Published in multiple medical and psychological journals, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn is respected for her research and its contributions to medicine. Whether it’s community participatory-based research or qualitative research, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn must select the best method available to ascertain the most accurate results.

But how do you know when to use qualitative research or quantitative research?

Dr. Destiny Ramjohn explains, “Quantitative research answers the data by quantifying the information from a sample of the general population. On the other hand, qualitative research focuses on the motivations or underlying reasons behind an issue.”

Methods of qualitative research that Destiny Ramjohn has used include:

• Direct observation. This refers to the process of simply observing people in their natural setting without any interaction or interference as an outsider.
• Interviews. Whether these are in-depth, one-on-one, or semi-structured, Destiny Ramjohn has used interviews during her work on the field. It’s important that these follow a conversational flow by allowing the respondent to naturally guide the discussion.
• Immersion. This involves the researcher going into the setting to “get native” to better provide evaluation and analysis.

While there are many more methods of qualitative research, Destiny Ramjohn acknowledges that these are some of the most common techniques she utilizes. “With qualitative research we have the opportunity to identify subtle nuances, which aggregate into major implications for a social or sociomedical process. Furthermore, thanks to the flexibility in this field of research, we can always engage in investigations as the need arises and adapt our methods as new changes in our environment,” says Destiny Ramjohn.

According to the latest research, as much as 4 percent of the servicemen and women who return from deployment suffer from mental health problems. From the emotional stress of prolonged deployment to the inherent stresses that come with war, our men and women in uniform are at great risk when it comes to mental health. Destiny Ramjohn, Ph.D. is a medical sociologist, program evaluator, and qualitative researcher who is incredibly passionate about mental health in the army.

However, with the massive debt facing the nation, cuts in the military are being made – cuts that could result in the Army losing a significant portion of funding to its mental health force. This would affect soldiers dealing with PTSD and other issues. While it remains to be seen exactly how budget cuts will affect the programs, the potential fallout looms in the coming months.

“This stresses the incredible importance of efficiency,” says Destiny Ramjohn, a program evaluator who uses qualitative research to make processes more efficient. “When we collectively work to examine adverse behavioral health outcomes and work to address those contextual factors that contribute to unneeded stress, we can better work to combat mental trauma in our armed forces.”

As a qualitative researcher who focuses on sociomedial issues, Destiny Ramjohn is passionate about the role medicine plays in our social, psychological, and emotional functions. “Our men and women in uniform protect our rights, so it’s important for the mental health medical community to protect theirs,” says Destiny Ramjohn

Human beings are an extremely curious species. We want to not only understand the world around us, but also gain a greater understanding of the universe – how it evolved and how it works. The reality, though, is that our world is ever-changing, evolving before our very eyes. Meet Destiny Ramjohn, an expert program evaluator and qualitative researcher. She has used her expertise to strengthen the greater medical community to better serve servicemen and women, women in foreign countries, and various organizations in the United States.

As part of her work, Destiny Ramjohn utilizes qualitative methods as one of the primary building blocks of her research framework. “Qualitative research methods are appropriately suited for specific types of research,” explains Destiny Ramjohn. “Unlike quantitative research, the results from qualitative research are rich in detail, explaining the hows and whys behind a circumstance. It’s absolutely crucial to maintain the distinction between measurable effects and the subjective effects of any study.”

Throughout her career, specifically as a program evaluator, Destiny Ramjohn has utilized document review, interviews, and focus groups to find the results she wants. Furthermore, grounded theory, comparison, taxonomy, hermeneutics, and many other qualitative analytic techniques have been used to help Destiny Ramjohn craft, suggest, and implement new program work processes.

“Many science theories can be successfully applied to public health practices,” urges Destiny Ramjohn. “When we collaborate to improve the efficiencies of any practice, we can ensure that more citizens have access to healthcare services and treatment.”

Destiny Ramjohn is a graduate of Columbia University.

Before becoming a respected researcher, analyst, and program evaluator, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn studied at Columbia University and served as a teaching assistant (TA) for a semester for a qualitative research methods course using ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software. During her time as a teaching assistant, Destiny Ramjohn created a new syllabus that improved learning, group activities, discussions, invited more guest lecturers, and increased the opportunities for hands-on analysis projects.

