When it comes to a successful career path in public health, School of Public Health-Bloomington (SPH-B) graduate student Caley Monnier believes experiential learning is just as important as what is taught within the classroom.
Thanks to the Rural Scholars Program led by the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, Monnier has been able to gain vital first-hand experience with preventative health services in rural Indiana to boost her career goals of attaining a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology.
As a full-time Bloomington resident, Monnier was a crucial fill-in for the Hoosier Health Check (HHC) events that took place in Greene County this summer. HHC is managed through the Center for Community-Engaged Dissemination and Implementation Research (CCEDIR), and Monnier says they classically run into challenges filling staff slots in the summer months when students are often off-campus.
“Once a month, Greene County hosts a mobile food pantry at a local park in Linton, IN where people drive up and grab a bag or two of food,” says Monnier. “CCEDIR saw the opportunity for a partnership and coordinated having HHC happen at the same time.”
Launched in the fall of 2024, the program matches passionate Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) undergraduate or graduate students with projects that integrate classroom learning while representing the university as a trusted community partner.
Working closely with HHC Program Manager Sydney Whiteford, Monnier and her team set up shop near the mobile food pantry and encourage attendees to participate. The free health screenings include blood tests for basic markers, grip strength tests, and CCEDIR’s Veggie Meter, which measures carotenoids in a participant’s finger to determine the level of certain servings of vegetables per day.
“I assist with some of the stations, but mostly my job is being there for people to talk with them and make them feel more comfortable,” says Monnier. “It can be a little nerve-wracking to see all the blood testing equipment and the nurses from IU Health on site, so I offer a listening ear to make the experience a little more accessible.”
While almost every aspect of public health gets Monnier motivated, she ultimately chose to focus on epidemiology because of her experience over the past year as a part-time medical scribe for INscribe, where she painstakingly documents patient encounters, clinical histories, and diagnoses in the electronic health records for emergency room physicians.
“While in this position I have gained interest in clinical epidemiology and infection prevention,” says Monnier. “I learned I liked being in the healthcare space, but I don’t want to be a provider or go into premed, but I liked the aspect of working in healthcare on the population level.”
Monnier says her experiences with the Center for Rural Engagement have given her a fuller picture of the real-world impact of public health programs and initiatives. She also appreciates the flexibility the rural health scholar position offers to maintain the careful balance of academic workload and professional responsibilities.
“When you are data crunching in a classroom or at your job it can be easy to lose sight of who you are doing it for or what the real-world impact you might be having,” says Monnier. “Working in public health—whether it is for a county health department or in academia—it is important to have an understanding of who it is you are working for. It helps you move with a greater sense of purpose in what you are doing.”
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