Taroon Amin
As an undergraduate at Case Western, Taroon Amin was troubled by how management principles could be successfully applied to the field of health care. "I had studied management theory in the classroom, but from everything I read it did not seem to be working in the real world." Taroon decided to take what he'd learned majoring in Management with a concentration in International Health and use it to consider, explore, and analyze foreign health-care systems firsthand. He spent several years abroad. In Beijing, he studied the effect of China's political and economic changes on the delivery of health care. In Paris, he examined the impact of state health and welfare reforms on continental Europe. And in Ahmedabad, he conducted qualitative research on India's economic development challenges. His studies, which included visiting hospitals and clinics and talking with corporate and government authorities, enabled him to see the complexities of the "public health infrastructure and health system analysis. Cross national comparisons require us to keep the social contract of countries in the forefront of our work. Without it our analysis has little meaning."

Taroon has continued his studies at the Mailman School, where he is a second-year student in Health Policy and Management. Not only has he appreciated the school's courses on core health-policy issues, but Taroon also considers one of Mailman's strengths to be its location. "New York is an international city. Many of my peers have experience working in international healthcare systems. It's also a city with great hospitals and health policy think tanks."

Since 2006 Taroon has worked at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He spent two years as an Analyst of Quality and Finance at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. In addition to serving as Co-Chair of a multidisciplinary Pediatric Measurement Committee and leading a Quality Core Group to help drive the strategic quality agenda, Taroon organized a registry for real-time monitoring and comparison of chronic care patients across hospital sites and worked with a national children's collaborative to improve throughput by developing strategies to predict discharge by noon the day prior and improve bed-turnover time. In his current position as a Manager of Quality and Patient Safety, Taroon helps design solutions for discharge delays and implement ways to improve patient satisfaction at NewYork-Presbyterian's three major campuses. "I'm learning a tremendous amount in my job, and in the coursework at Mailman." Taroon's main goal for the future is "to continue to blend real world experience and classroom theory to bring innovative solutions to our healthcare challenges."

Kiyana Harris
Although Kiyana Harris first became interested in public health when she worked with the Allied Health Careers Opportunity Program, conducting research on waiting times and bed counts in South Los Angeles hospitals, what really got her hooked was a 100-day trip around the world on a cruise ship. During her senior year at Stanford, Kiyana participated in the "Semester at Sea" Overseas Study Program, where she was able to see health-care delivery firsthand in ten different countries. "Those experiences abroad diversified my thinking, expanded my awareness, and inspired me to take the models I observed and apply those lessons to situations here in the United States to focus on my passion in public healthÑalleviating disparities in underserved communities through health-care management."

In New York City, aside from the hip-hop classes she takes at the Broadway Dance Studio, Kiyana, a second-year student in Health Policy and Management, has focused her coursework on quality, strategy, and operations issues in health care. She is also involved in community and leadership activities that include serving as the Communications Coordinator for the Black and Latino Student Caucus at the Mailman School, participating in Healthcare Leaders of New York, and representing Columbia University as part of a student team at the Everett V. Fox Student Case Analysis Competition for the National Association of Health Services Executives. During her first year at Mailman, Kiyana worked as a research assistant for an NIH-funded project, "Evaluating Models of Care," analyzing and evaluating proposals, case data, and budgets on 21 government-funded HIV housing intervention programs. The project, which aimed to identify specific program variables critical to implementing effective interventions for homeless and HIV-positive individuals, not only helped Kiyana sharpen her statistical and analytic skills but also learn how to best assess the delivery of health services.

Currently, Kiyana works in the Revenue Cycle Operations Department at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, an extension of her summer practicum. In addition to designing an implementation plan for the use of online health records, she is also involved in strategy concerning registration, scheduling, and self-service systems, all of which are critical to hospital operations and the overall patient experience. After completing her MPH degree, Kiyana plans to apply her experience and knowledge to the field of health-care administration or consulting in order "to propose innovative solutions to the growing number of challenges in our country's continually changing health-care environment."

Erica Hutchins
At Harvard, Erica Hutchins, whose honors thesis in sociology was an analysis of influences on college students' perceptions of mental illness, became so "intrigued by society-level changes that affected the health of populations" she spent her first year out of college working for a child psychiatrist at Mass General. Her duties assisting in the management of the Harris Center, a non-profit dedicated to eating disorders, led Erica to discover how much she enjoyed promoting community awareness and mental-health advocacy. Over the next three years she worked at Easton Associates, LLC, a boutique healthcare consulting firm in New York, focusing on business strategy for pharmaceutical, biotech, medical-device, and diagnostic companies. Finding herself "really missing the non-profit and public sector worlds," though, Erica decided to go to graduate school for a dual MBA/MPH.

