Applied Public Health Fellows Afforded Firsthand View of DOH Leadership

By Erin Frick

ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 11, 2025) — University at Albany’s College of Integrated Health Sciences is dedicated to crafting unique opportunities for experiential learning that land students in the room with researchers and practitioners across health disciplines. For fellows in the Fellowship in Applied Public Health (FAPH) program, such experiences recently included a meeting and one-on-one shadow days with Department of Public Health Commissioner James McDonald. 

Offered in partnership with the New York State Department of Health (DOH), the NYS Fellowship in Applied Public Health program is designed for licensed health professionals to earn their Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at UAlbany while gaining in-depth specialized training to bridge the transition from clinical to public health practice. 

At no cost to students, the fellowship prepares licensed health care professionals — including physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives and veterinarians — for leadership roles in state and local health departments. In November and December of last year, the fellows met with and attended meetings alongside DOH Commissioner McDonald, gaining a window into state-level public health leadership and decision-making.

“Meeting with public health leaders is an essential part of our fellows’ training, so we were thrilled that Commissioner McDonald invited each of them to shadow him for half a day,” said Rachel de Long, clinical professor at UAlbany’s College of Integrated Health Sciences and director of the Fellowship in Applied Public Health program. “As an alumni of the Preventive Medicine Residency, the forerunner of our current FAPH program, Dr. McDonald has a unique insider’s view into our fellows’ leadership journey. Getting to experience a ‘day in the life’ directly alongside him was an invaluable opportunity for our fellows.”

The two-year fellowship combines academic coursework in public health with individualized professional development and applied public health experience—including mentored practicums at the New York State Department of Health and a local county health department. Over the course of the program, fellows gain knowledge and skills to promote health, prevent disease, improve access to quality health care and advance health equity.

Hear from the Fellows

Dr. Ishani Choksi

Ishani Choksi is a pediatrician specializing in pediatric endocrinology. As a second-year fellow, Choksi has worked at the DOH Division of Family Health in the Bureau of Child Health and is now working at DOH Division of Chronic Disease and Prevention.

“This fellowship has provided me with insight and tools to help connect my clinical background and experience with my public health passion,” said Choksi. “With classes and practicum experiences, I have been able to explore my interest in public health policy. I have also had the opportunity to meet and learn from so many well-accomplished public health professionals.

“My time with the commissioner shed light on his role and many responsibilities. We discussed the rewarding experiences of his role as well as the challenges and how he approaches them. It was fascinating to see the breadth and depth of topics covered during his several meetings in that one afternoon, as well as seeing firsthand the close collaboration between state, local and the federal government.”

Tristan Sharratt 

Tristan Sharratt is a registered nurse and family nurse practitioner with a longstanding interest in community health. Sharratt’s past clinical experiences, which include working in a county jail and in a rural public school, inspired his interest in working to improve community health at the population scale. As a Fellow, Sharratt most recently worked with the DOH Division of Family Health on the Title V Maternal and Child Health Grant.

“During my morning with Commissioner McDonald, I attended every meeting on his calendar,” said Sharratt. “The majority of our discussions focused on reinforcing the role of the New York State Department of Health as a leader in public health in the country and in the world. We also discussed how to ensure stability through consistency in structure and messaging. 

“This experience highlighted that good leadership skills come with time and patience. It also reinforced that a career can be thought of as a series of phases, each naturally feeding into the next. You don't have to accomplish everything at once.”

Having completed his MPH, Sharratt recently entered the DrPH program at UAlbany with a focus on enhancing communication with rural populations in order to optimize health outcomes and social capital. 

Dr. Maxwell Weidmann

Maxwell Weidmann began his medical career as a physician scientist working on oncology and cancer biology. Prior to undertaking his MPH and the Applied Public Health Fellowship, Weidmann served as the clinical pathology chief resident at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center, where he completed his postdoctoral training in clinical microbiology.

“The Fellowship in Applied Public Health represents the perfect opportunity to apply my training in both clinical microbiology and public health to my career goals of integrating emerging diagnostic and information technologies into infectious disease surveillance, and adapting public health surveillance and response systems to anticipated health threats in the setting of climate change,” Weidmann said. “This program has enabled me to explore the resources available at the Wadsworth Public Health laboratory, seeing in person how the laboratory interfaces with epidemiologists in the Bureau of Communicable Diseases and the NYS Center for Environmental Health. Such experiences are crucial at this point in my career, to understand more concretely what my exact path will be to achieve those goals.

“During our time with the commissioner, he shared with us helpful context on how the preventive medicine residency program, which evolved into what is now the Fellowship in Applied Public Health, fit into his own career trajectory. This point resonated deeply with me, as I see this fellowship as a pivot point in which I gather the most useful elements of my clinical training, and better understand how this training could inform my public health work and leadership style.”

Weidmann graduated from the program in December and plans to enter the CDC Epidemiology Intelligence Service later this year.

Applied Public Health Fellow Carrie Gordon-Stacey, who is a registered nurse and certified nurse-midwife, also met with the Commissioner last semester.

The FAPH program is now accepting applications from licensed clinicians for Fall 2025.