Alumni Profile: Gail Emrick

Gail Emrick, MPH/MIA ’87

Gail is Executive Director of Southeast Arizona Area Health Education Center (SEAHEC), Nogales, AZ, and Writer and Narrator of the documentary, A Story of Migration: My Tale of Two Cities.

Gail is based in Nogales, AZ, the largest border crossing from Mexico to the United States in Arizona. From her office window, she takes in the panoramic views of the hillsides in Mexico, as well as the border wall that was more recently erected. This puts Gail directly on the front lines of migration.

Tell us about the work you are currently doing at SEAHEC.

The mission of SEAHEC is to address the health workforce shortage, especially in primary care, in rural and border communities of Arizona. To achieve this aim, we conduct three pillar programs.
The first program—Future Health Leaders—develops a pipeline of future healthcare providers (HCPs). We practice a “grow our own” philosophy by offering health career clubs for high school students. We also identify mentors to inspire students to not only go to college, but to pursue health-related careers and then come back and serve in their communities.
Our second program focuses on health professions student training opportunities. We help medical, pharmacy, nursing, public health, physician assistant, and nurse practitioner students identify clinical sites and support them with housing, transportation, and other needs. SEAHEC works with students from our public and private universities. We have interns from Columbia Mailman and have hosted many practicum projects over the years.
The border region is culturally unique, so it is a true learning lab for students. Students not only learn the community’s health needs, but also understanding the root causes of migration and social determinants of health and cultural humility.
Our third program is continuing education and medical education for HCPs, which helps to retain providers, keeping their clinical skills up to date, while focusing on the challenges and opportunities of serving rural communities. We have passionate providers who are dedicated to our underserved communities and it is important to allow them to continue their training.

Can you describe the journey you’ve taken to arrive at the work that you are doing now?

My journey started in high school when I spent two summers in Central America volunteering with an organization called Amigos de las Americas. In my first year (at only 16 years old!), I was in Nicaragua vaccinating local families against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and polio with Ministry of Health workers. I spent my second summer in the Guatemala highlands doing oral hygiene education in rural schools. Both countries were experiencing major upheavals due to corrupt dictatorships and civil wars. Seeing how these larger conflicts impacted the indigenous communities I was working with taught me about the politics of healthcare at a young age.
These experiences inspired me to pursue training in public health and Latin American political and economic development through a dual master’s program with Mailman’s Department of Population and Family Health and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). This essentially allowed me to study the social determinants of health long before the concept had an official name.
While at Mailman, I was part of a group called “Health Workers in Support of Central America.” Public health, medical, and nursing faculty and students worked together to raise awareness about the atrocities sponsored by the U.S. government in Latin America. Being involved in this group helped further my passion for working in this region.
When I graduated, I turned down a job in New York City to instead return to Central America as a volunteer with a Mayan Women’s Health Network. I still vividly remember the day when I flew from New York, with its noise and traffic and gleaming skyscrapers, and landed back in Guatemala—the contrast between the big city and the small village was so stark.
The malnutrition rate in these villages was over 50–75 percent, and violence was omnipresent. Soldiers would stop buses and force everyone off to recruit young people for the ongoing conflict. It was a traumatizing yet exciting time. It felt so hard to impact the big picture, but I also knew the work we were doing was unbelievably valuable.
I have had the opportunity to hold many positions since then, including a role as the director of a regional food security project in Central America, and a consultancy with the World Food Program. I am also fortunate to have raised my children in El Salvador as bicultural and bilingual “global citizens” before moving back to the United States in the early 2000s.

What career accomplishments are you most proud of?

I believe that the greatest impact I have had was as a recent Columbia graduate working with villagers in Guatemala on issues of malnutrition and reproductive health. This was a time when accompaniment was key, as there was not social media then and people needed to bear witness to what was happening in terms of genocide of indigenous communities.
But I am most proud of the work that I am doing now. SEAHEC is a conduit between students and transformational learning experiences. Because of my previous international health positions, I learned a lot about accompaniment and connecting others with resources (funding, technical assistance, etc.) At this stage in my profession, I love exposing young students to experiences where they learn to be compassionate, patient, and persistent health providers. Reaching students has a powerful multiplier effect and is extremely rewarding!

Why did you decide to make your documentary, A Story of Migration: My Tale of Two Cities?

The goal of this documentary is to show people that you can choose to be part of a dignified solution in helping others address their problems—which are societal problems—if you choose to be informed. The United States has an opportunity to do the right thing by our neighbors and to be a more compassionate presence in our global society. I hope that this documentary helps to encourage that change.

In your documentary, you talk about the three factors that are critical in influencing migration decisions: racism, economics, and violence. You also describe the restrictive rules for granting asylum in the USA. What are the most critical changes we can make to address these challenges?

For true immigration reform, there are both push and pull factors that need to be addressed. The first step is changing the root causes of migration through foreign investment in interventions and assistance, and associated policies, that allow people to live a dignified life in their own country. This should be done strategically by targeting the countries from which people are most likely to migrate to the U.S. and focusing on issues related to water and education.
Second, more money needs to be put into our legal system to process applications faster, rather than investing more in border control. The recent change to streamline the citizenship process from 20 years to 8 years is a great first step.
Finally, the definition of what is legal to be able to claim asylum must be updated. Our original definition was created after World War II to address genocide. It doesn’t recognize many modern reasons for seeking asylum. For example, gang violence and persecution in Central America and drug violence in Mexico are not considered permissible reasons to seek asylum under current laws but are huge drivers of migration from these countries.

How did your time at Mailman influence your career?

Mailman influenced me in so many ways. New York is a great microcosm of cultures and traditions, and as a student you absorb things by osmosis in an incredibly unique way. At Mailman and SIPA, the classes were small and had engaging faculty. I always enjoyed the intense and respectful debates with my classmates and the opportunity to hear so many different perspectives. We had such inspiring lecturers, readings, guest speakers— I could go on!
The student group I was part of while I was at Mailman enabled me to go to Guatemala. That’s where my journey back to Central America started, as well as my career-long interest in the impact of economics on health. I also love that Mailman alumni are doing such interesting things around the world. The alumni network is immensely powerful and I continue to value it long after graduating from the program.

What advice would you give current Mailman students starting their own careers?

Follow your passion! Life is too short to do anything else. When I went back to volunteer in Guatemala after graduation, some people thought it was ridiculous, but I have absolutely no regrets. “Follow your passion” may sound trivial and trite, but if you don’t then you’re shortchanging yourself and the world.

– Suzanne Kirkendall, MPH ’18