Education
In this episode, Maria and Jenna chat with Michelle Baum, MSW and current MPH student at Boston University, about mental health. They discuss the culture surrounding mental health in academia, how to support someone struggling with mental health, how to support yourself, and the importance of social support. Michelle Baum, MSW is a public health social worker in her last year of graduate school at Boston University finishing up her master in public health. After completing her undergraduate degree in psychology and Spanish at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!), she moved to Boston to further her education in pursuit of a career at the intersection of public health and social work, focusing on mental health, health equity, and the social determinants of health. While at the Boston University School of Social work, she was involved in a research project investigating the effects of a cell phone app on promoting recovery from substance use disorders in a Latinx Spanish-speaking community in Boston. During the pandemic, she began working as a Care Resource Coordinator and is now working as a University and College Liaison for the Community Tracing Collaborative, the state’s COVID-19 contact tracing program. In her free time she loves to spend time in nature, run, do yoga, cook, watch videos of dogs, and spend time with friends, family, and loved ones.