Dana Dillard, a Mississippi State assistant professor with the Department of Sociology, has spent 25 years caring for a vulnerable group of people.

“I didn’t know the burn community was a field in which I would find my passion,” she said.

While working on her master’s degree in social work at the University of Georgia, Dillard took a chance on an opportunity outside of the classroom to explore different aspects of the career by joining a service-learning course working with people who had burn injuries.

From volunteering at a camp in Georgia for individuals with burn injuries to becoming the program director for the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation, she realized a fulfilling career for several years but still felt something more could be in her future.

With a drive for social work, teaching and volunteering, she decided it was time to pursue a Ph.D. After completing this at the University of Georgia, Dillard pivoted her career from the field to the classroom. With 20 years of practical experience—including social work, school social work and nonprofit program design—she began her higher education teaching in 2019.

“This experience is invaluable to classroom instruction given that students want to hear about ‘real world’ experiences in the field,” she said. “Academia is uniquely positioned. We can collaborate and develop connections to individuals, communities and organizations within the context of research and service. We also get the privilege of teaching and mentoring the next generation of professionals for our chosen discipline.”

Dillard’s role with MSU allows “those worlds to coalesce in a meaningful way, and even more so when I have the opportunity to engage students in these high impact environments,” she said.

“I think it’s critical that students entering the workforce do so with their eyes wide open. Social work is grounded in social justice. It is a rewarding field, but it’s riddled with challenges. The moments I see students make connections between classroom and ‘real’ world are a gift to me as an educator.”

Today, Dillard assists the burn community as a mental health professional for the International Association of Fire Fighters Burn Survivor Summit in Washington, D.C.

This summer she attended two burn camps, Camp I Am Me hosted by the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance and also the Children’s Colorado Burn Camp, where she served on the psychosocial team.

“I’ve decided my full-circle moment will be when I can engage a group of social work students in some kind of high impact service-learning activity within the burn community.”

Editor’s note: The American Burn Association’s Southern Region Burn Center Conference is Oct. 10-13. The ABA estimates 486,000 burn injuries are treated annually, approximately 40,000 require hospitalization.