For Anika Krishnamurti, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying economics and global health, public health has always been about more than what happens inside a clinic. It is about understanding the systems and communities that shape people’s health long before they seek medical care.
Her interest in community-centered public health grew after studying abroad in Nepal the summer after her freshman year.
“It really solidified my interest in public health, wanting to work within communities and understand how public health impacts them, and also how they impact the health of their own community and environments,” Anika said.
When she discovered the Center for Patient Partnerships’ Community Resource Navigator Program (CRNP), she saw an opportunity to connect those interests with hands-on community work.
“I thought the Resource Navigator Program really embodied what I was looking for in a community-focused program in college,” she said. “I don’t really know of any other programs at UW or at other universities that have this sort of community impact.”
Through the program, Anika worked directly with community members navigating complex challenges related to health care, housing, transportation, and other essential needs. Those conversations quickly showed her how closely these barriers are connected.
“Health care is a lot more than just your physical and mental health,” she said. “If someone doesn’t have transportation, how can they get to their medical appointments? How can they take their kids to school? “It’s not just one thing. It’s this, and it’s this, and it’s this, and they’re all connected with one another.”
In addition to her work as a navigator, Anika participated in a Covering Wisconsin pilot program, where she helped Madison residents understand their health insurance options and connect with enrollment support. The experience strengthened her ability to listen carefully and ask the right questions to help clients find the support they need.
“I think before Covering Wisconsin, I was just asking general questions in terms of ‘Is there anything I can help you with?’” Anika said. “After the pilot program, I feel like I can dig into it a little bit more and really figure out what questions to ask and how to ask them appropriately.”
As she prepared her graduate school applications, Anika found herself returning to what she learned through her work at CPP. Advocacy became a central theme in her applications.
“You’re advocating on behalf of someone you don’t personally know,” she said. “It builds this empathy and compassion for another person.”
This spring, Anika was accepted to several graduate programs, including Master of Public Health (MPH) and Master of Health Science (MHS) programs at NYU, Tufts, Boston University, Emory, and Johns Hopkins. She plans to pursue health economics and focus on the broader systems that shape health inequities.
Reflecting on her time with the Community Resource Navigator Program, Anika says the experience was pivotal not only to her graduate school applications but to the direction of her career.
“I think it really solidified my interest in working with communities and seeing the impact that health policy has on local communities, but also the importance of involving local communities in shaping these health and economic policies,” Anika said. “I would say it’s been a deciding factor in my decision of where to go to grad school, in terms of the support that schools have for these types of programs, or if they have anything similar there, because it’s definitely a work that I want to continue.”
Anika recommends any student interested in public health or community advocacy apply for CPP’s Community Resource Navigator Program.
“This program has helped me become more compassionate, more empathetic, more grateful for the position that I’m in,” she said. “It goes without saying that it’s changed my entire trajectory in life.”