Global Public Health Degree Leads To County Government Job

As a Department Analyst for the County of Sonoma, Alister Greenfield’s Global Public Health degree from Dominican University of California, has been invaluable.

“I fell in love with Global Public Health the minute I laid eyes on it,” says Alister, who graduated from Dominican in 2017. “I was shadowing a fellow student who was super passionate about GPH, and I instantly connected with the professors and was enthralled by the coursework and involvement that the major has with the greater community.”

Alister, who grew up in Sebastopol, attended Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm in Santa Rosa. His high school experience taught him to be versatile and flexible.

“I was so lucky to attend a school that didn’t focus predominately on scholastic excellence, but showed us life skills,” he says. “I learned how to paint, to cook, to farm and garden, to dance. I made pots and bowls out of clay. I learned how to blacksmith and play instruments. I learned so many amazing things. I feel as if it allowed me to think creatively and to problem solve using unconventional approaches.”

DOMINICAN UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS AND PROGRAMS
Alister was drawn to the focus on creative problem solving in the Global Public Health program in the School of Health and Natural Sciences. The faculty nurtured his interest in the subject and pushed him as both an individual and a student.

“The professors saw my potential and conditioned me to think and perform analytically and precisely throughout my studies,” Alister says. “I owe them a lot of gratitude.”

The professors are proud of Alister’s achievements.

“Government jobs pay well and come with good benefits,” says Patti Culross, assistant professor and director of the Global Public Health program. “More students should consider working for governments.”

Alister’s Dominican experience featured an internship as an Epidemiology Data Analyst with the County of Marin’s Health and Human Resources department. He started working for the County of Sonoma as an Account Clerk shortly after graduating from Dominican. With hard work and dedication, he learned the mechanics of local government and was rewarded with a promotion of Department Analyst in the ACTTC (Auditor-Controller Treasurer-Tax Collector) Department.

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 “My position as a Department Analyst opens up a lot of doors and allows me to network with multiple departments and department heads,” Alister says.

That flexibility includes opportunities to involve himself in community health and prevention resources. He is engaged in a government job that pays well and has good benefits and offers him a chance to utilize what he learned at Dominican.

“The biggest thing that I have taken from my Global Public Health major is the policy aspect. The Department Analyst position relies heavily on governmental and local policy, ordinances, and law,” Alister says. “My classes at Dominican enlightened me to the infrastructure that makes up county government.”