leslie salamanca-sotelo

Throughout my time at the University of Utah, I grew an immense passion for public health, thereby deciding to pursue degrees in Health, Society & Policy and Sociology. I did a whole lot of really cool things as an undergrad such as conducting a research study with my hometown health department to better understand the health care needs and resources that different populations, emphasizing on the Latinx community, have access to while taking into account different socio-economic factors within the community. I have also had the opportunity to become an ambassador with the Utah System of Higher Education to empower students in grades 8-12 from the Salt Lake valley to pursue a higher education and prepare them and their families for the transition into college.

I plan to pursue a master’s degree in public health with an emphasis in social epidemiology. I am interested in studying the overlap between the social determinants of health and educational attainment in the Latinx community, as well as other areas such as racial disparities and infant/maternal mortality. With support from the Health, Society & Policy Program and the Hinckley Institute internship program, I completed a national internship at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington D.C. with the Administration for Children and Families. My ultimate career goals include directing a community health program focused on increasing access to quality health and education resources, completing my MPH and pursing a PhD. 

I chose the HSP major because it had endless possibilities and I was able to customize it to what I wanted to accomplish within the major. At the beginning of my freshman year I was undeclared but I knew I wanted to focus on serving people so decided to schedule an academic advising meeting just to get a feel of the major. I knew that it was perfect for me so I ended up declaring it that same day and I’m so glad I did! The people within the department helped me tie both of my majors together to help me accomplish my goals.