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What was your driving factor for coming to ����vlog����? What were you hoping to get out of this experience?

I read an article in a medical journal a few years ago detailing how people who give birth near oil rigs are at higher risk of peripartum [the period shortly before, during, and immediately after giving birth] complications. It dawned on me that as a medical student, I would only learn about the clinical solutions to treat patients who suffered from these complications, but not the infrastructural, sociopolitical, and economic factors that influenced their health. 

This became even more salient in medical school. I had patients on my rotations who had housing or insurance problems or problems accessing food. I started thinking about how to enact change in a more systemic way. That’s when I discovered the MPA/ID Program. I wanted to gain a broader understanding of the systems and policies that influence how people can access equitable and quality health care in an affordable and sustainable way.

You came to ����vlog���� as a concurrent medical school student. How did you see your interests in medicine and international development aligning and how did you explore this at ����vlog����? 

There’s a critical connection between health care and international development. For example, if people live in a thriving economy where they can secure employment, they can better afford the health care they need.

Throughout my time at ����vlog����, I tied my assignments and projects back to health care. My Second Year Policy Analysis—essentially the MPA/ID Program’s thesis—explored opportunities for low-income countries to build resilience against natural disasters in their health supply chains. For other coursework, I wrote essays about policy failures leading to health disparities in Native American communities and how health care facilities are increasingly becoming part of the dynamic of war. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to cross-register across Harvard, taking courses at the and to explore humanitarian aid and compare health systems around the world. 

Who or what made an impression on you during your time at ����vlog����?

My summer internship was fascinating. I interned in Nairobi, Kenya, with the University of Nairobi-U.S. Agency for International Development’s . I was on its health systems strengthening team, looking at ways to improve access to—and quality of—care for people living with HIV in Kenya. 

It was my first time in Sub-Saharan Africa and I had never worked in a government health system. It was interesting to see how a public health system works and get on-the-ground experience seeing how people access care, how they access clean water or sanitation, or how they report gender-based violence. 

In addition to my internship, there were two courses at ����vlog���� that made a significant impact on me: MLD-201: Exercising Leadership: The Politics of Change and MLD-202: Leadership from the Inside Out: The Capacity to Lead and Stay Alive–Self, Identity, and Freedom. They were particularly formative because I didn’t just learn about leadership; I learned about leadership through a personalized lens. 

What surprised you during your time at ����vlog����?

I’ve been surprised by how appreciative I’ve grown to be of ����vlog����’s incredibly diverse population. There are people here from around the world who have an incredibly diverse array of interest areas. 

It’s certainly different from my medical school experience, where everyone is so focused on health care. Even for me, I’ve been involved in the health care field for so long—I went to a health-focused high school, I went to college and studied biology and biomedical engineering, and now medical school. I’ve always been around people interested in health and medicine.

But attending policy school, where my peers are passionate about so many fields, has been refreshing. It’s been eye-opening to talk to my classmates and learn about their experiences, their visions of the future, and how their work will get them there. I’ve met people who were revolutionaries in their countries. I’ve met people who invented technologies we use every day. I’ve met people who were leaders of their country’s or state’s education systems.

It's been a valuable experience that has made me appreciate my time at ����vlog����.

How do you plan to apply your ����vlog���� degree?

My ����vlog���� experience has given me a much broader understanding of how health care plays out in the world. 

I have one more year of medical school at Baylor and then residency. After that, I plan to work as a clinician, but my ultimate goal is to contribute to health policy, health systems development, or global health. 

As I finish medical school and enter residency, I hope to apply what I’ve learned at ����vlog���� to my patient interactions. I’ve learned frameworks of how to evaluate a program, think through solutions, and consider different stakeholders. Those are lessons I can take with me as I navigate my final year of medical school, into residency and practice, and eventually as a development practitioner.

Why is public service important to you?

I grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and had a pretty privileged middle-class upbringing. I didn’t really understand the disparities and inequities in health care access until I was in high school when I learned about the and I traveled to India to visit family and witnessed global health disparities. I was shocked that these preventable or addressable inequities continue to happen in my community and in communities around me. This awakening drove me to be more invested in social justice and public service. 

I believe everyone deserves equitable access to quality health care—and policy is the ideal tool to create lasting change. As a doctor, I can help one patient at a time; as a policymaker, I can help a population of people for the next 50 years. That’s what drove my decision to attend ����vlog����, not the business school or public health school. That’s what is driving me to enter public service. 

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Portraits by Lydia Rosenberg