Student Spotlight: Catelynn Kenner
Volunteering as a medical assistant and interpreter in a clinic in Honduras ignited Kenner's passion for increasing access to health education and information.
Meet Catelynn Kenner
- Degree Program: Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)
- Concentration: Women's and Reproductive Health
- Hometown: My roots are in small-town Kentucky, though I currently live along the Central Coast of California.
- Previous degree earned: Master of Public Health, Emory University
- Current professional role: I oversee Patient Support and Integrative Services for Sutter Health's Ridley-Tree Cancer Center. I also own and operate a consulting company concentrating on research and evaluation, strategic planning, and capacity-building for health care and nonprofit organizations.
What sparked your interest in public health?
I first became meaningfully acquainted with public health in college when volunteering as a medical assistant and interpreter in a clinic in Honduras. There, I fell in love with health education and realized that I no longer desired to be the person treating the patient, but rather equipping the patient and the patient’s community with the information needed to thrive. Fundamentally, I believe that everyone deserves access to the health information and services they need to thrive, and that community members are experts in their own experiences. I was originally drawn to public health because of the interdisciplinary nature of our health promotion work; I stay in the field because of our commitment to centering community dignity and wisdom in our research and practices.
What are your research interests?
My research interest centers on factors associated with a smooth transition from pregnancy into parenthood. I am interested in what role the health care experience and community supports (including home visiting) can play.
I realized that I no longer desired to be the person treating the patient, but rather equipping the patient and the patient’s community with the information needed to thrive.
Why did you choose the Bloomberg School of Public Health? What drew you to the Women’s and Reproductive Health DrPH concentration?
As a versatile pracademic, a DrPH is attractive to me because I want to be a well-rounded leader. I crave actionable results from my work—putting data into motion for programmatic, organizational, and systemswide change, and the DrPH degree can be leveraged across sectors. I chose the Bloomberg School specifically for its specialization in reproductive health, caliber of students and faculty, andragogical approach, and program modality. I value the opportunity to sharpen my expertise in reproductive health alongside equity-focused colleagues and mentors who make me a more knowledgeable and effective leader. I value the network, especially the , and other vital research centers at Johns Hopkins. The Bloomberg School's approach is attractive because of its cohort-based learning, the ability to specialize in an area while also gaining general professional skills, and program flexibility: a mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning, a course load that is immediately relevant to my daily work and can flex with the realities of full-time employment, and opportunities for both in-person and remote learning.
Have you made any discoveries at Hopkins that you recommend to other students?
I am an advocate for strategically taking classes during Summer, Fall, and Winter Institutes, allowing full focus on the material outside of our very full lives.
What do you hope to do or accomplish after graduating from the DrPH program?
I aim to use the expertise gained from this program to build better perinatal experiences that are holistic, patient- and family-centric, and integrated with ample community support.
