In 1996 after graduating as medical doctor in India, I started my career working in rural public primary health centre. That’s when I got exposed to many national health programs and started understanding the importance of public health. I started analysing the gap between clinical and public health in the Indian Health System. Working in a rural village helped me understand how difficult it is for the people to access quality healthcare and also realised my interest towards public health. I started exploring career options in the field of public health and learnt that having an international degree at that time had more value as India was not offering PG course in Public Health. I started exploring universities in UK and USA, realising there was a huge difference in the process of selection and cost of education between two countries. Then I started exploring universities in UK and decided to apply to the University of Wolverhampton for Master of Public Health Course. The University offered modules I was interested in and reviews about the University looked nice, and the course fee compared to other universities in the UK which offered same course was reasonable and affordable for me. Luckily my application was accepted by the University and rest is history now. I was the first person in the family travelling abroad, alone too. It was a very tense moment for the family and for me too, thinking how I will manage alone in a new country without family support. I enrolled in the University of Wolverhampton in the month of February 2005. At the time of joining, I was very nervous, anxious and lacked confidence to communicate. But it did not take too long to realise teachers were very friendly and the University support system was good. I did not face any difficulty in accessing information I wanted, or access to teachers to discuss. Classes used to be very informative and to the point. Assessing students through assignment was a new concept for me, as it was always exams in India, but the teachers made it easy by helping and guiding me appropriately. The library had all the books and materials I required. Teaching in the University was more interactive and students were encouraged to ask questions and discuss. Group work/assignment/presentation again was something new for me and I enjoyed working with the group. It helped me realise my ability to work with the group smoothly and take lead to complete the given task. It also helped me understand my lack of presentation skills and my fear of public speaking, but teachers were kind enough to encourage and push me to get that confidence. Writing assignments was a big thing for me. I had no previous experience, but teachers were so kind to give me appointments to meet and discuss during my first semester till I could understand what is expected out of an assignment and how is it marked. The 2nd semester made me more comfortable and I started realising how the teaching was in the University and assessment methods; presentations made me read many books, articles to understand better. I started appreciating how the relationship between student and teacher makes learning easy. In short, by the end of course, I was a well-informed person about the subject, and was an independent and confident person who could speak her mind. Studying gave me a direction to my career; it paved a pathway to a successful professional career, and allowed me to become involved in helping communities/people in need. I’m so happy that I am still in touch with a few of my teachers and interact with them occasionally. That is the kind of relationship this University builds with the students.

My course gave me many career opportunities. I had the option to be a researcher, or practice as a public health specialist, or take up health promotional route or be an health advocate or mix of them. That was the beauty of studying in the University of Wolverhampton, gave a multiple options as a carrier, which always comes handy as a professional. • In 2009, I started working as a research officer in India at the Institute of Public Health, exploring to understand issues in the urban poor community. I have since been involved in multiple country-based research projects and project management. • Currently I work as the Director of Sarvagna Health Care Institute, a non-for-profit trust, in the city of Bengaluru. This is my brainchild and we provide a free comprehensive primary care and dialysis service. This health centre started in 2014 and has more than 21,500 registered individuals, and in that nearly 3,500 individuals are suffering from NCDs. Around 1,000 of them receive free treatment every month, conducted more than 17,000 free dialysis and provided over 70,000 consultations making a difference to the family and community. • I also work as Project Director for tobacco control program an Initiative by Bloomberg Philanthropies and World Health Organisation. Through advocacy we brought in new laws to control tobacco consumption and orders to control public place smoking. Our success was recognised and awarded as one of the best performing cities in the 4th Asia Pacific Cities Alliance for Tobacco Control and NCDs Prevention Summit held in Indonesia in 2019. • I’m the CEO and co-founder of Feel@Home Senior Care Centre in Bengaluru. • I’m member of Taskforce created by State Government to strengthening NCD policies • Nominated by State Government as an member of Governing Council of Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences. - I worked as Adjunct Assistant Professor, Western University, Ontario, Canada mentoring Master of Public Health students for their project work. - I was fortunate to get a full scholarship to enrol for Implementation Sciences and Public Health Leadership Program in the Emory University, Atlanta, USA. - Was member a of Ethics Committee at the Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru. - My contribution to the society was recognised and awarded with the most prestigious “Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Award” by the Government of Karnataka.