Alumni and Careers
While a student at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC), I had the opportunity to fulfill my practice experience requirement by interning at the U. S. Indian Health Service (IHS) through the U.S. Public Health Service Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program (JRCOSTEP).
As an intern, the bulk of my duties were spent on tracking trends in fatal and non-fatal severe injuries in southern Arizona American Indian tribes. After graduating from UNTHSC, I became a Commissioned Officer with the U.S. Public Health Service. My current assignment is with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration where I protect the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. What makes my job unique is in addition to working with FDA, I am also apart of an integrated national medical response team. For example, I was deployed to Baton Rouge, LA to provide public health services to special needs patients displaced by Hurricane Gustav. I want to encourage UNTHSC students to take charge of their careers by proactively seeking quality practice experience opportunities. Students never know they may end up like me, where their practice experience turns into a wonderful and rewarding career opportunity.
The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is an elite team of more than 6,000 full-time, well-trained, highly qualified public health professionals dedicated to delivering the Nation's public health promotion and disease prevention programs and advancing public health science. As one of America's seven uniformed services, the Commissioned Corps fills essential public health leadership and service roles within the Nation's Federal Government agencies and programs.
If you have any question regarding the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps please contact LT Kimberly Hull at kimberly.hull@fda.hhs.gov.
This page last updated Jun 18, 2009
