Meet Dan Schrank: CDPHP Scholar and MPH Student

Where is "home" for you and how did this impact your interest in public health?

"Home for me has been several places over time. My hometown is in Camillus, New York, which is just outside of Syracuse. During undergraduate studies, I attended SUNY Oswego in Upstate New York which also felt like home for the four years I resided there. Oswego is where I discovered my interest in public health, which started when I became an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B) with SUNY Oswego's volunteer student-run campus ambulance.

During my tenure volunteering with the campus ambulance, I was elected by my student peers to be the Chief and Director of Operations of the organization. The ability to assist with training other volunteer students to become state-certified EMT's, manage relationships with mutual aid partners, ensure HIPAA compliance and hold quality assurance sessions, manage the ambulance medication and equipment inventories, ensure mechanical function of a state-certified basic life support ambulance, and do something that benefited my campus community at the age of 21 gave me a wealth of experience and an occasional rush of adrenaline. It also solidified my life-long interest in advancing public health."

Why did you choose to attend UAlbany?

"The MPH at the School of Public Health at UAlbany was the only graduate program I applied to. I was not interested in going anywhere else! Throughout the past two years or so, despite the destructive and divisive nature of the pandemic, I have had the privilege of working with New York State's Contact Tracing Initiative. Through my involvement in this initiative, I was able to work in close proximity to several individuals within New York State Department of Health who had gotten their advanced degrees through UAlbany's School of Public Health. The leadership, competence, and collaboration that they showed through the pandemic was inspiring.

One person in particular, Bryon Backenson, who is Director of the Bureau of Communicable Disease with NYSDOH and is also UAlbany alumnus and faculty teaching infectious disease epidemiology was very influential in my decision to attend UAlbany. Bryon has been a great mentor to me throughout my experience working with the COVID Contact Tracing Initiative."

What interests you most about public health? 

"All of my experience in public health so far has been helping people during crisis, which has been very rewarding. Working as an EMT and working alongside many others during the COVID Contact Tracing Initiative has put me in different positions to work with the public in their time of need and offer expertise and empathy. Because of my involvement and success in these settings, I have grown an interest and passion in public health emergency preparedness and emergency management."

What are your career goals?

"I am not targeting any particular employer or position in the future, but my main goals are to keep honing my management and leadership skills and to do something that is advancing public health in whatever adventure comes next after my time at SPH."