During my national service with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), I had the opportunity to engage with public health nurses while I worked in the community.

It was through these collaborative efforts, such as delivering health educational talks in schools and antenatal clinics, that I began to grasp the concept and intricate facets of public health. During one of these visits I had an epiphany that I wanted to be a public health professional. I desired a more impactful role than my current position allowed.

I had heard about Ensign Global College, from a colleague so I decided to pursue admission. On the day of the interview, when the “trotro” I was in pulled in front of the school, I was astounded by the elegance and beauty of the campus and its pristine edifice. I was awe-inspired! I had never seen such a beautiful campus. My admission to Ensign Global College proved to be a transformative experience. It was a journey that broadened my understanding of the grand spectrum and nuanced realm of public health.

The faculty at Ensign Global College  exhibited a wealth of expertise in both local and international public health issues. This fostered a conducive atmosphere for students to excel. As an individual who had limited exposure to public health, Ensign Global College was the perfect niche for me. The seasoned faculty made it a safe and perfect place for learning, accommodating students of diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, Ensign Global College also had a huge presence in the community. Their commitment to public health extended beyond it’s academic confines. Ensign Global College actively organized and participated in community-based public health events to raise awareness in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality.

One of the initiatives which was undertaken by the school was the flagship Health 2 Go (H2Go) project, a collaborative effort between the University of Utah, EGC, and the Lower Manya Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service. The aim of the project is to address health disparities in under-resourced communities in the municipality, with an emphasis on reducing maternal and child morbidity and mortality. The project afforded me the opportunity to contribute as a research assistant! My responsibilities were data collection, writing monthly reports, organizing refresher training for the community-based agents, and offering on-field supportive supervision with our nurses.

The boots-on-the-ground experience I gained from the H2Go project brought to my foreknowledge the pragmatic nature of public health. As a research assistant, I navigated challenging conditions such as poor road networks in these under-resourced communities, sometimes necessitating physical efforts to push our stuck vehicle from the mud. Very often, we ended up with mud all over our clothes. Those were fun times (laughs). Ensign Global College instilled in me that passion and drive to ensure our communities are safe and healthy, hence, these adversities underscored my commitment for H2Go public health intervention.

Through my experiences with Ensign Global College, I was inspired to contribute to public health more meaningfully on a larger scale. I knew the path I had to take. I resolved to pursue doctoral studies in public health. In 2018, a year after I graduated from Ensign Global College, I secured admission to the University of Utah for advanced studies in public health. Upon my admission, my journey began with a role as a teaching assistant (TA) for graduate-level biostatistics, and subsequently instructing the class. I welcomed the challenge as the robust foundation in biostatistics and epidemiology laid at Ensign Global College proved pivotal. I successfully revamped the biostatistics lab sessions where I taught students how to use STATA for their analysis. The highlight of my doctoral studies was when I was awarded an administrative supplement grant to study how social networks mediates the relationship between opioid misuse and suicide attempt among Native American youth.

Presently, I am an infectious disease analytic epidemiologist at the Salt Lake County Health Department. My role involves collaborating with partners to create and leverage innovative solutions to drive evidence-based decisions, managing a variety of disparate data systems, conducting high-level analysis of public health communicable disease data, providing interpretation of findings, and disseminating information through reports, dashboards, and visualizations.

I am proud to be an Ensonian! The training and experiences I gained from this highly esteemed institution continue to shape my professional endeavors and I reflect upon the institution with a sense of pride and gratitude!

Before attending Ensign College of Public Health (ECOPH), Jerry Selase Sifa volunteered at the University Hospital Legon as a research assistant. Shortly after graduating, he was employed by the University of Ghana to serve as a Principal Research Assistant. Also, he has worked with researchers from highly ranked universities such as Utah, Michigan and McGill University.

