In fall 2004, Christine McKenna ’08 and Vasavi Devireddy ’08 moved into rooms just a few doors apart in Duke’s Pegram Hall. But proximity was not the only thing that sparked their friendship.
Both McKenna and Devireddy had been stirred after reading Tracy Kidder’s book, “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” which chronicled the global health work of Duke alumnus Paul Farmer and had been assigned to all freshman in their class as part of the Duke Common Experience. At Duke, they sought out courses exploring themes of health equity and social justice, which frequently landed them in the same classroom.
“She was one of my first friends at Duke,” says McKenna, who is now a team lead for RSV vaccine pipeline and performance at Pfizer. “But the academic connection made our bond stronger.”
When Duke created the global health certificate in 2006, McKenna and Devireddy were among the first students to opt in. They were among 13 students, representing nine different majors, in the certificate’s first cohort of graduates in 2008.
The alumnae have stayed connected to global health in the years since. McKenna, a public policy studies major, worked for Global Health Strategies, a consulting firm based in New York City, before joining Pfizer, where she initially worked on global health partnerships. She has served on DGHI’s Board of Advisors since 2010.
Devireddy, who majored in international comparative studies, did global health consulting work before entering medical school at the Ben-Guran University of the Nejev in Israel, which is known for its globally focused curriculum. She is now an internal medicine physician at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., and Director of clinical transformation and improvement for Northwell Health.
As part of our series of reflections marking DGHI’s 20th anniversary, we asked McKenna and Devireddy to talk about their paths into global health and how their global health studies have shaped their lives and work in the years since. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
You were both part of the freshman class that read “Mountains Beyond Mountains” before you came to campus. How did reading that book shape the path you took at Duke?
McKenna: It was life-changing. Before we were assigned that book, I’d never heard the term global health, and I had no perspective on what health looked like in other parts of the world. And so it completely opened my eyes to a world I had no visibility into. I just remember being so moved by Paul Farmer and his work, and I felt called by the social justice element of it. I had thought I’d just be a teacher or a lawyerBut that book showed me this was something I could do as a career path. It fundamentally shifted the direction I took with my life.
Devireddy: It was similar for me, in that it added a lot of color and depth to what I thought I would be doing. I knew I was pre-med, but I didn’t want to be pigeon-holed into a particular major. I wanted to explore areas that interested me and aligned with how I wanted to eventually practice medicine. And that book showed me exactly what I was looking for, without me even knowing I was looking for it. It was just such serendipity that we were the class that read it.
How did you pursue that interest in the classroom? What classes or professors were important to helping you explore the field?
McKenna: The first global health course I took was Sherryl Broverman's “AIDS and Other Emerging Diseases” class during my sophomore year. And I don’t think I ever would have signed up for that class if not for having read the Paul Farmer book. But that was the class that really put me on a global health path.
Devireddy: Yeah, Dr. Broverman was a huge influence. I was part of the first Global Health Focus program. I remember being on a bus with (fellow pre-med student) Abirami Natarajan when the email came out announcing the Focus program. And we were both like, we have to apply for this. So as part of the Focus program, we took two core courses and a seminar, and during spring break we traveled to Costa Rica to learn about the health system. It was such a great experience.
I’d say Dr. (Kathryn) Whetten, as well. I took one of their classes as part of the Focus program and was a TA in their Intro to Global Health class. They became my mentor for my senior thesis, and so they were very important to my being able to shape this global health path at Duke.
McKenna: Definitely Dr. Whetten. I think they are one of the most amazing human beings and such a gold standard for how to live your life. We were also incredibly lucky that Dr. )Michael) Merson taught the capstone course that first year. He was tough on us, but in a way that I think we all understood and respected. He was treating us like professionals and holding us accountable, and we worked hard to earn his approval.
But there were definitely fewer classes to choose from. Now when I hear about all the things these students get to do, I’m so jealous. It’s just grown and expanded so much.
You were sophomores when DGHI officially launched. What was it like to be there at the very beginning?
