How do you go from running tuberculosis programs in rural Bihar to studying at Oxford and eventually working with WHO Africa? There is no clean answer — and that is sort of the point.

In this episode, I sit down with Dyuti Sen to talk about what a public health career actually looks like when you do not start as a doctor, do not have a linear plan, and refuse to pretend the journey was smooth.

Dyuti studied economics, then entered the development sector through a social leadership fellowship in India. That fellowship dropped her into Dalsinghsarai in Bihar — not a posting you would find on a glossy career brochure. She spent five years there working on tuberculosis, community health delivery, and the enormous gap between what policy says on paper and what happens when a patient in a remote village needs treatment. She calls those years her real master's degree, and after hearing the details, you will understand why.

We get into what public health work looks like day to day — the fieldwork, the project management, the bureaucracy. Why "free medicine" does not automatically mean people can access it. Why community health workers carry deep practical expertise that often gets overlooked. And why the distance between a well-designed health policy and its execution on the ground is where the real work lives.

Then we talk about her Oxford journey. How she shortlisted master's programs, why scholarships were non-negotiable, what shifted after getting into International Health and Tropical Medicine, and how she later navigated the confusing world of WHO and UN applications. If you have ever stared at a UN job portal and thought "how does anyone actually get hired here?" — Dyuti walks through it with real specifics.

This conversation is for anyone interested in global health careers, public health in India, international development pathways, WHO jobs, Oxford scholarships, or what it takes to build a meaningful international career from a non-medical background. No fluff, no fairy tale — just the real version of the path.

Guest: Dyuti SenHost: Naman Pandey

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this conversation are personal and do not represent WHO or any affiliated institution.

Chapters:00:00 Dyuti's journey into public health03:52 Experiences in Bihar: a unique perspective06:39 Adapting to rural life and community dynamics09:14 A day in the life: from fieldwork to project management12:11 Challenges in public health: insights from the ground13:58 The importance of community health workers16:58 Lessons learned: the reality of public health work20:01 Battling tuberculosis in Bihar28:24 Navigating the application process for graduate studies36:09 Navigating scholarship applications and mindset39:19 India vs. the West: contrasting public health perspectives48:48 Journey to WHO: career path and lessons01:01:15 Understanding WHO's role in global health01:06:15 Future aspirations in public health