Emma Burtin BS’26 always knew she wanted to bring lessons from her public health courses out of the classroom. When a brochure advertising a semester in Windhoek, Namibia, Africa caught her eye at the Study Abroad Fair, she saw her chance to turn theory into practice.
“Namibia only gained independence [from South Africa] in 1990, yet they've built an excellent hospital in just three decades,” Burtin says. “I wanted to see firsthand how they approached public health and accomplished so much in such a short time.”
Burtin travelled to Namibia, a country bordering South Africa and Botswana, to study at the University of Namibia and intern at Windhoek Central Hospital. “I had the opportunity to observe patient care in specialities like dermatology, psychiatry, and obstetrics. I even got to see two baby deliveries,” the public health major shares. During her psychiatry rotation, Burtin was tasked with reporting all the approaches to mental health she observed and making public health-centered recommendations for the department.
Burtin also worked with nurses in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Infection Prevention and Control Unit to facilitate educational events for World Hand Hygiene Day. While hand hygiene may seem like a niche public health issue, the WHO has found significant gaps between low- and high-income countries’ compliance with hand hygiene recommendations — leading to infection risks and waste from excessive rubber glove use. Burtin made educational posters in partnership with healthcare professionals and public officials from Namibia.
Burtin reflects on the many lessons she will use as she works to improve the health of her communities. Before her study abroad experience, courses like Public Health Ethics with Professor of History and Public Health Sammy Basu involved community-based learning with Marion and Polk counties to research environmental health hazards during extreme weather events and facilitate better resiliency for homeless populations.
“The Public Health department at Willamette has given me hands-on opportunities to become involved in public health early in my career. It has opened my worldview and taught me so much about how health is integrated into different systems in society,” Burtin adds.
Equipped with skills ranging from hospital-based techniques of promoting health to community action, Burtin is ready to take on the next step in her healthcare career with lessons in public health as guiding principles.
“Studying abroad in Namibia solidified my resolve and my intentions to have public health be the center of all the work that I do,” Burtin says. “I hope I can inspire other students to really look inside themselves and believe in their ability to create change.”
