KaiserEDU.org Awards Students for Essays Advising Next President on Health Priorities

Menlo Park, CA – KaiserEDU.org, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s website for students and faculty interested in health policy, announced the four winners of its second annual student essay contest.  The contest asked students to position themselves as analysts on the next President-elect’s health care transition team and write a memo recommending the new administration’s health priorities in one of five areas: controlling health care costs, eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities, expanding health promotion and disease prevention efforts, improving women’s health or improving the quality of health care.

The judges included former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D.; President of the Federation of American Hospitals Chip Kahn, M.P.H.; Dean of the George Washington University School of Public Health Ruth Katz, J.D., M.P.H.; Kaiser President and CEO Drew E. Altman, Ph.D.; and Kaiser Executive Vice President Diane Rowland, Sc.D.

“As we approach what may be the first major national debate on health issues in 15 years, it's encouraging to see students from all across the country engaged with the toughest health policy issues in such a knowledgeable and creative way,” said Dr. Altman.

Entries were received from undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at 100 universities across the country in a wide range of disciplines including economics, public health, health administration, nursing, physical therapy, medicine and public policy. Students chose to write memos advising Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), John McCain (Ariz.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) and other former presidential candidates. The winning essays can be read online. 

The winners from among the graduate student entries are:

• 1st Place: Andrew Walquist, Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Doctor of Physical Therapy (expected graduation May 2009), who chose to write a memo advising Sen. McCain called: “Health Promotion Initiatives- McCain Combating Obesity.”
• 2nd Place: Adrienne Poon, Drexel University School of Public Health, Master of Public Health (expected graduation June 2008), who chose to write a memo advising Sen. Clinton called: “Multilevel Approach to Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.”

The winners from among the undergraduate student entries are:

• 1st Place: Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Northwestern University, Majors: Political Science and Global Health (expected graduation June 2008), who chose to write a memo advising Sen. Clinton called: “Mobilized Medicine: A New Role for the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.”      
• 2nd Place: Frank Chen, Harvard College, Major: Molecular and Cellular Biology (expected graduation May 2010), who chose to write a memo advising Sen. Clinton called: “Initiatives Fostering Collaboration, Innovation, and Personalization in Medicine.”

KaiserEDU.org, presents a broad array of resources, including tutorials on health policy basics, issue modules on current topics under debate and a directory of internships and fellowships.  This site reaches a wide range of individuals in academia, industry and government. 

The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation dedicated to providing information and analysis on health care issues to policymakers, the media, the health care community and the general public. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.

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