There’s so much to learn from times when there are industry wide U-Turns and so we asked so we asked the community to share stories of such reversals that they’ve witnessed over the course of their careers.

Amalia Miralrio

When I was training to become a therapist, it was assumed that all of our work would happen in person. It wasn’t even something that was spoken of, it was just understood. Therapy has historically been something that happens in an office setting “in person.” When the pandemic started, teletherapy was a niche practice that not many used. The technology of video calls wasn’t brand new, but it was not widely used. Everything changed with the pandemic. I am now practicing in person and virtually, which is something I never could’ve have imagined for my career during the first few years of practicing. Tele-health presents a lot of new questions for my field. I think the best way to approach this change is with curiosity; it’s more about staying open and thinking critically than it is about coming to a black and white conclusion too quickly. Read more>>

Nicole Vick, Edd, Mph

About 15 years ago, I was very early in my public health career at a large local health department on the West Coast. As a Health Educator I did program and policy development work in a regional area that was quite unique. One part of the region was considered low-income with all sorts of social ills and poor health outcomes and the other part of the region was the complete opposite. I was blessed to be under the leadership of a dynamic and forward-thinking supervisor who happened to be a Black woman and a physician. I was very early in my public health career, so I was bright-eyed and eager to do good work. I wanted to make a difference, especially in the low-income part of the region because that was the community where I was born, raised, and resided. My supervisor saw the drive and passion I had and pushed me professionally in a way I had never experienced before or since. I helped create new programs and initiatives for the office focused on health equity and the social determinants of health, a concept that was new to me. No one else in the department was talking about these things at that time that I was aware of. I also coordinated and facilitated collaborative efforts among private, and non-profit groups and organizations to meet the needs of residents; and I provided technical assistance, advocacy, and coalition building to internal and external partners. It was an amazing time for me both personally and professionally. I learned so much about public health work, leadership development, and my own career aspirations. Those years I spent in that office set the tone for the rest of my public health career and spurred an interest in workforce development as it relates to health equity and the social determinants of health. Read more>>

Colette Dalton

When I was in grad school training to be a therapist, I felt like a lot of what I was taught revolved around being a “blank slate.” The idea was that therapists should be neutral, revealing little about themselves to maintain objectivity. The thinking was that if we kept our own emotions, opinions, and personal experiences hidden, clients could project their thoughts and feelings without outside influence. Read more>>