He has four years of experience teaching Community Health at Radford University College in Ghana. In 2022, he introduced medical students at the University of Health and Allied Sciences School of Medicine to Geoinformation Information Systems and their Application in Health. He has peer-reviewed and published researched articles in high-quality journals.Currently, he is on scholarship pursuing courses such as Saemaul Undong, Digital Health and Big Data Analytics in South Korea

Kwame Asiemoah Jnr. is an award-winning global leader with over 8 years’ experience in community development and public health. Currently, Kwame serves as a Technical Program officer for an international organization, executing a hypertension intervention program in Ghana. His work has impacted over 2 million Ghanaians across Volta, Ashanti and Bono East regions, ensuring that Ghanaians get access to critical health services for good health and wellbeing.

Kwame’s health programs since 2015 have benefited over 279,000 people in the Volta region alone. Kwame Asiemoah is also the Deputy Volta Reginal Youth Organizer of the NDC, a position he has held since 2018. He strongly believes youth participation in governance and leadership is important for a holistic national development. In 2022, Kwame was one of 32 young Ghanaians selected by the US Government’s Department of State for the Mandela Washington Fellowship, a prestigious global leadership program and a flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) of the US government.

In 2021, Kwame was selected as one of four young leaders to represent Ghana at the UBUNTU United Nations World Leaders Academy. He is a recipient of the Ghana @60 Coca-Cola Young Achievers’ Award and 2017 Ensign College of Public Health community service award, for his tremendous role in community development. Kwame is also the founder of CHeCK Health, a health management company aimed at bringing health services closer to people and underserved populations.

Kwame holds a Master of Public Health degree from the Ensign College of Public Health and a BSc. in Biochemistry from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Although Kwame’s work focuses on public health, his efforts cut across leadership, health, gender and economic empowerment, education, and communication due to his belief that people cannot be healthy within an unhealthy ecosystem. Kwame’s whole ecosystem approach to community development has positively influenced the lives of many people in a sustainable way, which sets him apart.

Dr. Francois Chimoun, a native of Cameroon and Ensign Global College Alumnus Class of 2017, just joined the World Health Organization (WHO) Department of HIV and Global Hepatitis Program as a consultant. In his role, he will support the Democratic Republic of Congo National AIDS Control Program to implement and optimize effective and efficient HIV testing services. He will work closely with the Global Fund, USAID, PEPFAR, UNAIDS, UNICEF, local implementing partners, and other stakeholders.

“I would not be where I am today without the excellent training received at ENSIGN!”

Augustine Selorm Kumah is a graduate of Ensign Global College (Class of 2017). As a trained nurse with public health expertise, he has worked with various organizations. Augustine served as a project officer in the Eastern Region of Ghana with the Global Fund NFM II Strengthening Community Systems (CSS) Intervention for Key Populations with the goal of reducing new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths.

Augustine is a Youth Leader for Health (YL4H), Youth Advocate, and Trainer. He has been involved in youth mentorship and engagement, behavior change, communication, and advocacy for adolescents, especially in Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR), TB, HIV, and Malaria. The YL4H is a joint program by WACI Health, RESULTS UK, Health Promotion TanzaniaHDT, Hope for Future Generations (Ghana), and CISMAT- SL (Sierra Leone) with support from Comic Relief. The program brings together 25 Youth Leaders from Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Ghana passionate about health and healthcare systems. Augustine represents Ghana. He is also on a World Bank Scholarship for his PhD in Public Health (Reproductive and Family Health) at the College of Medicine – Department of Community Health, Centre of Excellence in Reproductive Health Innovation (CERHI), University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria.

Currently, he is engaged as the Quality Improvement Manager of the Nyaho Medical Centre, Accra – Ghana. The Nyaho Medical Centre is a hospital facility that provides high-quality healthcare services to the general public, and its client base includes individuals, corporate bodies, and international agencies. His primary role is to oversee the development and revision of organizational, clinical, and health and safety policies and procedures to include regulatory changes that concur with national and international standards.

