Walden University Master of Public Health graduate Tanisha Harding was recently awarded a Commander’s Coin by Col. Susan R. Hall in recognition of Harding’s service to Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. The Commander’s Coin is a highly prized symbol of recognition that military commanders may award to individuals who demonstrate exceptional service.

Harding, a former Air Force captain, was completing the field practicum for her degree by working at the base’s public health office.

“It is the exception, not the rule, that graduate students seek to complete their practicum in the military setting,” says Hall, commander of the 14th Medical Group. “So when Ms. Tanisha Harding sought out the medical clinic which I command, I jumped at the opportunity.”

During her time on the base, Harding observed and participated in a variety of tasks that fall under Air Force Public Health responsibility, including patient education, food facility sanitation, disease surveillance, occupational injury and illness prevention, and immunization tracking.  Specifically, Harding assisted with projects such as the base’s “Biggest Loser Contest” finale, updating the food storage training booklet, and investigating complaints of a “sick” house.

It was during her third year in the Air Force that Hall decided to use her bachelor's in biology to pursue an advanced degree in public health. “I heard about Walden from the base education office and other avenues and decided to give it a try,” Harding says.

The flexibility of the online program allowed her to relocate as she and her husband (still active-duty Air Force) were required to do. With her master's degree in hand, she is off to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where her husband is currently stationed.

September Ponder front page