What’s Next for the Class of 2013: Martin Mendiola

Martin Mendiola, MPH ’13, Health Policy and Management

I work for Happtique. It’s a mobile medical technology start-up company that was created out of the Greater New York Hospital Association. Essentially what we’re trying to do is weave mobile technology into the delivery of health care. Our goal is to get physicians to understand how to use the power of mobile technology to provide better care, and then to start passing that along to their patients. Among other solutions, we have a patented technology that allows physicians to prescribe apps and other digital information that will be sent to a patient’s email account in a HIPAA-compliant fashion.

Working at a start-up is fantastic. One of the great things about working at a small organization is the ability to work on multiple projects. You’re not siloed. You’re actually working with different departments on everything from strategy to product development to implementation. At Happtique, we feel that we are at the forefront of healthcare or what’s going to be the new version of healthcare. It’s a really exciting time.

My Mailman School adviser Professor Fred Hyde put me in contact with the person who would later become my boss at the Greater New York Hospital Association, and asked her to explain in greater detail the services that the organization provides. They play a role in many different aspects of healthcare: they have a lobbying component, which was of interest to me since I was a policy student at the Mailman School. They also have a ventures arm that identifies operational and efficiency opportunities on the business side of healthcare. Professor Hyde felt that meeting with someone that had access to all of these divisions would be beneficial as I continued to develop my long-term career plan. It was during this meeting that I first learned about Happtique. I offered to assist them in order to learn more about the medical technology field while earning my Masters degree. I worked with them on a limited basis while I completed my education, and was offered a fulltime position shortly after finishing at the Mailman School last December.

I think that one of the real benefits of a Mailman School education is that it’s not just about memorizing facts. They focus on teaching skills and problem-solving for the future because the problems that we have in healthcare today aren’t the problems that we’re going to have in 10, 15, or 20 years. The Mailman School constantly challenges you to pick areas of interest and then analyze the problems that can or will arise in the future. I think that’s one of the skills that has really helped me in my current job as we introduce a new technology solution into the healthcare system.

What’s Next for the Class of 2013: Michelle Nolan

Michelle Nolan, MPH ’13 in Epidemiology

I’m working as a data analyst at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. I’m using the statistics knowledge I gained at the Mailman School to analyze different datasets that are coming in on a real-time basis to identify trends in prescription painkiller misuse.

My new job is giving me the chance to develop a surveillance system, which is an incredible responsibility given to someone who is just out of school. I’m also loving the opportunity to work with datasets that are real-time. Every morning when I come in, I’m the first person who has seen that data and the first person to run an analysis. It’s pretty exciting.

The Department of Health wanted someone with mapping skills, statistics, and experience with mortality data; it seemed like a perfect job for me. I thought it would take six months to hire me, but they wanted someone to start immediately. They were willing to work with someone who was attending school at the same time so I started in January.

I had fantastic professors while I was at the Mailman School, particularly in the Biostatistics department. Professor Martina Pavlicova and Professor Roger Vaughan gave me the skillset that I needed to do the type of analysis that I’m working with on a daily basis. In my interview, they grilled me on statistics and they tried asking me trick questions. But, because of the in-depth work faculty put into making their students successful, I was able to answer those questions. And that’s what ultimately got me the job.

Targeting Obesity in a NYC Public School: My Practicum Experience

Christine Raper, MPH ’13 in Sociomedical Sciences

With a background in psychology, education, leadership, and now public health, I have always had a passion for teaching others. I previously worked with students in all grades of the K-12 sector and at colleges and universities, so I have always been interested in how people learn information and apply the knowledge they have attained. At the beginning of my second semester at Mailman, I was able to find a practicum experience that perfectly matched my personal and professional interests.

In January 2012, I began a one-year practicum at P.S./I.S. 187 Hudson Cliffs School, a combined elementary and middle school located in the Hudson Heights section of Washington Heights. Working as an intern for the Parent Teacher Association’s Wellness Committee, I was able to work closely with the parents of elementary and middle school students to make changes that were both feasible and sustainable.

A major part of my work at P.S./I.S. 187 Hudson Cliffs School was to revise the nutrition curriculum for elementary school students. Using the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new MyPlate recommendations as a guide, I created a nutrition curriculum and implemented it with the first graders, teaching three weeks of nutrition lessons to eager seven-year-olds. Working with the PTA’s Wellness Committee, we also started the Budding Chefs program, which teaches elementary school students basic cooking skills to spark their interest in health and wellness. We also held a third annual KidFit event, an obesity awareness and prevention health fair open to the Washington Heights community.

