As the debate over health care reform beats a swift path to nearly every door in America - homes, schools, town halls, hospitals and elsewhere - many medical students are watching the action with grave concerns about the profession for which they are being trained.
But while some people merely pick sides, others are more deeply involved -- others like third-year Miller School student Arjun Parasher.
Parasher, who is part of the six-year combined B.S./M.D. Honors Program in Medicine and a member of the Miller School's Jay Weiss Medical Student Pathway in Social Medicine, has become a contributor for the Washington Post's Health Care Rx blog on health policy. In an August article, Parasher explored the "public option" and lessons policymakers should draw on from the Clinton Administration's attempt at health care reform. Along with classmate Nick Rohrhoff, he opined on health care reform and the need for medical students to play a greater role in the transformation in The Miami Herald last December.
And in October last year, Parasher helped organize and served as student panelist in the "Vision for a Better America: The Future of Health Care" forum held in the Storer Auditorium. Dozens of students and faculty turned out for the discussion that featured surrogates for then-candidates Barack Obama and John McCain (Nancy-Ann DeParle and Rep. Michael C. Burgess, respectively), University President Donna E. Shalala, and other faculty.
"It was an unbelievable experience to be sitting on the panel with top campaign advisors and some of the best academic minds in health policy," said Parasher. "I got a chance to ask my own pressing questions and many of the students were able to do the same.
"It is always important to get young people, medical students and physicians into the health policy dialogue. Our commitment as medical students for the betterment of our patients gives us a unique perspective."
As a result of his on- and off-campus involvement, Parasher has met several times with Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D. One of their discussions has led to Parasher collaborating with other students, Rohrhoff and Katherine Nearing, and faculty to explore forming a UM-based team to compete for the $10 million health care X Prize. The competition, which the X Prize Foundation says is still in development stage, will seek the best way to reinvent the health care system "in a bold, measurable and scientific fashion to catalyze dramatic improvements in health and health value in the United States."
"Since the first day of medical school, Arjun has been passionate about finding ways to improve health care delivery in this country," said Alex J. Mechaber, M.D., associate dean for undergraduate medical education. "Now he and his colleagues are tackling the health care debate head on and we applaud their efforts. They understand that the stakes are high and they can have a role in dictating the future of health care."
Parasher, who grew up in Tampa with his physician mother, dentist father and younger sister (she's now a junior at UM), decided on a career as a clinician based on his longtime passion to improve the lives of others. But after his first year at UM, Parasher decided he wanted to explore health care in a broader sense, including politically and socially. He wasn't sure how but his decision to e-mail President Shalala for help proved fruitful.
"She invited me to her office and encouraged me to start taking some political science classes and to look for an internship in health policy," Parasher said. "What she was really doing was taking my raw idea of mixing medicine and public policy and putting me on a path where I could do both."
Parasher thoroughly enjoyed his classes in political science. The summer after his sophomore year he landed internships in Washington at the Kaiser Family Foundation, working in health care disparities, and on Capitol Hill, writing memos on reducing pharmaceutical costs, reforming direct-to-consumer advertising, and medical malpractice for Florida Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite. He was also asked to draft a health policy speech.
"It was an incredible experience being in Washington with so many people who shared my passion," Parasher said.
Instead of starting medical school after two years on the undergraduate campus as was initially planned, Parasher decided to do more studies in health policy and delay medical school for another year. He spent a third undergraduate year taking political science classes and received a second bachelor's degree in political science.
With President Shalala's encouragement, Parasher applied for and received a Gates Foundation scholarship, a prestigious international award given to 100 students around the world for leadership ability, scholastic achievement, and commitment to the betterment of society. As a result of the scholarship, Parasher pursued a master's degree in international relations at the University of Cambridge in England - the country where he was born and lived until age three before the move to Tampa. Parasher spent his year at Cambridge studying subjects such as international development, global health policy, public policy and economic development that required field work in Ghana.
"That was a great opportunity for me to see how policy affects health care and people's basic survival on a global scale," Parasher said.
The experience also prepared him well for the international view that Miller School students take of medicine. Once he finally started medical school, Parasher got involved in several student organizations that took him to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to provide much-needed health care to rural communities. He has continued to volunteer with these school-based international groups and at several student-led local health fairs.
Parasher expects to receive his M.D. in 2011 and then go on to a residency program. "My hope is to be a good clinician first, then one day be in a position where I can help shape health care to make it more effective," said Parasher. "I believe I am getting the best preparation to eventually step into that role."
