Chandana Chitralekha, MPH

I attribute my success to the wonderful support system I have around me, both at home and at work, but also to my continuous drive and willingness to always keep going even when times get hard. Growing up hearing about healthcare from my mom definitely inspired me to enter the field. Even though my perfectionism has caused some stress, it has also always propelled me to do my best and maintain that drive even in tough times. Being adaptive has been incredibly valuable in my workplace and career. I never let challenges stop me from pushing forward, and I think that determination combined with the support of the people around me has been key to my success.

The best career advice I ever received was don't be afraid to ask for help. Growing up as an only child, I put so much pressure on myself and thought I had to do everything myself to prove myself and avoid putting strain on anyone else. But as I got older and received this feedback, I realized that asking for help wasn't a vulnerability but actually a strength. When I have the strength to ask for help, I can complete things even more efficiently and I don't have to be on the verge of burnout or prevent myself from reaching my fullest potential. I used to be such a perfectionist that I wouldn't cut myself any slack, which wasn't benefiting anyone. Now I still strive to put my best foot forward, but I give myself a little bit more grace, which has really been reflected not only in my work but also in my personal happiness and growth.

My advice to young women entering healthcare, especially as a woman of color in what is definitely a male-dominated field, is don't be afraid to speak your mind and put yourself out there. I think especially as women, sometimes we can be afraid to speak our minds because of how it might be perceived due to the unfortunate stigma in society. But you never know unless you try, and we never want to be the ones holding ourselves back. When you're out in the world, there are going to be people who try to hold you back, but you want to be able to hold your own and push yourself forward. Essentially, don't be afraid.

One of the biggest challenges I'm noticing right now is the advent of AI and how many companies, including my own, are adopting it. While I love innovating and changing the status quo to be more influential, the public health side of me knows we need to do this tactfully. I work with providers who may not have been exposed to AI as intensely as they are now, and there are always concerns about patient information safety and security. I think it's very important that we're careful about this. We can't just push out every AI initiative we can think of without understanding the impact on the people using and being influenced by these initiatives, both the providers and the patients. I don't want to be the type of company that just throws a change at the team that does all the work and says we hope you make it work. I want to make sure that AI initiatives are made for them, that it's not just good for us but they see a benefit in it too. The challenge is supporting the change management while being thoughtful about implementation.

The three values most important to me are open-mindedness, determination, and commitment. Open-mindedness is really huge for me because I feel like we can't really grow as people, whether we're in a work setting or a personal setting, if we aren't willing to be open-minded. Determination is critical because when I believe in myself and see people who believe in themselves and use that belief to drive their work and empower them, it shines very brightly. As cheesy as it sounds, that self-belief and determination makes all the difference. And commitment is really big for me too because it's not just about going out and doing something, but actually being able to stick to it and see it through. Those three values guide everything I do.