The nutrition lessons that Christine created and taught at P.S./I.S. 187 Hudson Cliffs School

After working with P.S./I.S. 187 Hudson Cliffs School for some time, I began to recognize the need for more programs that related to the middle school students. I decided that I would use my ideas as a proposal for my Master’s Thesis. As a Health Promotion track student (same as the Health Promotion Research and Practice certificate program), I chose to write my thesis as an intervention proposal, focusing on the preadolescents in Hudson Heights. My master’s thesis, titled Life’s a PEACH (Parents, Educators and preAdolescents for Children’s Health) is a theory-guided and evidence-based tri-level intervention to decrease preadolescent obesity in Hudson Heights. Working with preadolescents, their parents, and school administration, the intervention program focuses on nutritional and physical activity changes that can be made at home, in school, and in the community.

As graduation is closing in, with less than two months until the big day, I have taken time to reflect on my experiences over the last two years at Mailman. My practicum opportunity at P.S./I.S. 187 Hudson Cliffs School is one of the bright memories I will take with me after I leave this great city. To all the first year students: Choose how you spend your time wisely, and take in as many experiences as possible, because two years go by more quickly than you think.

This post was adapted from the Students for Food Policy and Obesity Prevention (FPOP) blog

SHARE’s Spring into Service: Alternative Spring Break

Spring break was about more than just rest and relaxation for members of the student group SHARE (Strengthening Healthcare through Actionable Research and Evidence). For us, it was time to spring into service, working with City Harvest and Habitat for Humanity to give back to the New York City community. The two projects were part of an alternative spring break initiative.

Supplying Fresh Food in Queens for Families in Need
By Naomi Kruger, MPH ’14 in Health Policy and Management and Co-director of Community Building for SHARE 

Our first project took place on Thursday, March 21, when Chloe Lanzara, Rachel Leep, Nora Springstubb, and I volunteered with City Harvest’s Mobile Market in Astoria, Queens. It is just one of several locations that distributes fresh fruits and vegetables twice a month, free-of-charge, to hungry New Yorkers. Each of the mobile markets is located on a New York City Housing Authority site in communities with high rates of obesity and diabetes, making the free access to nutritious food of great value to residents.

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Over the course of our day, we joined several other volunteers in setting up the market and distributing the food. From weighing onions, bagging sweet potatoes, and counting grapefruits, to handing out bags full of vegetables and fruit to the market attendees, we aimed to increase access to healthier food.

Bringing Pep & Some Pop to East Harlem Seniors
By Charishma Chotalia, MPH ’14 in Health Policy and Management and Co-Director of Community Building for SHARE

The following day, on Friday, March 22, four other Mailman students and I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity at a senior center in East Harlem. Hialy Gutierrez, Mala Dorai, and Sophia Steinberger joined me at the Corsi Senior Center, which hosts various activities for older adults, including lunch service, recreational events, and holiday parties. We contributed the full day to painting the entryway and upstairs waiting area in an effort to revitalize the space and make it more welcoming for the seniors who use its services.

SHARE group sets the groundwork

End goal!

During both Alternative Spring Break projects, we were able to step out of the classroom and give back to a community that really appreciated our help.

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SHARE exists to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and knowledge to support Mailman School students in conducting robust, actionable research to potentially inform health policies and practices. For more information, please visit http://www.share-initiative.org.

Immersion Experience: My Practicum with ICAP in Mozambique

by Jonathan Platt, MPH ’13 in Epidemiology

When I arrived in Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, in July 2012, I was immediately delivered to the doorstep of a colleague who had been gracious enough to offer her spare bedroom. Her house was filled with children fully engaged in a game involving balloons and screaming, as well as several women cooking dinner, tending to children, and chatting too rapidly for me to follow. Armed with the Portuguese capacity of a 2-year-old (that was my limit; I tried and failed to chat with 3-year-olds), I attempted to introduce myself to my understandably confused hosts. After convincing them that I was not a misguided backpacker, I staggered my jet-lagged self into bed.

