Student Spotlight: Simeon Zaragoza, MPH'25

Strategic Communication Powers Communities

Healthcare administration and journalism may appear to be unlikely companions, but for Simeon Zaragoza MPH’25, they have something in common: using advocacy and communication to enhance health.

Growing up in California’s central valley, first-generation college student Zaragoza experienced gaps and inconsistencies within the state’s healthcare system—disparities that influenced his desire to change the system.

To advocate for change and give voice to those who aren’t heard, he thought health journalism was the best way to give voice to those who are often silent. Realizing he wouldn’t have the autonomy to write the stories he wanted to write, Zaragoza turned to healthcare administration to break through the silence.

“Once I realized journalism wasn’t a good fit, I began researching healthcare administration as an option and discovered that I would be in a position to amplify those voices and advocate for change,” he says.

Zaragoza’s research also led him to Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business summer Bridge Program (with an elective in healthcare), where undergrads with backgrounds in STEM or the humanities gain-pre MBA experience. In the elective, he studied healthcare disparities in Kansas, which struck a chord because of his experience living with those disparities in his rural hometown community of Turlock, California.

“That spark then solidified my interest in public health and public health administration,” he recalls.Zaragoza completed the program in July 2023 and went on to complete an internship for the American Cancer Society, Cancer Action Network.

“That is when I decided to do an internship with the American Cancer Society, working with the Stanislaus Tobacco Prevention Action Team and tapped into those rural healthcare disparities,”  he says. “In my community, tobacco use is prevalent and leads to healthcare issues, so, the action team was the middle ground advocating for preventive measures in the community—and I saw how outreach, advocacy, and strategic communication can empower communities to make sustainable change,” Zaragoza explains.

After much thought, Zaragoza decided to pursue a master’s in public health at Dartmouth. He was attracted by the faculty’s passion for public health and their investment in student success as well as the school’s small, intimate community along with an opportunity to work beyond academics using classroom competencies on projects with real world consequences.

“In my community health needs assessment class, we conducted interviews in the Fall Mountain community to gather qualitative data for the Fall Mountain School District in New Hampshire and Geisel’s Center for Health Equity who are partnering to address the needs of people with disabilities and those recovering from substance use in that region. Being able to talk to those in the community and hearing their stories and their experiences interests me,” he says.

With so many healthcare disparities in California, including homelessness, figuring out how to get people back on their feet, and providing the resources they need, is an important public health and issue. He acknowledges each communities’ problems are unique and there is no single solution, but he wants to actively be involved with the work being done.

Zaragoza says, “My goal was to write those stories to advocate for this population. But as a health administrator I can put organizational policies and procedures into place to solve problems—and that’s rewarding.”

POSTED 1/30/2025 AT 03:03 PM IN #education #publichealth #studentspotlight #healthcare #journalism #healthcareadministration