November 30, 2020

Story from the 2020 Annual Magazine of the Dornsife School of Public Health

Elina Paul, MPH ‘19, had only been working in the Department of Infection Prevention and Control at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as an infection prevention associate for several months before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“The best part about what I do is being able to be a public health professional in this time,” Paul said. “I can’t imagine experiencing [the pandemic] with any other team, honestly, because my team has been so amazing and so proactive. The work that we’re all doing is definitely important and meaningful.”

Before COVID-19, Paul’s job involved a bit less urgency, but was critical to the hospital’s functioning. As an infection prevention associate, she supports the Infection Preventionists by performing surveillance for, and mandatory reporting of, healthcare associated infections as well as responding to other infection prevention data requests.