As a Public Health student, I have been more exposed to the interworks of the healthcare system and the intersectional determinants of health. This summer I wanted to work within an organization that encourages sustainability and utilizes best practices for healthcare systems and access. I have been truly inspired by my Foundations of Health Care Systems class and professors who have experience managing the complicated and unique New Orleans health care systems. These experiences have encouraged me to delve into the discourse surrounding coordinated versus fragmented care, access, cost, quality of care, and health care policy. I hope to complement these textbook and theoretical discussions by engaging with an organization that experiences such real world issues firsthand.
After hearing about the Rogosin Institute, I knew our visions were aligned. In my research I found an older newsletter from the summer of 2012 that piqued my interest. My community outreach and public health background makes me an intern who truly imbibes the standards outlined under the three “key components of the expanded services” listed on the first page of the newsletter. Their public health approach for improving access to health care embraces sustainable and multidisciplinary approaches to marginalized groups. I was sincerely heartened by the Center for Health Action and Policy (CHAP) team’s emphasis on working alongside local health and service systems, thereby empowering a community to utilize their resources and address the relevant social determinants of health in place. I am excited to witness the iconic Iron Triangle’s three vertices (quality, access, and cost) interact in this integrative healthcare environment.
The Rogosin Institute takes a compelling global health approach to apply their groundbreaking research to the ordinary patient to receive the best prevention and treatment of disease. The Institute focuses on kidney disease and their transplantation includes pancreatic islet transplantation for diabetes, cardiovascular disease related to cholesterol, and other lipid disorders. Rogosin recognizes allied health problems and understands that all health care is local. Consequently, they believe community health workers are at the cornerstone of our healthcare system; our world needs community solutions that utilize local and regional experience to address the challenges facing changing health care systems today.
In my role at Rogosin, I will be working closely with the CHAP team, spearheading initiatives that build community trust through creative avenues; by visiting hubs for community, such as churches, nail salons, and markets, I will be meeting individuals in their places of comfort and sparking conversations to learn about their health concerns to appropriately pair them with local resources. I will also be required to travel to dialysis centers in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, to engage with patients in waiting rooms. I’ll assist in collecting evidence about the benefits and risks of treatments in an effort to improve monitoring methods and enhance the quality of care for patients.
As a teenager, I became deeply involved with an orphanage in rural south India where female infanticide and feticide is prevalent in a society that strongly favors males. The staggering injustices to girls fueled my desire to advocate for women’s rights and health. The girls felt fortunate to be saved from starvation, rescued from a one-way train to Mumbai’s Red-light district, or spared another rape by an incessantly drunk uncle. Carrying home a deeper global understanding of gender-based violence, I became the youngest certified domestic violence counselor in California at fifteen. At Tulane, I am a campus leader for the fight against sexual assault, serving as the Vice President of Sexual Aggression Peer Hotline and Education (SAPHE) and Board Member for Sexual Violence Prevention & Education Committee (SVPEC). Inspired by Dr. Sally Kenney’s Politics of Rape course, I conduct research surrounding the initiatives universities nationwide imbibe to address campus sexual assault and share these best practice models to better our own programming in New Orleans.
I have been fortunate to continually grow as an activist through my community engagement and research. Drawn to improving access to healthcare for women, I am excited for Rogosin to harness my skills and develop me into a health care professional. Rogosin actively promotes women in leadership positions. Though the public health STEM field is traditionally male dominated, I will be working directly under an incredibly accomplished female Vice President and alongside an all-women staff on the CHAP team. Additionally, our clinic clientele is significantly comprised of women of color who have poor access to healthcare. This unique work environment will connect me with women mentors who have helped pave the way for aspiring healthcare professionals like myself, and whose work emphasizes the needs of women.
The experience at Rogosin is simply invaluable; exposure to health care administration will put my foot in the door and jump-start my career path. I plan on getting my Masters of Health Administration and eventually, I want to manage a holistic health center and clinic to provide coordinated care to those who usually lack access. The center would provide free classes for community members on topics ranging from nutrition to healthy relationships. Our youth council would spearhead campaigns to explain health issues to young people, while the clinic side would offer low cost health services and testing. Beyond taking my career plan for a test drive, the Rogosin internship notably serves as a path for hiring entry-level candidates.