Dr. Michele McCay is a senior Health Sciences lecturer at DePaul. Dr.McCay teaches several courses in the Health Sciences department with a special interest in maternal and child health, public health practice, and global health. Dr. McCay has also worked with public health initiatives that focus on the diverse issues affecting women, children, and families.
Dr. McCay has led multiple Global Engagement projects. She previously offered a Global Learning Experience (GLE) project in her Foundations of Maternal Health course, collaborating with faculty and students from the University of Ghana, Lagon. This past fall, Dr. McCay facilitated the Global Conversation: The Impact of COVID-19 on Public Health and Development in Africa and the Diaspora. Dr. McCay says she felt the Global Conversation session would be a great opportunity to discuss how public health has been effected on a global level, during the pandemic.
In her Global Conversation, Dr. McCay examined the COVID-19-related lockdown enforcement on access to food, health care and other necessities by people living in Africa and the diaspora. Partnered with faculty from the University of Uyo in Nigeria, Dr. McCay stated she wanted to “see and hear from students about what’s going on”. McCay noted the strong responses from participants at the University of Uyo. McCay was pleased that students from Nigeria were able to relate to issues DePaul students have also faced during the pandemic.
Dr. McCay will again offer a Global Learning Experience (GLE) project in her Spring 2021 HLTH 360 course, which will focus on the Foundations of Maternal and Child Health. Although the course is still in the planning process, Dr. McCay says she will be partnering with University of Uyo faculty again to continue the rapport with Nigerian students. Dr. McCay says she is “dedicated to increasing the relationship with the African continent”.
In addition to her global efforts, Dr. McCay is also the Lead Coach for the Department of Health Sciences Public Health Scholar Bowl Team. Dr. McCay earned the Master of Public Health degree (MPH) in Maternal and Child Health and the Doctor of Public Health in Leadership degree (DrPH) with a focus on Maternal and Child Health Leadership and Management from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.