A woman I met outside the clinic

I was there as part of a six-month global health practicum with ICAP, the Mailman School’s world-renowned global health organization, where I have been working as a fellow as I complete my MPH in Epidemiology. From the first day, I hit the ground running, immersing myself in the culture of Mozambique and my work there, often both simultaneously. I studied Portuguese for several hours a day and was regularly tested by colleagues, market vendors, and children, who had a pleasantly high tolerance for my mistakes.

The entire ICAP team in Mozambique was tremendously welcoming and helpful. I worked closely with a team of three ICAP staff (two data clerks and one database manager) to complete the preliminary analysis of a set of surveys aimed at improving HIV care by identifying significant factors that affect adherence to drug regimens. I also assisted with the pre-implementation steps of an intervention aimed at improving the retention of newly diagnosed HIV patients in treatment programs. Though the study won’t begin until mid-2013, a lot of preparatory work was needed. I helped write protocols that will be used throughout all project phases, from staff hiring, to patient interviews, to data analysis and reporting. I also visited each of the twelve proposed health facilities to identify viable study sites.

A woman and child receive antiretroviral therapy consultation from a medical technician at the Integrated Center for Care and Treatment at a hospital in Mozambique. Photo by Nathan Golon.

The process of building a study from the ground up is a satisfying mix of integrating the best practices from previously successful research, adapting that research to the realities of the local context, and developing and identifying the knowledge and capacity to innovate and challenge accepted paradigms within your field of work. Since I was based in the field office, I saw how challenging but critical the element of local adaptation can be at every stage of the research process. It affects everything. Budgets, timelines, deliverables, long-term planning, etc. will cease to matter without key input and agreement among local partners. As someone who plans to continue to work within academic public health research, these negotiations imparted valuable knowledge and skills and were among the most important experiences I had while in Mozambique.

Here I am with my fellow ICAP intern/Columbia medical student Annette Georgia (right) with our friend Susanna (center) learning how to make Matapa, a very delicious local dish.

In my relatively short time there, I came away with a good number of valuable skills, gaining proficiency in the design of longitudinal studies and randomized control trials related to building better health-system interventions. I also got an excellent view of research and program implementation covering the whole arc of the process from pre-study activities to ongoing monitoring and evaluation, and concluding data analysis and reporting. As a result, I have a better understanding of how studies fit together and how results and lessons from one can impact others, both retrospectively and prospectively. More broadly, the experience helped me to develop a cross-cultural consciousness of social and structural determinants of health.

Everything I gained during my practicum was made immeasurably richer thanks to the quality of mentorship and team-building provided by my colleagues at ICAP, both in New York and Mozambique. Dr. Laurence Ahoua, the Director of Strategic Information and Research, provided support and encouragement and was genuinely interested in helping me gain new experience during my time in-country. We have had several discussions about my professional goals, which she took to heart when considering my role in new and ongoing projects.

Saying goodbye to friends and colleagues, I left Mozambique deeply appreciative of my experience. I grinned and said, “até breve!” (see you again soon), not only to show off my Portuguese acumen (now at a 7-year-old level), but because Mozambique is a country where I hope to return someday to continue to work for effective community health services and to celebrate the richness and complexity of place, which cannot be understood from afar.

Food and Drink in the Heights

by Grace Lee, MPH ’14 in Sociomedical Sciences

Whether we live in Washington Heights or somewhere else, we students spend most of our time in either the Hammer Health Sciences Building, or the Rosenfield Building, the Mailman School’s main facility. As a resident of lower Washington Heights, I’ve come to be familiar with what this community has to offer. (Read Life in the Heights.) Classmates who don’t live near the medical campus get to know the neighborhood anyway, at least by way of food. I have a few favorites that are just a hop, skip and a jump away from the Hammer library.

Coffee

Hala Carts at the corner of Broadway and 168th Street

• Quick & cheap: Cups of coffee can be purchased at any one of the many halal carts lined up on 168^th Street. There are about five or six just on that one block leading to the Rosenfeld building and it’s 25 cents cheaper than the $1.25 cup sold inside Hammer. (Don’t be surprised, a poor graduate student learns to count her quarters!
• There’s always Starbucks: If you’re going to live in New York City, you’re going to find a Starbucks close by. There’s one at the corner of Broadway and 168^th and around every corner—so get ready for that. And if you are going to partake, I advise you take full advantage of registering for Starbucks rewards online. Once you reach the “Green Card” status (5 drinks), you can get free coffee and tea refills at the store (yes, any Starbucks store in the world), plus a free drink on your birthday. Worth it.