In fact, Destiny Ramjohn was so successful as a TA that not only did students give her “stellar” reviews in course evaluations, she also received departmental praise for improving student engagement and positive response. The reality is that a University TAs are an incredibly important role that young professionals must take seriously. Not only does it provide helpful skills and experience, but it also gives the professional an opportunity to work with a mentor and other experts in his or her field.

Dr. Destiny Ramjohn discusses how her experience helped her establish a successful career in sociomedical research.

“Working inside the classroom is one of the most important responsibilities of a teaching assistant,” says Destiny Ramjohn. “Aside from class structure, this also gives you the opportunity to learn more about your craft or area of expertise.”

“Furthermore, many teachers will require you to work outside of the classroom as well,” adds Destiny Ramjohn. “This actually gives you the opportunity to create a professional relationship with the professor, who can serve as a mentor as you grow your career.”

Indeed, with publications in multiple medical and psychological journals, it is clear that Dr. Destiny Ramjohn’s career benefitted significantly from her excellent work as a TA. In fact, after one semester she was promoted to full leadership of the class as an adjunct, which is not typical in a university like Columbia.

Throughout her career, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn has been awarded with multiple grants to help her pursue research, analysis, and create solutions to pressing medical issues. One of the most notable grants that Dr. Destiny Ramjohn received was from IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health, which allowed Destiny Ramjohn the opportunity to conduct fieldwork in three rural villages in Chennai, India.

“We have to remember that there’s an international framework to medicine and that health is a concern of every human being,” says Dr. Destiny Ramjohn. While in Chennai, India, Destiny Ramjohn had the opportunity to evaluate the Community Health Worker program and examine gender inequalities. During her time abroad, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn applied Rogers’ (1963) diffusion of innovations theory to the community’s health program. She hosted weekly trainings to boost morale for the staff and improve ethical guidelines and scientific procedures.

“There’s been a change in the way that the medical community has functioned in recent years,” acknowledges Dr. Destiny Ramjohn. “Previously, medical professionals would simply go abroad to try to provide care. Now, we’re trying to develop their own internal capacity and capability to train medical leaders, scientists, and clinicians.”

During the interview, we asked Dr. Destiny Ramjohn why she believes that global health matters. She told us that global health is important because of:

• Humanitarian reasons. “When you consider that an estimated 15 million children have been orphaned from AIDS, you understand that there’s a need to avert these global circumstances,” says Destiny Ramjohn.
• Direct impact. As our world is more connected, Destiny Ramjohn acknowledges that it’s easier for diseases to spread.
• Equity. Improving health globally will also help bring healthcare costs down, says Destiny Ramjohn. Ninety percent of costs are spent on 10 percent of the global population.

Throughout her career, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn has helped plan and execute medical studies and research, provide technical assistance to organizations, and demonstrated superior program evaluation expertise. In all of these circumstances, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn utilized technologies to not only make her workflow more efficient, but to improve the services of the organizations she serves.

In our exclusive interview with Dr. Destiny Ramjohn, we discussed her appreciation of medical technology and where she believes it is headed.

Why is medical technology so important?

“Technology is a crucial element to controlling healthcare costs and improving access,” says Dr. Destiny Ramjohn. “We can’t truly discuss healthcare reform unless we have a solid idea of how new technology will be implemented to make everything more efficient, ubiquitous, and helpful. An electronic medical record system, for instance, is certainly part of the package, but the technological solution doesn’t end there.”

Dr. Destiny Ramjohn then elaborated on various ways that technology has helped and changed the medical paradigm.

1.    The internet. “People can go online to get medical information that they want,” says Destiny Ramjohn. “While the internet is certainly no replacement from a doctor, we can use it to promote health campaigns concerning tobacco or AIDS and HIV. The internet can be a powerful tool for medical awareness.”
2.    Better treatment. One of the most obvious ways that technology has helped medicine is through better treatments, says Destiny Ramjohn.
3.    Efficiency. “An electronic database improves efficiency,” says Dr. Destiny Ramjohn. “This naturally ensures better care for the patient.”

