How I did it: Tanisha Harding, Master of Public Health, Walden University

Publish date	2008-01-16
Available Articles	Full articles without membership

One of the key advantages of fully online degree courses is the access to education they provide to people who want to study but can’t because of work commitments. One such group is military personnel deployed overseas.

Many US military personnel deployed in Iraq are taking advantage of online masters and undergraduate courses. In the past, they would have had to take a break in their education when deployed abroad. However, the flexibility offered by online degree programmes allows soldiers, pilots, sailors and support staff to continue with their education or start pursuing a new course of study while on active service, wherever they are.

Tanisha Harding, from Hollywood in Florida, is currently based at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

“I served in the US Air Force as an officer for four years. During my third year, I wanted to further my education, but to use an avenue that was flexible enough to accommodate the demands of my job.

“I have a bachelors’ degree in biology and wanted to pursue community health. I heard about Walden from the base education office and other avenues and decided to give it a try.

“I moved a few times and my education continued without a hitch. Because of my ties to the Air Force base in Columbus, Mississippi, I chose to complete my MPH field practicum at the Columbus Air Force Base public health office located inside the base medical clinic.

“The purview of the office covers food safety, facility sanitation, occupational health programmes, travel medicine, medical entomology, epidemiology, and medical intelligence as well as communicable disease prevention and control. I was able to participate and observe freely in all aspects of public health and get a truly diverse and realistic view of the challenges and successes public health professionals encounter.

“The public health staff and health promotions office staff embraced me and actively engaged me in significant programmes.

“At the culmination of my practicum, I was awarded a coveted commander’s coin by Colonel Susan Hall, the Medical Group (clinic) Commander. A commander’s coin is a rare and highly prized symbol of great praise and recognition for exemplary work and involvement on base. It was the perfect ending to my practicum and beginning for my new career.

“I have gained invaluable skills throughout my experience to use to increase awareness of worldwide public health issues and create a change in my local community’s public health policies.

“Over the past few years of studying, I have lived in three different places. In fact, I just moved to Ramstein two days ago. The online process has made it easier to juggle the demands of the military and school.

“The majority of my study takes place at home after duty hours and on the weekends. However, since the military encourages the pursuit of higher education, I often had time during duty hours to work on school.

“Make sure your time is managed properly and you maintain communication with your leadership and instructors. Flexibility is required with the military – choose an educational institution that is also flexible with you. I couldn’t have done it without one!”

Keywords: MPH, Walden University, Online Degree, Higher Education.

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