{"id":204757,"date":"2021-12-02T21:48:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T02:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=204757"},"modified":"2021-12-02T10:24:03","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T15:24:03","slug":"204757","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2021\/204757\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Public Health and Law Intersect at So Many Different Points&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">alumni<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t&#8216;Public Health and Law Intersect at So Many Different Points&#8217;\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">After applying to law school on a whim, SPH alum Eddy Atallah is now a first-year associate attorney at a full-practice law firm in Georgia. <\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">December 2, 2021<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/mallory-bersi\/\">Mallory Bersi<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>School of Public Health alum Eddy Atallah (SPH\u201918) didn\u2019t intend on pursuing a career in law upon graduation. Like many MPH students, he had initially planned on attending medical school after receiving his degree, but a newfound interest in law began to grow during his time as a student studying epidemiology and health policy and law at SPH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2021\/12\/Eddy-Atallah-600x362-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-204759\" width=\"403\" height=\"243\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This interest was piqued even further when Atallah was named an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/practice\/activist-lab\/be-a-change-agent\/activist-fellowships\/\">Activist Fellow<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/practice\/activist-lab\/\">Activist Lab<\/a> and began working directly with the Massachusetts State Legislature on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2018\/what-is-regionalization-anyway\/\">regionalization project<\/a>, which aimed to restructure how public health was delivered across the Commonwealth. Throughout the year-long fellowship, he was exposed to the real-world work of healthcare attorneys for the first time and his eyes were opened to the possibility of a career at the intersection of science, healthcare, and policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe trajectory of my life really shifted after I came to SPH,\u201d he says. \u201cAs a first-generation Lebanese-American, I don\u2019t have any lawyers in my family. I had no idea what it meant to be a part of this field, but I knew I wanted to learn more, and that is what I have been doing ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After applying to law school \u201con a whim,\u201d Atallah, who recently passed the bar exam, is now a first-year associate attorney at a full practice law firm in Georgia, working across a variety of practice areas, including commercial and civil litigation, commercial transactions, and insurance defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of Atallah\u2019s favorite parts of working at his current law firm is that he is exposed to new challenges every day and is constantly growing in the field. He strongly encourages any public health student interested in policy to consider how a law background could shape their career. \u201cPublic health and law intersect at so many different points,\u201d he says, \u201cand there really are so many paths you can take to make an impact in this field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This diversity has already been reflected in Atallah\u2019s own career so far, as he spent his summers as a student at the University of Georgia School of Law working various internships within the private, public, and judicial sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an associate for a private healthcare analytics company, he worked on in-house matters surrounding healthcare contracts and data privacy. Later, he went on to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), conducting legal research and writing on issues related to food safety, global health, vaping, and more. While at the CDC, he also assisted with the release of the 2019 Surgeon General\u2019s Report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Atallah began working for the Georgia Hospital Association, where he summarized new pandemic-related legislation and emergency orders that were being released. He was also clerking for a state judge during this time, and <a href=\"https:\/\/libguides.law.gsu.edu\/VirtualJudicialInternshipProgram\">spearheaded a project<\/a> for the Georgia judiciary that compiled 25 student-created research guides analyzing various legal issues surrounding COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve done a lot so far,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I am still learning and building a picture of who I am as a legal professional. It has been really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Atallah highlights that the foundational public health knowledge he gained while at SPH has provided him with unique experience and perspective that has set him apart from others. This experience, he says, has even made him the \u201cgo-to healthcare and science guy\u201d at his current firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy time at SPH has been invaluable in preparing me for the work that I am doing now,\u201d he says. \u201cAt SPH, the community is incredibly strong and the people are so dedicated to the work that they do every day. It is such an inspiring environment to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>School of Public Health alum Eddy Atallah (SPH\u201918) didn\u2019t intend on pursuing a career in law upon graduation. Like many MPH students, he had initially planned on attending medical school after receiving his degree, but a newfound interest in law began to grow during his time as a student studying epidemiology and health policy and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14852,"featured_media":204759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"alumni","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[1750,1976,3380],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3520,3531,3541],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/204757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14852"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204757"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/204757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204795,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/204757\/revisions\/204795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204757"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=204757"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=204757"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=204757"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=204757"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=204757"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=204757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}