The Public Health Advocate (PHA) is an undergraduate publication featuring current public health issues with local, national, and international perspectives. The nation's first undergraduate public health publication, we are dedicated to educating our communities about current public health topics, and we provide students like you an opportunity to publish your work in our print issue or our online platform.

The main goal for this DeCal course is to help you develop and apply effective communication skills towards a variety of public health topics. As you engage with material presented during class and hear from professionals from a variety of different careers, we hope to provide you with deeper insight into ways you can effectively advocate and educate the public on relevant health issues. Previous speakers have included:

• Dr. Lee Riley, a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health;
• Tiffany Melendez, a health educator at UC Berkeley’s Tang Center;
• Patricia Taggart, Director of Medical Operations at La Clínica de La Raza;
• Erin Allday, a health reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle;
• Marilyn Chase, a lecturer at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism;
• Becca Freed, an associate director at Health Research for Action;
• Brett Israel, a former communications officer for UC Berkeley;
• Laura Klivans, a community health reporter for KQED; and
• Public Health Advocate alumni.

Ultimately, you can expect to utilize your written and spoken communication skills in your own articles as you learn the processes of researching, writing, and editing. We hope you will continue to apply these skills beyond the classroom and into your field of interest!

You can read some of our students' articles at https://pha.berkeley.edu/.