Learning from Both Professors & Peers: Vinay Goyal

School and Major: Bloomberg School of Public Health, Masters of Public Health
Graduation Date: May 2024

Can you discuss how being an IAS officer impacted your life at JHU?

Its like second innings in school with all the feelings of being a student again. I graduated from my Med-school in India in 2013. So, it’s after 10 years I am returning back to academics again. There is so much to learn from each one of the students here. Every student has a story to tell about their success, hardships, strong will and commitment. I am truly honored to be part of this global cohort of future public health professionals.

Why did you choose JHU, and what’s next for you?

Being the numero-uno in Public Health, JHU was the natural choice for me. I was awarded the Joint Japan World Bank scholarship to fund my studies. Post MPH I will be joining back the civil services and would work in the field of public health. I would love to work in the area of Universal health care and digital health.

What skills are you learning at Hopkins that will be of value your whole life?

As part of my MPH, I am concentrating in Health Systems and Policy and doing certificates in Public Health Economics and Health Program Evaluation. I am doing courses on Biostatistics and Digital Health. All these will be quite valuable for me once I join back the civil services back in India especially from the perspective of policy formulation and implementation.

What unique experiences or achievements have shaped your educational journey so far?

As civil-servants in India get to work in various ministries/departments in their career, I am not limiting myself to just the course. I am utilizing this opportunity to get an exposure of the education system of USA, the civic governance and in general the culture of USA. The academia-politics-industry link observed here has really impressed me as equally the strong focus on original research. The various intersections on which students work really opens a lot of opportunities for them which I found missing in my country.

Though it has been just 6 months into the course I was awarded the MPH Field Grant to do research on the antimicrobial resistance In India which is a burning issue back home. My team got selected for the Henrietta Lacks Health Equity competition in University of Michigan.

Are there any professors that have made a lasting impact on you?

I would especially like to mention about Dr. Marie Diener-West, the Professor of Biostatistics and chair of MPH. I am simply amazed by seeing the efforts she puts into to ensure each one of her student do well in the subject.

I would like to mention about Dr. Amita Gupta, Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She has been kind enough to guide us for our research on AMR.