Alumni Spotlight: Blake Reilly

HBS alum, Blake Reilly, MSPH ’19, talks health communication, higher education administration, and how COVID-19 has impacted his role as an assistant dean at Bates College.

Hometown: Lewiston, Maine
Graduation year: Class of 2019
Program: MSPH in Health Education & Health Communication
Fun fact: “I have a twelve-pound rabbit named LJ!”

Q: What inspired you to pursue a public health education?

A: I started my career right after finishing my undergrad degree at Connecticut College. My first job was in higher ed, working as a coordinator of residence life at Bates College.

In that position, I was taking on multiple roles, many linked to addressing facets of public health. Those projects involved everything from supporting student leadership on the residence life staff to rolling out a bystander intervention program to helping develop an incoming-student alcohol education program with one of my colleagues.

So, my training during my employment got me very interested in thinking about public health on a larger scale, thinking about factors that influence the way individuals interact with the world and the role of social determinants of health in all facets of life. That’s what led me to decide to pursue public health as a master’s degree.

Q: What led you to HBS and JHSPH?

A: When I was applying to graduate programs, I was looking for a public health program that aligned with my interests, especially analyzing social determinants of health and health promotion, but it wasn’t easy to find one. When I finally came across HBS, the MSPH seemed to align perfectly with what I was looking for: a very holistic, community-oriented, collaborative approach to public health.

I also realized, after working in college administration, that I really enjoy administrative work. In addition to everything HBS offered, Hopkins had this large public health infrastructure that gave me room to explore other disciplines as well.

Along with my MSPH from HBS, I got a certificate in Health Finance and Management. It was great because it matched with my interests as an administrator. I took classes in human resources, budgeting, healthcare management, and all of that work has been directly applicable to what I’m doing now. JHSPH allowed me to explore multiple passions.

Q: What were some highlights of your time at HBS?

A: My standout experience, for sure, was my partnership with other students in HBS. One of my favorite parts about being at Hopkins was collaborating with my cohort on our class projects and building relationships.

As a cohort, we constantly found opportunities to hang out and get to know each other. That translated into our work. We built productive relationships where we could disagree with each other but still remain focused and continue to tackle public health issues and projects together. We were a very diverse group, and we were also very supportive of each other. That was huge for me.

Q: What were your research interests as a student at HBS?

A: One project I was involved with was a research collaboration with Connie Hoe and Ryan Kennedy, on public health implementation and dissemination models. Basically, I explored and researched different dissemination and implementation policy models recognized by the NIH to lay the groundwork for designing a tobacco control implementation mode.

I actually still work with Ryan through the Program Planning for Health Behavior Change class. I served as the TA for that class when I was a student, and since I’ve graduated, I continue to work with him to help organize the course, design the class structure and assignments, and co-teach.

Q: After HBS, you rejoined Bates College as an assistant dean of students in their Office of Residence Life and Health Education. How did you land your role, and what are some projects you’re working on now?

A: In terms of returning to Bates, it was just fortuitous that a position was available when I was looking for my practicum field placement experience.

In my role, I lead the college’s new student orientation programming. I also support health services. For health services, I’ve worked on a variety of programs, including collaborating with our manager for support services to introduce on-the-go STI testing. Through that program, students don’t need to physically visit a health clinic to have a doctor perform the STI test. Instead, they can test themselves. We designed this initiative to increase access to healthcare for more students. Right now, I’m also involved in COVID-19 operational planning efforts.

Q: How has COVID-19 changed your role at Bates? How have you leveraged your public health background as you’ve approached COVID-19 operational planning?

A: We’re in the midst of planning a phased return to campus for our students. It’s not a typical return in that students have a menu of items to choose from. They can choose to take the year off, study completely remotely, or come to campus for in-person study. Collaborating with faculty and staff, we have developed a set of plans focused on health, safety, quality, and equity.

With COVID-19, people crave information more than ever. We’re working to communicate information to our community in a way that that they’ll understand, which is a huge part of what I learned through my time at HBS.

A good example of that is we’re engaging first-year students on a daily basis across a range of channels and mediums. They’re looking for information. They want to interact with the college, to hear from us and begin building relationships with the community much earlier in the process, and we’re working to meet that demand.

Another example is my work with a team from health education, health services, and sports medicine designing a set of health behavior change videos for all students coming back to campus. The project integrates many health behavior change theories and is developed to promote certain health behaviors, like hand washing, social distancing, and wearing face coverings. It aligns so closely with the work I did as a student and the class that I’m now teaching with Ryan, which I think is pretty cool.

Q: How has the pandemic changed the way you envision public health’s role in higher education?

A: Part of the reason why I got a public health degree was because student health is so important to me. For me, the pandemic has truly highlighted why we need public health professionals in colleges and institutions. I think many schools don’t have them or have them in exclusively a health education or faculty role. As someone with a public health background, I feel like I have something to contribute that’s unique, now more than ever.

Q: What advice do you have for students beginning their public health journeys?

A: I think starting slow is important. You don’t need to overshoot your first term. You’re just starting to find your place. On my first day in HBS, we went around and talked about our goals. At that point, I had been out of school for four years, and my goal was simply to show up to class and readjust to learning in the classroom.

Also, give yourself time to explore and build relationships. Classes are really important, but the long-term relationships that you create during grad school are invaluable.

This interview has been edited and compressed.