PIHOA recognizes Paletaoga & Dr. Amoa

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Meghan Paletaoga and Dr. Francine Amoa have been recognized by the Pacific Island Health Officers Association (PIHOA) as the Fellow of the Year and Site Supervisor of the Year, respectively.

The awards were announced at last week’s PIHOA Summit in Honolulu.

Under the Pacific Public Health fellowship Program, interested students wanting to work in public health get to shadow local appointed host sites for a period of 2 years. Selected fellows are provided a living allowance and equipment to use during their fellowship period, for example, a laptop.

The fellows are placed in a variety of settings such as Pharmacy, Laboratory services, Preventive Programs, such as Tobacco Control and Diabetes Management or Maternal Child Health Services.

At the end of the mentoring program, the fellows will chose whether to further their studies or continue to work in the programs they have been under.

Meghan Paletaoga, who was recognized as the fellow of the year for Cohort 4, was mentored under the Maternal Child Health Division. During her presentation at the PIHOA summit, Meghan quoted the Samoan proverb, “O le ala i le pule o le tautua,” or “The pathway to leadership is through service,” suggesting that her experience in public health is molding and preparing her to be a public health leader in the future.

Dr. Francine Amoa was recognized as the Host Site Supervisor for Cohort 5. Dr. Amoa provides mentorship in Pharmacy for the Cohort participants.

American Samoa has five fellows under the Pacific Public Health Fellowship Program, the most among all participating Pacific jurisdictions.