Health Policy and Management
School of Public Health

It's time once again to break out the caps and gowns and other regalia. Before too long we'll bid adieu to our Class of 2024. 

Before they walk across the stage and shake hands with Dean Lichtveld, some of our gradudating students discussed their memories and lessons they've learned in their time at Pitt. 

In March, HPM JD/MPH candidates Desiree Bsales and Joan Pyle represented Pitt Law at the L. Edward Bryant, Jr. National Health Law Transactional Competition hosted by Loyola University in Chicago. 

As part of the competition, Bsales and Pyle, along with fellow law student Katerina Vassil were tasked with advising a client in a hypotheitical scenario. 

This case asked the team to advise their client, a hospital, on possible exapnsions by accquiring a non-profit hospital system or by accepting investment dollars from a private equity firm. 

In a memo, the team addressed pros and cons of each decision, strategies, compliance and regulatory issues. 

Organizers say the competition is designed to expose students to core competencies of health care law. 

Dean’s Day is Pitt Public Health's annual showcase where students present research posters to the multidisciplinary Pitt Public Health community.

This year four HPM students entered research in the competition: MD/PhD candidate Donald Bourne, PhD candidate Haley Director, PhD candidate Rebecca Bilden and PhD candidate Katherine Callaway Kim.

Two entrants walked away from this year's event with awards. Bilden was awarded the Center for Public Health Practice's award in the doctoral category and Kim's work was given the Rosenkranz Award as the project judged to be the most significant contribution to the public health field.

In a study published in JAMA Health Forum HPM's Jackie Ellison and Brittany Brown-Podgorski found that more young adults are turning to permanent contraception in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Since the article published on April 12, it has been covered by CNN, The Hill, Salon, NBC News and many other news outlets. 

The study by HPM's Coleman Drake along with David Anderson from Duke University and Ezra Golberstein from the University of Minnesota, was published in Health Affairs, and is the first to examine the effects of a post-American Rescue Plan Act reinsurance waiver on the affordability of coverage for enrollees who are receiving premium subsidies in the marketplaces.

The Anne C. Sonis Memorial Lecture is dedicated to topics in patient safety. This year's keynote speaker was Dr. Vincent Liu, a senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Northern California who is also an intensivist in critical care at the KP Medicial Center and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Standford University. 

Dr. Liu's lecture "Can healthcare learn at scale: From sepsis to AI: promise and pitfalls" focused on work being done to reduce cases of sepsis - one of the leading causes of death for hospitalized patients, what can be learned from improving one aspect of patient care and applied to others and how AI can help improve care.

If you missed this year's lecture you can view it here.

By plane, train and automobile more than 30 students traveled to Chicago in March for the American College of Healthcare Executives 2024 Congress. 

Like many other conferneces, HPM students kept busy in a number of sessions and seminars offering in-depth discussions about the nuances of health care leadership and administration. However the conference wasn't just about learning, it gives students a chance to network with Pitt alumni, colleagues from other universities and leaders that could soon be their boss. 

"It was a busy week, but so rewarding," says Gabe Riberi, a first-year MHA student and first-time attendee. "The sessions gave me ideas to bring back to my residency and it also allowed me to meet people that I'll be working with for years to come." 

In 2023 the department sent a then record 19 students to the conference. Those who attended last year made it their mission to improve the number. 

"We saw how much we were able to grow and benefit from going last year," says HPMA president Brandon Biju. "We knew that if we could get more buy in from both first-year students and second-year students who heard about our experience, they would want to attend too." 

Alumni who attended the conference and the reception hosted by the department were astonished by the turnout from students and say they hope it inspires other alumni to take part as well. 

HPM students are future leaders in health care, so it only makes sense that they get exposure to leaders in the industry. 

Women make up a majority of the first-year cohort, so for their professional development course, Drs. Kevin Broom and Cindy Bryce wanted to bring in experts that would connect with their audience. 

In early April Allegheny County Medical Society Executive Director Sara Hussey, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center President Elizabeth Wild and Local Government Academy Executive Director Joy Ruff for joined a panel moderated by Dr. Bryce to discuss their careers, how they got to where they are and what students can do to succeed.

Panels say they are encoruaged by the students' engagement during the session but also by the types of questions they were asking and the connection requests that followed. 

Between the stress of finals, master's essays and dissertations HPM's soon-to-graduates got together to celebrate their achievements and the end of another successful year. 

The department is incredibly proud of everyone and wishes them the best as they begin the next chapter of their lives.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The semester may be winding down but we aren't going anywhere. If you're up to something this summer, send us an email. We like hearing from everyone -- even if it's just how nice Paris is this time of year.