Staying Engaged as a Part-time Public Health Grad Student

Bailey Kirkpatrick shares how she balances her full-time work schedule while pursing the Online/part-time MPH program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She stays engaged with the School by participating in special lectures; listening to the School's podcast, Public Health On Call during her commute; and when possible attends on-campus events. She breaks down what her day-to-day schedule looks like, how she's making her program practicum work while working at her current organization, and applying skills from her program directly to her work projects.  She has over 10 years of work experience, and nearly seven of which have been at AstraZeneca where she was project manager for various programs across Respiratory & Immunology and Vaccines & Immune Therapies in various stages of late phase development and life cycle management. Previously she was a legal assistant supporting US veterans in their VA disability appeals where she saw the impact a medicine can make on one's quality of life.  Bailey originally joined AstraZeneca in 2019 within the Business Support Office team. She became a Project Coordinator in the Global Project and Portfolio Management team (GPPM), and during the pandemic supported both of our COVID-19 programs (EVUSHELD and VaxZevria). She joined the Vaccine & Immune Therapies Unit officially in 2022 as team lead. Now as a Director she now oversees the Late V&I BPO team as they support the V&I portfolio through strategy development, transformation projects, business process development, resource and capacity management, and team engagement among many other operational aspects. In addition, Bailey facilitates the Late Research & Development (R&D) Leadership team and partners with each of the functional heads and project leaders to ensure optimal efficiency and communication.  Her unique background and skill set provide a valuable perspective to the operational leadership of the Late V&I R&D team. She is committed to ensuring everyone has what they need to deliver on their commitments and to provide the best possible outcome for patients.  With a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, the combination of her previous and current work have inspired her to pursue a Masters of Public Health (MPH) at Johns Hopkins. She anticipates graduating in 2027.    Learn more about the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health