How I Put Together the Stories I Tell You

Sometimes, I just write. Other times, I fact check myself before I wreck myself.

René F. Najera, MPH, DrPH
6 min readJun 2, 2024

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Person writing in a planner on a wooden desk, surrounded by a laptop, tablet, coffee cup, glasses, book, and several printed photographs.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

I’ve had to write for every one of my classes since grade school. Whether I was learning basic Spanish in the 1980s in Juárez, or advanced epidemiology in the 2010s in Baltimore, I have always had to put together some sort of narrative for other people to read. Heck, I’ve even given fiction writing a try.

But I don’t call myself a writer. Even with my 1000+ followers on Medium, I’m more of a “story teller” than a “writer.”

A Method to My Madness and the Tools I Use

The stories I put together for you don’t come out of a vacuum. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that I have a pattern to them: a personal story about me or someone I know, followed by a public health problem and its epidemiology, and then some suggestions on what you should do. Or, if I’m writing about data analysis and coding, I weave in some real-life applications from my time as an epidemiologist.

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René F. Najera, MPH, DrPH
René F. Najera, MPH, DrPH

Written by René F. Najera, MPH, DrPH

DrPH in Epidemiology. Public Health Instructor. Father. Husband. "All around great guy." https://linktr.ee/rene.najera

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