Alumna Madison Snitker (20BA, 21MPH) currently lives in Rochester, Minnesota, and works as a health educator with Dodge County Public Health. She recently answered a few questions about what her job entails, what she finds most rewarding, and how her education at Iowa prepared her for her career.

Tell us about the type of work you do, or what a typical day is like.

My title doesn’t fully describe what I do. Officially, I am a health educator, but I am also the emergency preparedness coordinator and Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) unit leader. I manage a lot of the public information we share with the community, from writing press releases to creating Facebook posts. 

I also write our departmental plans that we use to respond to emergencies and work closely with our county emergency manager to ensure we are prepared for hazards that can impact the community’s health. I evaluate our responses to previous emergencies or exercises and develop correction actions to improve our operations. I also do a lot of community engagement and education regarding personal and family preparedness.

We have a local Medical Reserve Corps unit in Dodge County, and I spend time managing these volunteers as their unit leader. I was an MRC volunteer in Johnson County as a student at Iowa, so it is very rewarding to have that come full circle. My job is the best of both worlds — planning behind the scenes and engaging with the local community.

What do you find most rewarding about your public health work?

It is always rewarding to hear someone say, “Huh — I didn’t know that!” and see them start to think about a topic in a different way. I love getting to speak with the community face-to-face and teach them about a topic that they may not have realized impacts their everyday health. Whether I am in a classroom speaking with elementary school students, or a room full of emergency responders, engaging with the community always keeps my cup full and passionate about the work I do.

What is one of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on?

I partnered with local businesses in the county to do a campaign about emergency preparedness kits for National Preparedness Month in September. This was the first time our department had done a campaign of this magnitude before, and it went very well! Hardware and grocery stores in the area tagged items that would be great options to include in an emergency kit. Each store had displays where folks could grab a checklist and a free emergency contact magnet and walk around the store to find those items.

Additionally, I created Reels [short videos] on Facebook about the campaign with additional information about the importance of these kits. We also partnered with our local library to create a display with information about hazards specific to our community and library books that could be checked out about these hazards or preparedness in general. I hope to grow this project next year!

How does your work help support the health of rural populations?

The community I work in is classified as a rural community. Even though we are directly west of Mayo Clinic, Dodge County does not have a hospital or emergency department. We see gaps in the health of our residents because of this. The work we do in public health helps to fill some of these gaps every day. We are the primary source for information regarding folks’ health in Dodge County, and our services are constantly evolving to meet the needs of the community.

When you were a student, you worked as a COVID-19 contact tracer for Johnson County Public Health. As you reflect on that time, what did you gain from the experience? Did it impact your career plans and/or professional interests?

I was pretty set about what I wanted to focus on in my professional career at that point in my education, but that experience gave me a lot of the practical knowledge I needed. I was talking on the phone to real people who were experiencing real health issues every single day. So much of my current position revolves around knowing how to speak to people and understanding their frustrations around something that they perceive they cannot change. Gaining firsthand experience with Johnson County during the pandemic was critical in developing my skillset as a health educator and planning for future disease outbreaks.

What is your favorite memory of your time at Iowa?

It’s not a single moment that I would call my favorite, but rather how many close relationships that I developed. I met my fiancé, friends, and future colleagues at Iowa. There are folks that I run into who are also working in public health in Minnesota who I graduated or studied with at the College of Public Health. The community that you find in Iowa City lasts well into your time after you graduate and leave, and you never know where you will meet another Hawkeye!