Devireddy: it was incredible. I was enrolled in the Focus program when the institute was launched, and we were part of planning the (April 2006) symposium where Paul Farmer and Anthony Fauci spoke. We drove (Nobel Prize-winning economist) Amartya Sen from the airport, which was insane. And apart from the symposium, we had these small class sessions with the speakers. So there we were as 20-year-olds interacting with all the rock stars of global health. It just floored me.
McKenna: It felt very special to be part of something new at Duke. I’ve always been impressed by how Duke continues to innovate and expand what it offers students, and to live that in real time was very unique.
It must have made an impression to have that kind of access.
Devireddy: It did, and it wasn’t just the symposium. We always had outside experts lecturing or working with us in classes. I remember one class where I was mentored on a project by Doris Rouse, a double Duke alum who was vice president of global health for RTI International. Then, after I graduated, I met her again when I was working for Christine as a consultant (with Global Health Strategies). It was just this nice full circle moment, seeing how the connections we made as students would turn up in our professional lives.
McKenna: I totally agree. I remember being early in my global health career and feeling like I knew a lot of the people who were being talked about, whether they were clients or influencers we were working with. I just felt like I had a very strong grounding in the who’s-who of global health before I even started working in the field.
It sounds like neither of you needed much convincing when the global health certificate became an option in 2006.
McKenna: It felt like a no-brainer. I had already decided to be a public policy major, and it just seemed like a really nice lens for looking at public policy. The certificate was a great way to flex a little bit into global health, to meet different people and get different exposures.
Devireddy: It’s really interesting, because since I knew I was going to be pre-med, I saw this as an opportunity to enhance and add depth to the practical skills I was going to be gaining for my career. And because it was a certificate, everyone was sort of doing it that way. We had law students and engineers and students from every background. It made the discussions in classes so interesting, with everyone bringing their own perspective.
Looking back now, how have your global health studies been important to your career?
McKenna: So I spent the first 13 years of my career doing true global health work, and there are definitely certain practical skills that have been important. I think every Duke public policy grad gets this incredible set of skills that apply to any job – the ability to synthesize information quickly, to summarize a problem in a concise way, and to make a compelling argument. What I think global health gave me is a strong, foundational worldview. It shaped the way I see the world and the values I bring to my career, and even the way I live my life.
Now that I’m working in the U.S., it’s still very relevant. Global health gives me a perspective on what healthcare looks like around the world, and how you as an individual can work to improve it. I have three kids now, and I’m desperately trying to shape their worldviews and their values, and I think a lot of how I believe the world should ideally function comes from those classes I took at Duke. It taught me a life well lived is a life in service to others.
Devireddy: Everything that Christine said resonates so profoundly with me. In terms of honing my values, one thing that stands out is that I was guided to embrace the fact that I am Indian and that my worldview matters. That’s something I’ve carried through and tried to advocate with my patients. I think it was Dr. Whetten who said, if you don’t understand someone or something, it’s because you haven’t gotten enough information. I’m probably butchering that, but it’s so important to how I treat patients or lead projects.
I think about a concept like social determinants of health. I learned that from Dr. Whetten when I was 20 years old. We’re still having to convince doctors to think that way, but for me, there’s always just been this through-line. It’s about recognizing the limitations of your understanding and embracing other people’s experiences and perspectives.
Obviously, the environment around global health is much different now than when you were pursuing the certificate. But given that, would you choose it again?
McKenna: I have absolutely no regrets about studying global health. I know this is such a tough time for global health, and it has to be really discouraging for people who are thinking about a global health career. I worry about that on an existential level: Is the next generation of global health leaders still going to be inspired to study this field? I think it’s important for students to remember their lives are long. We are all hoping this moment is a blip, and we’ll see a change in how our leaders talk about global and public health. I expect that will happen, and job prospects will be better in the years ahead.
But I think it comes back to the fact that global health gives you so much more than a career path. The global health classes I took at Duke gave me some of the most interesting, challenging and thought-provoking discussions I’ve ever had in my life. And when I think about the joy I had in those moments, and the impact they have had on my life, I am just so thankful I chose to study global health at Duke.