Since graduating from Columbia University, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn has been recognized for her excellence in medical research and analysis. Her contributions to widely cited medical and psychological articles are respected among her peers and have defined a larger dialogue surrounding medicine and social change.

But aside from her medical expertise, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn is an incredible strategist and program evaluator as well. Recent career highlights that showcase her ability to evaluate programs and make suggestions for improvement include:

•    Behavioral Social and Health Outcomes Program. Destiny Ramjohn helped expand these into evaluation services as an architect of the new business practice.
•    New York State Health Foundation. Destiny Ramjohn designed a three-tier evaluation technical assistance program to boost efficiency and help the foundation achieve its goals.

In all of these cases, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn had to perform a strategic evaluation on the program to better provide suggestions for improvement. To accomplish this, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn performed the program evaluation in stages.

1.    Assess the needs. By searching for the specific needs of the program, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn could accurately determine where the current practices failed and succeeded. This allowed her to make the best analysis possible.
2.    Asses program theory. Once a program is designed, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn would have to assess the theory to ensure that it would work in an organization. By testing the theory, she could pinpoint weak spots and strengthen them.
3.    Assess implementation. After implementing a new program, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn acknowledges that there will be a transition period. By assessing the implementation, she can help make the transition period smoother.

Throughout her career, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn has performed research and analysis for various foundations, universities, federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations. The Columbia University graduate has dedicated her career to sociomedical issues and addressing them through targeted research and analysis.

Dr. Destiny Ramjohn has worked with a focus on her main professional interest, which is improving the military behavioral health protocols and evaluating programs. In her work, she is primarily interested in the way the military deals with behavioral health issues, and does research to facilitate improvements. “I work with researchers to address behavioral-health issues like suicidal and homicidal ideation among soldiers,” says Destiny Ramjohn.

Indeed, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn understands the incredible stress and pressures that our men and women in uniform face. Whether it’s post-traumatic stress disorder or other pressures, Dr. Destiny Ramjohn acknowledges the potential mental and health risks that can affect servicemen and women.

“Service members and veterans face unique challenges. From being separated from loved ones to the stressors that are inherent in extended deployment, there are a plethora of emotions that accompany being at war,” says Destiny Ramjohn. “Anxiety, substance abuse, and other behavioral health concerns must be considered when working with servicemen and women. In many cases, exposure to improvised explosive devises can also cause traumatic brain injury or multiple concussions. The ramifications are many.”

Using research to help others isn’t exclusive to the military, Destiny Ramjohn emphasized. She has used her research and analysis to help other demographics in society to address issues such as tobacco use and sexually transmitted diseases.

After her contribution to the article Making the Connections: Community Capacity for Tobacco Control in an Urban African American Community, we sat down with Dr. Destiny Ramjohn to discuss her viewpoints on tobacco control. Dr. Destiny Ramjohn is a graduate of Columbia University, and has established a career focused on research and analysis. She has contributed to many medical and psychological journals and has conducted studies using qualitative methodologies and community based participatory research.

One of the reasons we wanted to interview Dr. Destiny Ramjohn is because of her steadfast dedication to using her medical expertise and power for social change. Her research and career has consistently focused on bettering the greater community and providing specific solutions.

What made you want to focus on tobacco control in urban African American communities?

“Ultimately, the only way we can permanently improve the nation’s health is through creating a cornerstone of community-based public health,” says Dr. Destiny Ramjohn. “When the community works together through various facets to address an issue – such as tobacco use – we can create a long-term solution.”

“Of course, because we live in a free market society, it would be wrong to ban tobacco products,” Destiny Ramjohn elaborates, “but there are many ways we can make evidence based recommendations to encourage legislators to take action as well.”

Dr. Destiny Ramjohn explains how the US can learn from the EU Tobacco Products Directive. Currently, the there are some overlapping policies between the US and EU on tobacco products, but the Directive provides the guidelines for EU governments’ programs and actions.