Saskia Vos, MPH, Finds Inspiration in Germany  

This past spring, Saskia Vos, MPH, a Ph.D. in Prevention Science and Community Health candidate at the Miller School, traveled to Hildesheim, Germany where she guest lectured a three-day class for graduate students at the University of Hildesheim. The experience inspired her to decide on a topic for her dissertation.

“It was a three-day course that consisted of two weekends, so Saturday to Sunday and then the following Saturday. Planning for it really forced me to sit down and think about how I could explain my entire field in three days, as well as to make sure that the content was relatable to the students,” Vos said.

When the opportunity unexpectedly arose, the University of Miami Graduate School provided her with the Graduate Student Travel Scholarship, which enabled her to partake in the experience. Vos, who studied German as an undergraduate at Clemson University and earned a Master of Public Health degree from Louisiana State University, focused the course on designing intervention initiatives to target critical public health problems.

There were 18 students from the health psychology graduate program who enrolled in the course, which she titled, "Introduction to Prevention Science and Intervention Development".

The process of planning for it and teaching to a group of graduate students ultimately led Vos to reflect and decide on her dissertation topic. Now in her third year in the Ph.D. program, she is focusing her dissertation on Venezuelan refugees in Miami and on the mental health effects that are associated with acculturation. She is currently working with Seth Schwartz, Ph.D., professor of public health, as they just received a grant to support the project.

Vos thanks Eric Brown, Ph.D., professor of public health at the Miller School, for the opportunity to teach in Germany. She had been working with Dr. Brown on several projects when his colleagues visited the Miller School from Germany.

“One thing led to another and they asked me if I would like to come over to Germany and teach. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get asked to teach in a foreign country while still in graduate school,” she said.

Vos emphasized that making connections is pivotal to partaking in opportunities like these. She encourages students to make connections with faculty, to seek research opportunities, as well as to make relationships with mentors.

“I really like the graduate programs in the Department of Public Health Sciences, as it promotes a lot of research collaboration and has students working with mentors much earlier than other programs do,” Vos said. “Every single person in the department is willing to help and they're so passionate about students being able to achieve what they want.”

Written by Amanda Torres

Published on September 10, 2019