What impressed Erica most about Mailman was its strong curriculum and reputable faculty. "I enjoyed the smaller size of the Health Policy and Management track, and I was continually inspired by my fellow classmates and their devotion and enthusiasm for public health work." One of Erica's favorite courses was Daniel Esser's Health and International Development. She particularly appreciated Professor Esser's ability to engage the class in lively discussions and his commitment outside of the classroom to helping several of students collaborate on a paper for publication. In addition to her coursework, Erica also worked as a research assistant to Sherry Glied, the HPM Department Chair, collaborating on mental health economics studies, and as an intern for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, studying the impact of mental health policy on Timothy's Law.

Since graduation, Erica has taken a job as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she had worked as a Summer Associate for her practicum experience. Two of the firm's practice areas, the Payer/Provider practice and the Global Public Health practice, utilize Erica's training in public health. To date, she has been involved in work with payers, providers, and policy makers to improve health status, manage costs, promote quality improvements, and ensure access to care. At McKinsey & Company, Erica finds, "My understanding of health policy from my HPM track is applicable on a daily basis. It is rewarding to be able to work with organizations to effect change at such a high level."

Erin Miller
Erin Miller is originally from Aurora, Colorado, a town just outside of Denver, and graduated from the University of Colorado. But her interest in public health began in Wigan, England, where she spent time during college for her honors thesis, "The Effect of the First World War on Infant Health in Wigan, England." Her research indicated that improvements in social programs, rather than trickle-down economic effects, accounted for the town's improvement in infant health. After graduation, Erin gained further experience in the field by working as a health educator and retail coordinator for Denver's WIC Program, as well as by volunteering to help establish two health programs at a rural hospital in La Esperanza, Honduras. Through those experiences, she "gained an understanding of the importance of the policies behind social programs."

Erin has enjoyed getting a system-level perspective of health care through her coursework at Mailman. "The core courses have provided me with a solid foundation in the field of public health, and the more specialized courses have allowed me to pursue my specific interests with professors who are completing research in those fields." A second-year student in Health Policy and Management, Erin recently completed her practicum experience as an analyst intern at the Government Accountability Office, where she drafted the background section of a report on Medicaid preventive services, conducted a literature review, briefed stake-holders, and participated in interviews with state agencies.

Between schoolwork and a job coordinating the university's intramural sports program, Erin has enjoyed the occasional evening of free time getting to explore New York City. Some highlights include standing on top of the Empire State building at night, visiting the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy, and going with Future Healthcare Leaders to see In the Heights. Over the next few years, Erin hopes "to work in the field of health policy, perhaps gaining experience in the political process." She plans to return to Colorado after graduation and hopes to work on state-level health policies in Denver.

Morin Oluwole
A graduate of Stanford University with a BA in Human Biology and a MA in Sociology, a native of Lagos, Nigeria, and a second-year student in Health Policy and Management at the Mailman School, Morin Oluwole has had a wide variety of experiences in her life. She has volunteered at Good Samaritan Hospital, the KTEH television station, and the Solari Community Center. She has been a student coach for the Just Play Sports Academy. She has been a library assistant at the Seven Trees Library. She has interned at Upward Bound, a tutorial organization for middle-school students, the Technology Museum of Innovation in San Jose, CA, Health Careers Connections in East Palo Alto, CA, and S.C.O.P.E., a program providing students with clinical opportunities and premedical experience. At Columbia, Morin is involved with the Black Latino Student Caucus, Future Healthcare Leaders, and the American Public Health Association. She is also a health and fitness enthusiast, an avid reader of the New York Times, and a devoted Epicurean.

Given such a range of activities and interests, it is remarkable that Morin still finds time to work as an Associate for Sachs Consulting, where last summer she completed her practicum experience. One of the projects for her practicum involved "examining the revenue generating processes at a client and developing recommendations to streamline the workflow processes within the organization." Morin also worked on a collaborative project focused on organizing a workshop in New York City to address issues surrounding the development, funding, and maintenance of a sustainable long-term care program. Along with the other Associates at Sachs Consulting, Morin verified and prepared documents, organized meeting spaces, greeted attendees, recorded speeches and presentations, and facilitated the workshop break-out sessions.

During her time at Mailman, Morin has realized that she is very interested in strategic planning and organizational development. She continues to work for Sachs Consulting. After graduation, though, Morin plans on moving back to California and pursuing opportunities in healthcare consulting.