Dr Elinor Millar

Dr Elinor Millar, MPH Graduate.

Elinor Millar is a medical doctor who is currently undertaking specialist training with the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine.

Elinor's interest in Public Health began at medical school: "I was always interested in the big picture. The basic concepts of public health – preventing disease and promoting health – made so much sense to me."

After finishing medical school she worked for a few years on the wards, which helped consolidate the decision to pursue a career in public health. "I loved aspects of hospital medicine, but I found myself thinking about the common causes underlying so many medical issues: poverty, housing, education, employment and the wider social and political environment in which people live. I was interested in finding out how to address these big issues."

The first stage of training to become a public health physician involves completing a Masters in Public Health, which Elinor completed through the University of Otago in Wellington.

"Throughout the MPH I had some truly inspiring lecturers and I had excellent supervision for my master's dissertation. I really valued the small class sizes and loved the fact that people came to study public health from such varied backgrounds, which always led to interesting class discussions. I have learnt so much from my studies at Otago and am excited about putting this knowledge into action."

Elinor is now working towards completing her public health training and is currently working at Regional Public Health at Hutt Hospital.