Alumni profile: Daphna Raz ’16
Daphna Raz ’16 graduated with a bachelor of science degree in Public Health Sciences (on the social science track). After graduating from UMass Amherst, Daphna went on to pursue her MPH abroad and is currently working for the World Health Organization as an emergency consultant supporting the COVID-19 response in the WHO European Region.
Raz came into UMass undeclared. She was interested in many disciplines that at the time seemed disparate — sociology, business, psychology, communications, medicine, and more. How do you choose just one? During her freshman year, Raz enrolled in a course about health care in the United States, and that’s when a light bulb went off. She discovered the interdisciplinary field of public health, and applied to the major soon after. Beyond her studies and work opportunities with professors across campus, Raz volunteered with the UMass Public Health Club, the UMass chapter of the American Red Cross, Henry Gets Moving, Protect Our Breasts, the UMass School of Public Health Student Advisory Board, and other groups.
After graduation, Raz traveled quite extensively and held a few roles, including as an intern at the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety (a Massachusetts state agency). She then went on to pursue the International MPH program at the University of Haifa in Israel. This program exposed Raz firsthand to health in the international context, in particular the variety of health systems and indicators that span the world. She graduated in 2019.
In June 2020, Raz was offered an emergency consultancy position with the Health Emergencies Programme of WHO’s Regional Office for Europe. She quickly moved from Tel Aviv to Copenhagen (within two weeks of the offer!) to support the COVID-19 response as a reporting officer and knowledge manager for the Incident Management Support Team (IMST). She directly reports to the Regional Emergency director.
Raz’s experience working for WHO during the pandemic has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. One of her favorite parts of the job is getting to closely work with and learn from colleagues from different professional backgrounds and nationalities. Whatever future career opportunities might look like, Raz hopes to continue working with equally driven colleagues, and being involved in work that has an international element to it.
Some words of advice to current students and new alumni: In public health, it is important to get off the Internet, and do the majority of your career exploration in a hands-on way. Reach out to your social network to learn more about what’s out there and see if there is a way to get involved. This network includes your professors, graduate students, contacts of your parents or friends, local non-academia public health professionals, 1st-3rd+ connections on LinkedIn, etc. You can join clubs, volunteer, and take a variety of classes across different departments. And finally, listen to what excites you, while staying open to new opportunities. You may discover you like something after you’ve had the chance to deepen your knowledge around it. And also, one opportunity can open the door to others that you may not have been led to otherwise.
Raz is always happy to connect with current students, alumni, and faculty of UMass and beyond. You can follow her or connect on LinkedIn here.