55: Conversation with @ThePublicHealthPalette with Jamie Lee Grsupe Pilapil, MPH, and Louielyn Lirio, MPH

Interview with Jamie Lee Gruspe Pilapil, MPH, and Louielyn Lirio, MPH

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Highlights from this episode:

1. Starting the platform The Public Health Palette
2. Pivoting from pursuing nursing into public health
3. Working to improve Pacific Islander Community health

Episode 54 of Public Health Careers

Today we have the duo you may know on IG @ThePublicHealthPalette. The first of the DUO, Louielyn Lirio, works as a Program Evaluation Specialist at UC San Diego Health and the other half of the duo, Jamie Lee Gruspe Pilapil is a Dissemination and Implementation Science Coordinator at UC San Diego Health.

They are both Filipino-American with ties to the US military by means of their families being in the navy.

They both attended San Diego State University and got their Bachelors of Science in Public Health. They both started off wanting to pursue nursing but changed as they learnt more about the health field and public health in particular. Jamie and Louielyn met each-other at Pacific Islander Community (PIC) Health. Also they both went on to get their Master of Public Health at California State University San Marcos. However in different concentrations, Jamie did Health Promotion & Education and Louielyn did Global Health. If you haven’t yet, be sure to follow them on IG @ThePublicHealthPalette.

Jamie

Jamie began her journey at San Diego State University. She was certified as a Nursing Assistant and worked as one during her initial years of collegiate schooling. As part of the program, Jamie was able to do a Study Abroad in Shanghai, China where she credits for some of her cultural competence and awareness. Additionally, she worked as a Health Promotion Intern at STRIVE where she helped do work around sodium intake for Asian American communities, and as a Peer Health Educator at Students 4 Public Health.

Jamie decided to pursue an accelerated Master of Public Health at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) after being pulled into the program by one of her current mentors. During her Masters she worked at the Pacific Islander Community (PIC) Health Internship and later as a graduate assistant. She was also the Secretary of the Graduate Organization Public Health (GOPH) as well as a STI & HIV Prevention CSUSM Project. Lastly she was a part-time research study coordinator/community health specialist at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

After graduating she was a Senior Research Associate – Research Study Coordinator for UC San Diego School of Medicine. She then had a stint as a Case Investigator at the County of San Diego before moving on to a Contract Tracer Lead position at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Jamie’s current role is as a Dissemination and Implementation Science Coordinator at UC San Diego Health.

Louielyn

Louielyn also began her journey at San Diego State University. She was a Volunteer Nursing Services at San Diego VA Health Care System then volunteer Epidemiology support at Naval Health Research Center which helped her understand that we can have more preventative approaches for veteran populations. She then was an Undergraduate Research Assistant at PIC Health where she met Jamie. Lastly in undergrad, Louielyn worked as a Navy Pathways Program Student Trainee.

Louielyn decided to pursue an accelerated Master of Public Health at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) after being pulled into the program by one of her current mentors who was the same mentor that pulled Jamie into the program. Here she continued to work with PIC Health as a Graduate Research Assistant. Louielyn also was a part of the Graduate Organization Public Health as the Treasurer. Lastly, she was a Medical Support Assistant at San Diego VA Health Care System.

After graduating her masters program, Louielyn worked as a Research Data Assistant at MotherToBaby. She currently works as a Program Evaluation Specialist at UC San Diego Health.

The Public Health Palette

The duo decided to start the instagram platform, The Public Health Palette, right before they graduated from their masters programs.

On this platform, they share what they knew, shared what they are learning and to build connections with other public health people. They named The Public Health Palette after thinking about how many different types of makeup there is and just how that related to the vastness of the public health field.