M.P.H. alum dives into swim safety for award-winning capstone
Rose McMullen graduated with her Master of Public Health from VCU’s School of Public Health in May 2026. Earlier that spring, she presented her capstone project on a topic she’s actively invested in: teaching kids to swim.
This capstone project, titled “The Effectiveness of Second Grade Learn to Swim Programs in Virginia Public Schools” earned her the Non-traditional Thesis/Capstone Project Award from VCU Graduate School, part of an annual award series for recent graduates.
Her project was inspired by her current role as a swim instructor and her history as a competitive swimmer. McMullen grew up swimming and swam competitively at the University of Mary Washington all four years of her undergraduate studies. Swim lessons and drowning prevention are not always considered a public health measure, so McMullen aimed to dive deeper and consider its efficacy through that framework.
To do so, McMullen worked with Henrico County’s Learn2Swim program to examine the impact of its swim lessons. This county-wide program launched in 2021 in the local public schools to teach second graders to swim. It is free for all students, regardless of economic status. During her two-year study, McMullen found that while there were promising improvements in the acquisition of swim skills on average across all participants, these gains were not consistent by program location. As part of her agreement with the county when she started the study, she shared her report and outlined the inconsistencies between facilities to help the organization address the issues. The county may use this to improve its programming and to access additional grant funding in the future.
Dip into personal experience for public health improvement
McMullen always saw herself as a problem-solver. Her mom works with public health professionals and this sparked a desire to build a similar career where she could help people. That’s what led her to pursue an M.P.H. at VCU with a concentration in epidemiology.
It seems VCU was the right call, since McMullen is now the fourth M.P.H. student to win this award in as many years. She credits the program structure with playing a role in her success.
She explained the format of the capstone at VCU allows a student to work with their teacher or advisor on any topic they find interesting. It’s open-ended and can be adjusted to fit the student’s experiences.
“I got to pick something I specifically liked,” McMullen explains. “I could take my personal experience and put a public health lens on it.”
Her advisor Elizabeth Prom-Wormley, Ph.D., M.P.H. — also a graduate of the M.P.H. program — nominated her for this award.
“Rose is very passionate about translating her MPH skills to support public wellness through aquatics activities,” said Prom-Wormley. “This passion was exemplified through her relentless pursuit and enthusiasm to complete this project, even when some aspects of her work were uniquely challenging.”
McMullen agrees it was a challenge, and she has advice for students starting their projects this fall. “Take what you do as an individual and try to find out how you can improve people’s livelihood. I’m a swim instructor and that has been a growing concern in the Richmond community. So take your experiences and take that to public health.”
“As an M.P.H. graduate of VCU, it is a delight to see our students evolving and to be able to support their development towards unique projects like this,” Prom-Wormley added.
Special thanks to Epidemiology Ph.D. candidate Kevin Ball, M.P.H. (2018), and Medhin Haile, Ph.D. (2024). These team members graciously shared their time to review and comment on McMullen’s drafts and offer suggestions related to data analysis.
Categories Awards, MPH, public health research, Student success