 |
||
Kathryn Andrews, Post-Bachelor Fellow
Lyman, ME What attracted you to the health metrics field?I have always been interested in health, which comes from the recognition that good health is the single most important thing that we have as humans. As an undergrad, I got involved with the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, which was a great experience that exposed me to some of the methods involved in studying health and health care. Last fall, my participation in a cross-cultural educational program in Nicaragua persuaded me to go into global health. The group was comprised of undergrads, med students, and physicians, and we worked in a medical clinic in rural Nicaragua. As an undergrad on the trip, I translated Spanish and did triage work, including checking blood pressure and providing medications. While there, we all became very cognizant of the extent of the impact we were having and how small and short-lived it was. We handed out hundreds of ibuprofen packets and antibiotics. But at the same time, we knew that the patients would go through the medications in a couple of weeks, and the pain and infections would come back. Trying to make change on such a micro level felt futile. It was at that time that I realized I wanted to take as much of a step back as I could and try to make improvements in population health on a macro level. What work are you doing at IHME?My work falls within the Common Indicators group and the Effective Coverage group. The goal of my primary project is to track rates of malnutrition from 1950 to the present in all countries. It will not only be interesting to see how these rates have changed over time, given different programs and interventions that have been implemented, but also these rates will be used as covariates for other research. At this preliminary stage, much of the work involves tracking down data and calculating crude rates using large survey datasets. As a secondary project, I am responsible for assembling a population dataset for all countries with more than 100,000 people. This involves using both United Nations and World Health Organization population estimates, and sometimes requires modeling to fill in gaps in the data to generate the most accurate population estimates for our work. How do you think your experience at IHME will contribute to your future work?The IHME fellowship has been a remarkable way to get experience in the field, do hands-on research, and meet people who are at the forefront of global health research. I have been happily surprised by the level of autonomy I have had while working on projects, which has given me a lot of space to learn. It has been a very holistic, interdisciplinary learning experience, where not only the lectures, classes, and discussions but also the conversations at lunch or between meetings have taught me something entirely new. I am applying to the Master of Public Health program and plan to eventually earn a PhD and work in population health research, hopefully in an academic setting where I am also able to teach. |
