Kacie McGill Career Profile

BSPH in Community Health, 2017

I came to Indiana University Indianapolis in 2013 in hopes of becoming an ultrasound technician. After my first semester, I considered switching my major but was unsure of which path to take. My advisor discussed the community health program at the Fairbanks School of Public Health with me and it caught my attention.

I admire the dedicated work that doctors, nurses, and healthcare facilitators do every day. Their field of work is essential. However, I feel that working in the field of public health has allowed me to impact larger amounts of individuals who need support.

Throughout my four years at IU Indianapolis, I’ve taken numerous courses that display the need for more community health workers. I have obtained knowledge regarding social determinants of health, how nonprofits operate, and coaching for health behavior change.  

I completed my summer internship at a local nonprofit that is called Healthy Communities of Clinton County Coalition. Healthy Communities has a coalition that meets once a month that works together to improve the overall well-being of Clinton County and other surrounding areas. It has several grants that are funded through different sources like March of Dimes and the Indiana State Health Department, and offers items like cribs, car seats, bicycles, tobacco cessation, and education for teen pregnancy prevention so that community members are able to make the healthy choice the easy choice.

I grew up in Clinton County and know the community very well, so I was extremely excited to be involved in improving the wellbeing of its members. After completing my internship, Healthy Communities then offered me a position at their organization!

I am now the tobacco prevention and cessation coordinator for Healthy Communities and the Baby & Me program facilitator. I work on reducing the burden of tobacco in Clinton County through policy implementation, offering cessation classes to lower adult tobacco use, and educating youth about the harm of using tobacco products. For the Baby & Me program, I assist pregnant women in quitting tobacco and also reducing secondhand smoke exposure to others.

Some members of our community can’t get resources that are vital to the safety of their family and themselves. I enjoy being able to help support individuals that might have little or no support at all.

I hope that future students are able to see how important community health work is. I want them to know that not only can doctors help reduce the burden of disease and improve the overall well-being of individuals, but community health workers can as well. People should know how good the feeling is of helping someone in need, even if it is with something as small as a car seat or crib.

Wondering what you can do with a public health degree? Through the BSPH in Community Health, students gain knowledge, research skills and hands-on domestic and international experience that prepares them to tackle real-world problems. With such high demand and potential job growth for professionals with health-related degrees, it is an exciting time to be in the public health sector. We’re currently facing extraordinary challenges, but we have the unique opportunity to transform the health of people in Indiana and beyond. Whether you’re interested in pre-medicine, pre-dentistry, or pre-nursing programs, or a health career not bound to just hospitals, our BSPH—Community Health program can help you get there.

Learn about the BSPH program