Yeh recalls that in those days, very few graduates of NTU's College of Medicine were willing to work in the public health sector, which was in dire need of fresh recruits. Young and full of idealism, Yeh felt that in the future he would have other opportunities to do clinical work, and never thought that he was taking a different path altogether.
葉金川回憶，當時很少醫學系學生願意走入公衛領域，但公衛界亟需生力軍，只因自己年輕，有理想性，以為日後還有機會回到臨床工作，想不到就此走上一條完全不同的路。