Junior Gemstone student and public health major Esohe Owie ’25 had two internships this summer—one at the Maryland Center for Health Equity (through the Do Good Institute’s Impact Interns program) and another at the Maryland Department of Health. In both positions, she was involved in community-centered work geared toward promoting equitable health access in Maryland through improved health literacy and communication. Her work involved documenting public response to the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting a program to help underserved Medicare communities access health care in our region.
“These internships opened up my eyes to how public health is much more than just passing laws or creating policies. I’m interested in making sure that health information is accessible to the public and making complex topics easier to understand. Increasing health access through improved communication is really how we can reduce health disparities. Having this experience alongside my classes at UMD has taught me how these issues apply to real people in the real world.”
Esohe Owie ’25
