What years did you participate in UROP?

2011-2014

What UROP Program(s) were you a part of?

UROP as a Sophomore, and Peer Advisor (Peer Facilitator)

 

What made you choose UROP?

I was very interested in biomedical research, but was having a hard time finding a project and mentor during my 1st year at UofM. I had heard about UROP through friends that had found research projects through the program, which then led me to join the program as a 2nd year.

What do you think you have learned from your UROP experience?

As a student in UROP I was able to gain a better understanding for the fundamentals of biomedical research methodology which served me well throughout my time at Michigan, including at Michigan School of Public Health for grad school. As part of my research project I had the opportunity to work with doctors, nurses, and other clinicians which is something I now have to do everyday in my job as a healthcare consultant.

As a peer research instructor I learned invaluable skills that I still use today in my current job. The project management skills I gained while creating the syllabus for my seminars have been incredibly useful in my current position as a healthcare consultant when I have to plan multi-month projects. During my time as a PRI I also had to contact and speak to alumni and graduate students that were established in their fields to come and speak to my students, this experience increased my professional communication skills. Lastly, the PRIs that I worked with over my two years strove to maintain a very collaborative and nurturing office culture where nobody hesitated to ask questions or ask for help; I have tried to take this office culture to each of my workplaces after graduating.

What is the extent to which you have kept in contact with your Research Mentor?

I was in regular contact with my Research Mentor for the two years that I was in grad school at Michigan SPH, but was not able to keep in contact after graduating in 2016. I have kept in touch with a couple of the students that worked on the same project as I did.

How did your UROP experience shape or inform the next steps you took in your academic and professional journey?

The seminars that I attended as a student were my first exposure to alternate health careers outside of becoming a doctor. My PRI put together multiple panels that included students & alumni from other professional graduate schools such as: physicians assistants, physical therapists, dental school, pharmacy school, nursing school, public health school, etc. It was through one of these panels that I learned more about careers in Public Health. I was drawn to Public Health as it focused more on population health and prevention rather than individual health and treatment. Due to my exposure to this alternate health career path, I researched more about the opportunities at Michigan's SPH and applied to the Global Epidemiology program.

Where are you in your professional journey?

I am a business consultant with a healthcare consulting company. My role with the company has changed over the 3 years I have been there. I started off as an analyst focusing on the technical side of using health data, especially data out of EHRs, to create operational improvement at hospitals. I have since transitioned to a project management role in the company and have led multiple change management projects for hospital clients across the country. I have also been part of the team that created and launched a brand new digital solution for operational metric reporting that hospitals and health systems can use to gain insights into their performance and make-data driven decisions.

What advice would you give to a current UROP student?

I would tell current UROP students to embrace the opportunity that they have with regards to the incredible amount of knowledge and experience that is available to them. I would encourage them to spend time with their research mentors discussing what they want to do after school, whether that be further schooling or beginning their professional career. Most of the research mentors are truly a wealth of knowledge and advice. I would also encourage students to spend some time exploring alternate career paths (especially the pre-health students). There are a lot of careers that are out there that are hard to get any exposure to by only going to classes. Request that your PRI set up career panels with a variety of students and alumni.

What are some recent publications or accomplishments that you are proud of?

As a healthcare consultant I have had the opportunity to work in hospitals all around the country to help them better serve their patients. I have been part of the team that created an launched a brand new digital solution that hospitals and health systems across the country can use to monitor their performance and make informed decisions. I have also gotten a chance to be involved in growing the team at Surgical Directions, when I joined in 2017 there were 17 employees and now there are 54 employees. I am proud that we have maintained an incredibly collaborative and nurturing culture while having explosive growth.