morozov:

It really is a great experience and it really does build your network a lot.

Radha Velamuri:

Yeah, Anya knows everyone.

Anya Morozov:

Especially if you’re a producer, you kind of got to keep tabs on what’s going on so you can reach out to people for future episodes. And that’s really exciting. And you have a really good excuse to just cold email people you want to talk to. So yeah, join the podcast.

Radha Velamuri:

Yeah, it helps you stay connected with what’s going on in public health because when we have our podcast meetings, sometimes Anya will be like, “Okay, so we just had this event at the Capitol, so now we’re going to talk to someone about this.” Or, “This 40 under 40 came out and now we’re going to talk to people on this list.” And so it’s good to keep in touch with the world with this podcast. And then also, I don’t know, it was just really beneficial for public speaking. You become a bit more responsible since you’re hosting a meeting with someone and trying to ask questions about their life. You would have a conversation. I think it’s a good experience for anyone. You don’t have to be super outgoing or anything like that.

Lauren Lavin:

We meet you where you’re at. Let’s wrap this up. So you graduated last week.

Anya Morozov:

Woo.

Lauren Lavin:

I want to hear what’s next?

Radha Velamuri:

I already said, I’m going to med school. I’m going to the Carver College of Medicine in the fall. Carver, not Harvard. I’m not that cool. I’ve told someone of that once and they’re like, “You’re going to Harvard?” and I was like, “I wish.” No, I’m kidding. I really wanted to stay in Iowa, so it’s my home. So I wanted to stay here. So I’m going to be here for a lot more time.

Lauren Lavin:

Go Hawks.

Radha Velamuri:

Go Hawks.

Anya Morozov:

I actually got, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists has this applied epidemiology fellowship, and it’s something I had been eyeing to apply to for a long time. And then finally, went through the application process, and now I’ve come out on the other side, and I’m actually going to be going to Lansing, Michigan to work at their State Health and Human Services focusing on substance use and environmental health epidemiology. So I’m very excited.

Lauren Lavin:

Well, that’s lovely. And the final question, which you’ve been asking people for two years, and now I get to ask you is, what is one thing that you thought you knew but were later wrong about?

Radha Velamuri:

I never knew how to answer this question, so I was always glad to be on the asking end of it. Now, I hate to be on the receiving end.

Anya Morozov:

I’ve wanted to say something really, really, I don’t know.

Radha Velamuri:

Profound.

Anya Morozov:

Yes, profound. That’s the word I’m looking for, but it’s hard when you’re actually faced with the question. What’s a very profound answer to this? I’ll say that there’s a lot of things, but one that’s come to mind kind of recently is, like I said, I used to be wanting to go into medicine and I was on that pre-med train where you feel like you have to do everything and then some, to be successful, to go through the application process. And so I kind of had this mentality of I had to spend every waking moment doing school or doing something that was bolstering a resume or something.

And more recently, I’ve finally kind of learned to enjoy life a little more, and I’m still successful. And so that’s been kind of a lesson for me is, yes, school is important, but there is more to life than school. And so make sure that along the way, you’re also taking time to spend time with friends, going on that trip every once in a while and just take some time to smell the roses.

Radha Velamuri:

That’s so wholesome. What is one thing I thought I knew but were late wrong about? I thought I would know what I wanted in life by now. I’m 22 years old. I thought I would know exactly what career I wanted to have, what role I wanted to play, what I wanted to do with my degrees. Apparently, I have multiple degrees now and I still don’t know exactly how to apply it, and I’m getting another one. So I’m still trying to figure out how to combine. I want it all to mesh together. I’ve always been, growing up when you apply to college or you apply to med school, you apply to grad school, you’re always, they want to know what you want to do with it. And I’ve always been like, I want to be a clinical researcher, or I want to be a physician who does public health research, or when I was in high school, I wanted to build prosthetics. I was like, I’m going to develop bionic eyes so that everyone can see everything all the time.

But that’s not necessarily the case. That vision has changed. Basically, every single time someone has asked me what I wanted to do. Even now, people are asking me what specialty I want to go into as a physician. And I think I’ve gotten more comfortable saying, I don’t know, which is kind of nice. I thought I would know what I wanted by now, and I’m realizing it’s okay to not necessarily know. I mean, heck, the average American changes their job like five to seven times or something like that, that I don’t know. That’s a lot of times changing jobs, but has multiple jobs in your lifetime. It might not be the one you wanted initially, but you’ll get there someday. And that’s the faith that I have. The effort that I’m putting in now will pay off in the future and that I’ll have a job that I really want, that I’m excited to go to every day.

Lauren Lavin:

I love that.

Radha Velamuri:

Thank you.

Lauren Lavin:

So with that, I think that’s a wrap.

Radha Velamuri:

Bye. Good riddance. No, I’m kidding. No, just, this was a fun time on the podcast. Thank you for listening. If any of you listeners are listening to this, thank you for listening to my podcast in the past and for this now. I really appreciate it.

Anya Morozov:

Yes, thank you very much. Appreciate all the listeners and just the opportunity that this has been.

Lauren Lavin:

That’s it for episode this week. Big thanks to Anya and Radha for joining us today. This episode was hosted and written by Lauren Lavin and edited and produced by Lauren Lavin. You can learn more about the University of Iowa College of Public Health on Facebook. Our podcast is available on Spotify, Apple podcast and SoundCloud. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help support the podcast, please share it with your colleagues, friends, or anyone interested in public health. Have a suggestion for our team? You can reach us at CPH-gradambassador@uiowa.edu. This episode is brought to you by the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Until next week, stay healthy, stay curious, and take care.