Food

Strokos at St. Nicholas and 167th Street has a nice seating atrium-style seating area.

• Personally, I really enjoy the hot soups sold at Hess Café on the first floor of the Rosenfield building.
• The sandwiches at Shangri-La (228 Fort Washington) are pretty good. Take notice of the speedy Korean cashier who is so good at her job that she can recognize the type of sandwich by its weight. True story. As she was about to place a sandwich into a plastic bag, she paused and decided that it was too light to be pastrami. In any case, Shangri-La also has an Asian hot food section.
• Empire Noodles (4041 Broadway) has some pretty authentic Chinese food. Be sure to make it to the restaurant before 3:30 pm for the $6 lunch specials. The second 3:31pm hits, the same portion minus the soup goes up to $8-10.
• The salads at Jou Jou Café (3959 Broadway) are delicious. It’s a bit pricy ($8 per bowl), but you get to pick out as many toppings as you want.
• There’s always that halal cart right outside of Hammer. I’ve been there one too many times myself, but they have a hot, quick meal at such a low price. Chicken and gyro rice plate at $5.50. Guilty as charged.
• Strokos (121 St. Nicholas Ave) is easily overlooked, but has made-to-order salads and pastas at surprisingly affordable prices. It might have been the café’s simple, cute ambience that made me feel the prices would have been much higher than they actually were. One little-known benefit is that the eatery is so close to campus that you can still access Columbia’s wireless Internet. Translation: nice study spot.  

Drinks

Dallas BBQ at Broadway and 167th Street

• Drinks at Coogan’s (4015 Broadway). Any time of day. This means that a post-exam celebratory beer at 2 pm is perfectly acceptable, and available just around the corner. They also have Karaoke on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Open Mic on Wednesdays.
• Blended margaritas and chicken wings at Dallas BBQ (3956 Broadway). Same deal, enough said.

Home Sweet Home in the Heights

by Grace Lee, MPH ’14 in Sociomedical Sciences

As a West Coast transplant to Washington Heights, I have come to realize that this NYC neighborhood has everything I need within just a few blocks—from groceries, to laundromats, to shoe stores, bodegas of all sorts, and even two major subway lines! Washington Heights is a vibrant Dominican community offering all of life’s essentials. The truth is that after making two long treks to Ikea in Brooklyn, my boyfriend and I realized that cheaper furniture can be found right around the corner on Amsterdam Avenue and 161^st Street. It’s there that we bought the dining room table and futon in our living room.

There is a neighborhood feel to the place, though I haven’t become totally rooted due to my lack of Spanish-speaking skills. There’s the old man who sits across the street greeting everyone who passes by with a “hello, beautiful!” on mornings when it’s not too cold outside. There’s the food vendor who stands on the street corner selling homemade tamales out of a shopping cart.  And there’s the little cat lady who feeds the strays every evening near an empty lot down the road. On summer nights, chatty men pitch chairs on sidewalks to play chess, and on Halloween, all the children dressed in sparkly costumes rush out onto Broadway.

Even so, Washington Heights is no Upper East Side. But every now and then I stumble across hidden treasures throughout the community that add to its charm. There are excellent jogging paths on both east and west edges, for example.  From June through November, there are a couple weekly farmers markets in the area – the Fort Washington Greenmarket­ on Tuesdays and the 175^th Street Greenmarket on Thursdays. Perhaps one of my most pleasant discoveries was the Bubbles-R-Us laundromat one block away from my apartment. For my first year living without a washing machine in the apartment complex, I dreaded the chore. But the family-run Bubbles-R-Us has reliable washing machines, strong dryers, cheap service, and a short waiting time overall. The nice manager will even give you plastic bags for your clothes if it’s raining outside.

Fort Washington Avenue Greenmarket

I’d say that Washington Heights is not a bad place to live for the Columbia graduate student. It might not be as quaint as Morningside Heights, but the rent is cheap, the apartments are spacious (relative to New York City standards) and food is affordable. Plus my landlord is fantastic! And let’s not forget that when living in the Heights, you’re within walking distance of Columbia’s medical campus, where all the public health classes take place.

After a month of winter break in California, I was starting to miss the place I call home. Not just the school or the neighborhood or the people I’ve met, but the wealth of adventures NYC has to offer – all just one subway ride away.

Look for my next piece on places to grab coffee, lunch or drinks near Columbia’s medical campus­.