Captain Pattama Ulrich of the U.S. Public Health Service has deployed to the frontlines of public health emergencies around the U.S. and the world. The new scholar now seeks to make a broader impact with a nursing Ph.D. from UCF.
Her career, which spans more than two decades, is both impressive and impactful. Captain Pattama Ulrich of the U.S. Public Health Service is still inspired to do more.
She’s currently enrolled in UCF’s online nursing Ph.D. program to make a broader impact through research after witnessing first-hand the need for more scientists and scientific capacity during public health emergencies.
Serving Others
For Ulrich, the nursing Ph.D. is a continuation of a career dedicated to improving the health of communities — but it wasn’t her first career path.
She initially pursued international work, earning an international business administration diploma from Stamford School of Management. While she was working at the Embassy of India in Bangkok in an administrative role, she witnessed the impact of foundations and volunteers in caring for the community.
“I felt that I could do more to take care of those people as a volunteer myself,” says Ulrich. That’s when she learned about the World Health Organization and decided to pursue a career in nursing.
“It was one of the best decisions I made,” she says. “Nursing is so flexible and there are so many opportunities.”
As a new nurse in a hospital ICU step-down unit, Ulrich began working part-time for a public health department. This sparked her interest in public health and she transitioned to a full-time role as the first pandemic influenza planner while also volunteering with the American Red Cross.
She continued her education and work in the field, earning a master’s degree in public health with a focus on emergency preparedness and collaborating with researchers and scientists conducting research in avian influenza. After completing her master’s degree, she learned of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS)— a uniformed service— and was commissioned as an officer in 2009.
The USPHS, which reports to the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, has the mission to protect the health of the nation and respond to public health and medical emergencies. Ulrich has deployed in response to the West African Ebola epidemic, COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., and countless natural disasters in various roles including chief nursing officer in the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her 16-year career, Ulrich has also served as program manager working with scientists and global partners to build pandemic preparedness capacity using a One Health framework.
“With emerging infectious disease, you need to be able to understand, prepare and prevent to have a better response.”
“I was really inspired about what science can do and I realized that we really need scientists,” Ulrich says.
When not responding to health emergencies, Ulrich has served as a nurse leader. Most recently, she was health system administrator for the Yosemite Medical Clinic — the first USPHS officer to manage a medical facility in a national park.
“The park is unique as we support search and rescue, respond to injuries from natural hazards, provide care for mental health, urgent care, occupational health, and primary care for those who work and live in the park as well as visitors because otherwise they would have to travel two or three hours to access care,” she says.
Currently, she is serving as clinical operations officer at the Orlando Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System in Florida supporting clinical operations and overseeing communities of practice for acquisition and program management professionals. The Orlando VA Medical Center is close proximity to UCF’s new Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion.
“I heard about UCF when I began my assignment at the Orlando VA Medical Center,” says Ulrich, who began the program part-time last fall. “It was well rated and had online options, so it’s super convenient.”
Seizing Opportunities
At UCF, Ulrich is seizing opportunities to grow her research skills and impact.
She recently became a member of Sigma, the international honor society of nurses, serves on the International Society of Exposure Science technical organizing committee, and was accepted as a scholar of the Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinician Scientists — building upon her second master’s degree in environmental public health. She also.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences-funded program mentors future environmental health nurse and clinician scientists.
“The institute is an incredible opportunity to learn how to identify and wield environmental exposure information and hands-on learning of validated interventions and instrumentation,” says Associate Professor Rebecca Koszalinski, a past participant of the program. “The experience will add to Pattama’s existing knowledge and experience and help lead to her continued impact in the field.”
Ulrich’s academic work and research focus on environmental public health, ecological risk assessment, global health and physical inactivity, artificial intelligence, nudge theory and computation.
She is working with faculty advisor and Associate Professor Jean Davis as co-investigator on an NIH-funded study on the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for pregnant women. The two-year study is using artificial intelligence optimization and nudge theory to achieve the recommended amount of physical activity in pregnant women to enhance health and improve outcomes.
“Pattama has a wealth of experience and knowledge to contribute and is expanding the study to include additional interest in screening for healthy food access,” says Davis.
Ulrich seeks to build a foundation with her research, one that can be continued and one where others can learn from, adopt and adapt to make better.
“Nurses are the largest healthcare workforce in the world,” she says. “I’m always thinking about sustainable development and making a broader impact on a global scale.”
“All of my experiences and the support that I have received from UCF’s College of Nursing, my mentors, coaches, professors and family have allowed me to pay it forward.”
Article by Julie Harper ’01
Photo by Melanie Cedeño-Lopez
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