Jamil Locker is the first to admit that he found his way into the world of Public Health almost by accident \u2013 essentially \u201cfalling\u201d into it while studying nutrition.<\/p>\n
That happy accident though, sparked a passion to study the Flinders Bachelor of Public Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jamil had begun nutrition studies elsewhere when on the first day and in his first class, came across the concept of Public Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew was it was,\u201d he says, \u201cI just didn\u2019t know what it was called as I\u2019d spent the better part of three years trying to find this industry.<\/p>\n \u201cI like the idea that instead of helping one person, you can help a community or a whole country, preventing an illness or disease before it even happens.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m interested in health communications and health promotion – we can be teaching people something as simple as why it\u2019s good to wash your hands. In some countries they still don\u2019t really understand that because they\u2019ve never had a good enough public health system to get that message.\u201d<\/p>\n Jamil says the draw to working in such a multidisciplinary field also stems from his background growing up in lower socio-economic communities seeing firsthand the negative impacts of some of the more serious issues that need addressing.<\/p>\n The personal connection to Public Health issues, giving him a clear direction for his future.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hoping to find myself working in something like Doctors without Borders<\/a> or a similar not-for-profit working as a health promotions person, creating programs to implement research,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cI like a \u2018one health\u2019 approach with the notion that if the animals and the environment aren\u2019t healthy then we aren\u2019t healthy, which is also something that led me down the road to veganism.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me I\u2019d like to see better nutrition around the globe with programs implemented in poorer countries that want to follow that Americanised diet but without realising the health implications.<\/p>\n \u201cThe impact you can have and the opportunities to make difference in Public Health are endless.\u201d<\/p>\n Keen to explore all those opportunities, the first-year undergrad student has also turned his hand to podcasting.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first went vegan, almost two years ago now, I started doing a podcast just interviewing interesting people to help promote veganism – that it\u2019s not just about militant vegans,\u201d he says with a smile.<\/p>\n \u201cI did that for a while but once I was studying Public Health there were issues that I wanted to discuss but couldn\u2019t within that realm, so that\u2019s why I made the switch to public health world<\/a> focused purely on Public Health.<\/p>\n \u201cPublic health isn\u2019t always promoted very well and communicated to the public, so I wanted to boost promotion and awareness of the field and careers in general – with my first interview featuring an epidemiologist from America.\u201d<\/p>\n Join those with a passion for making a difference<\/p>\nDrawing on personal experiences<\/h4>\n
Taking his learning to the airwaves<\/h4>\n