“I am most appreciative of the great education and exposures presented to me whilst a student at the Ensign College of Public Health, my alma mater. I continue to keep in touch with this great institution. Ensign is simply the best Public Health College in Ghana”

Lawrence Lartey, a graduate of Ensign Global College (2017), is a medical doctor and public health specialist. He is the Head of Port Health at the Kotoka International Airport and the Acting Manager of the Public Health Emergency Operation Center (PHEOC) at the Public Health Division of the Ghana Health Service. He is an active member of the National Public Health Rapid Response Team (PHRRT) and of the National Technical Coordinating Committee chaired by the Minister of Health. Dr. Lartey primarily provides COVID-19 response support through active risk assessment, national COVID-19 data management, managing travel-related COVID-19 data, and generating information through analysis to inform policy decisions.

Dr. Lartey is involved in conducting risk assessments at various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) and other national institutions like the Parliament of Ghana before the events are organized. He reviews various COVID-19 local outbreaks in schools, football clubs, churches, and organizations (private and public) and subsequently provides recommendations to control these outbreaks. His work continues to directly impact the lives of people in Ghana by guiding the policy decision-making process through scientific data and information. Public health advocacy has been a greater part of his work.

“Ensign Global College has been one of the best things that happened to me. Commitment, systematic thinking, dedication, hard work, and truthfulness are qualities Ensign Global College has imbibed in me. We can always create a difference if we want to.”

Doris is a principal Radiation Therapist at the National Radiotherapy Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Center, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. She is currently a tutor and researcher at the Department of Radiography in the School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana where she focuses on radiotherapy training and cancer research.

"The experience at Ensign is one of the fondest memories I still hold and cherish. The College has a wonderful curriculum. I had amazing lecturers, I mean those ones that can tap into your core and bring the best out of you."

Gideon is a Health Analyst and Epidemiologist with over 6 years of experience in disease surveillance and scientific communication. Gideon also serves as Project Coordinator and Data Manager for the Health2Go Program.

“The Ensign experience has been the most practical form of training I have received throughout my academic endeavor. The program is designed for students looking to gain the skills and experience required for careers within key health organizations, government agencies, and the private sector. The skills-driven curriculum at Ensign Global College has been the major building block of my public health career as a health researcher since graduation.”

Sylvia Ofori, from cohort 2 (class of 2017), is a postdoctoral and research fellow at the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics (CCDD) at the Harvard T.H. Chan Institute for the Study of Diseases. Sylvia caught up with our team to let us know how she is using her degree from Ensign Global College at the CCDD and what is keeping her busy outside of her postdoctoral program.

How my current position impacts the lives of people? As an infectious disease epidemiologist and a postdoctoral curriculum and research fellow at Harvard University, my main interest is promoting mathematical modeling capacity in Africa and bridging the gap between mathematical modeling research and decision-making/policy. I do this by supporting the development and implementation of a training program targeted at public health professionals in Africa.

Ultimately, mathematical modeling skills are relevant in ensuring a cost-effective approach to infectious disease control, assessing the effectiveness of interventions to determine the best strategy, and minimizing the burden of the disease on the population. I also organize a bimonthly Journal club for public health professionals in academia and government organizations in the US and Africa to foster a medium for them to discuss current trends in the field and brainstorm on measures to put in place to address the policy implications of published studies where possible.

What did I like most about Ensign Global College? The location of Ensign Global College was helpful in keeping distractions from other commitments minimal. This meant that, while we were on campus, we focused on our studies, group projects, and other assignments. I also liked that the lecturers had vast experience both nationally and internationally and were able to use their networks to ensure that we had an amazing learning experience. Their dedication to teaching and use of student-centered pedagogy is unmatched.

My hobbies outside of work and research: Binge-watching medical and legal dramas.

A fun fact about myself: I have watched all 18+ seasons of Grey's Anatomy more than twice