Episode #441 Making Public Health Plain, With Emily Edgar And Nicole Vick, EdD, MPH

Laura Hollabaugh
13 minutes ago
5 min read

On This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast

Why We Struggle to Explain What We Do

Public health professionals face a persistent challenge: explaining their work to people outside the field. Despite decades of effort, the question "what is public health?" still stumps conversations at family gatherings and community meetings. This lack of clarity has real consequences, especially as programs face budget cuts and legislative threats.

This episode brings together two voices from different career stages to tackle that fundamental question head-on. Their answers reveal how personal expertise and experience shape the way we communicate public health, and why finding accessible language matters more than achieving one perfect definition.

Collaboration as the Core of Public Health

Emily Edgar, a second-year Master of Public Health (MPH) student with a concentration in epidemiology, grounds her explanation in One Health principles. She describes public health as collaboration across human, animal, and environmental health, working together at every level from local communities to global populations.

Her examples make abstract concepts tangible. A veterinarian in Uganda discovers gorillas with scabies, consults with human health officials, and learns neighboring villages face the same infection. Together, they solve the problem for both populations. Closer to home, elementary school students learn nutrition and environmental stewardship through community gardens, demonstrating how public health happens in everyone's backyard.

The Workforce as Public Health's First Community

Dr. Nicole D. Vick brings over twenty years of experience providing tools and strategies to improve health in Southern California's most underserved communities. Her definition centers on creating opportunities and resources for people to live their best lives, recognizing that access to those opportunities varies dramatically across communities.

She emphasizes a perspective often overlooked: the public health workforce itself constitutes the first community that needs attention. These professionals live in the same neighborhoods they serve, facing similar barriers while working to improve population health. When the workforce burns out or leaves, the capacity to serve communities disappears.

Historical Inequities Built Into the System

The conversation shifts to uncomfortable truths about how public health was built. Dr. Vick challenges the field to acknowledge that foundational systems were not designed equitably, and current dismantling of public health infrastructure forces a reckoning with that history.

Emily raises concerns about bias in research design, pointing to randomized controlled trials that primarily enroll white male participants yet claim to establish gold standards applicable to all populations. Dr. Vick connects this to community distrust rooted in historical harm, noting how public health professionals often remain invisible until crises emerge, then expect immediate community cooperation.

Why Plain Language Explanations Matter Now

Dr. Huntley frames the urgency behind these conversations. When legislators and community members lack understanding of public health's value, programs become easy targets for elimination. Clear, jargon-free explanations build the community buy-in and advocacy support that protect essential services.

The discussion models exactly this approach, using concrete examples from infectious disease surveillance to community safety to food access. Rather than abstract definitions, both guests illustrate public health through work people can visualize and understand, whether they live in Galveston or Los Angeles.

Building Something Better From the Reset

Despite current challenges, all three voices express determination to use this moment as an opportunity. The dismantling of established systems creates space to rebuild more equitably, centering communities that were historically marginalized and designing infrastructure that truly serves everyone.

Emily represents the energy and perspective the field desperately needs from incoming professionals. Dr. Vick brings the wisdom of someone who has watched patterns repeat for two decades and knows what needs to change. Together, they demonstrate why cross-generational dialogue strengthens public health's future.

About Our Guest

Emily Edgar

Emily Edgar is a second-year Master of Public Health student with a concentration in epidemiology. Her research interests include infectious diseases, zoonotic diseases, One Health, and global health. She serves as student association president and senator in her school's student government association, and works as a garden leader for the Young Gardeners program through Groundswell, a local nonprofit running after-school gardening sessions at elementary and middle schools.

About Nicole D. Vick, PhD

Dr. Nicole D. Vick is a public health strategist, educator, civic leader, podcaster, and author who has spent over twenty years providing tools and strategies to stakeholders, community-based organizations, students, and residents to improve health and prevent disease in some of Southern California's most underserved communities. She specializes in public health workforce development and equity, viewing the workforce as public health's first community that must be supported and sustained.

Listen To This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast

Conversation Highlights

One Health connects human, animal, and environmental health through collaboration.

Public health problems rarely respect the boundaries we draw between species or ecosystems. When a veterinarian in Uganda discovered gorillas with scabies and learned neighboring human communities faced the same infection, collaborative treatment solved the problem for both populations while addressing root causes in their shared environment.

The public health workforce is the field's first community.

Professionals doing public health work live in the same neighborhoods they serve, face the same access barriers, and deserve the same attention to wellbeing. When workforce needs go unmet, burnout and turnover directly harm the communities depending on those services.

Public health happens in everyone's backyard, not just in institutions.

Community gardens teaching nutrition to elementary students, neighbors ensuring street safety, and local collaborations all constitute public health work. The field needs to recognize and empower these grassroots efforts rather than positioning expertise exclusively within academic centers or government agencies.

Historical inequities are built into public health systems and must be acknowledged.

From research trials that primarily enroll white male participants to community distrust rooted in past harms, current public health infrastructure reflects systemic biases. Rebuilding requires honest reckoning with that history rather than defending existing structures.

Clear, accessible explanations build the community support public health needs to survive.

When legislators and neighbors understand what public health does and why it matters, programs become harder to eliminate. Explaining work through concrete examples rather than jargon creates the advocacy base and community buy-in that protects essential services.

Current challenges create opportunity to rebuild more equitably.

While dismantling established systems feels devastating, the reset forces conversations about designing infrastructure that truly serves all communities. Centering equity from the foundation rather than retrofitting it later changes what becomes possible.

Cross-generational dialogue strengthens the field's future.

Seasoned professionals bring wisdom about patterns and systemic challenges while incoming students bring energy and fresh perspectives. Both voices matter in shaping what public health becomes next, and creating space for meaningful exchange benefits everyone.

"I think public health is collaboration, which is to work together in your communities, populations, nations, and the world to ensure that we are all living our healthy and best lives." - Emily Edgar

"It feels bad, but I think this might be our chance to actually do this the right way this time." - Dr. Nicole D. Vick

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Public Health Consulting To Support You

DrCHHuntley LLC is a public health consulting firm that specializes in epidemiology consulting, supporting large nonprofit organizations in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida that serve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We also provide nationwide public health consulting and epidemiology consulting support to BIPOC organizations across the United States.