PNHP Student Interns

To learn more about becoming an intern with PNHP, please click here.

Kirsten Austad
MD Candidate, Harvard Medical School, Class of 2012
keaustad@gmail.com

I spent eight weeks working as an intern for Physicians for a National Program in Boston, this past summer before beginning at Harvard Medical School. My main project was to organize Boston-area medical students around single-payer national health insurance. Working with incoming first-year students at Tufts and Boston University, we planned various events to educate our fellow classmates on the need for single-payer, organize action to push for H.R. 676, and more generally create a community of students interested in social justice. The first event will be a networking social justice barbecue where students from the three Boston medical schools can meet and discuss their common interests. Following this networking opportunity, each of the three schools will host an event to further engage students for action around single payer. Harvard Medical School will host a panel debate on “Health Care Reform for the Next President” including Dr. Oliver Fein from PNHP; Boston University Medical School will put on an “Activism Then and Now” panel highlighting doctors’ leadership in social justice, including health care for all, and Tufts will organize a series of movie screenings including “Sicko” and Salud to facilitate discussion of the need for health care reform.

In conjunction with head of the PNHP Massachusetts chapter, Dr. Rachel Nardin, and I investigated access to neurological care for uninsured populations. Using government databases we explored access to and quality of care for insured and uninsured populations with migraines. We are currently finishing up the research portion and will be submitting the results to the journal Neurology.

I also spent time working on state-level issues, a pertinent issue in the wake of the recent Massachusetts health care reform, which touted universal access to medical care without a single-payer system. I co-authored an editorial highlighting the downfalls of the Massachusetts Chapter 58 law that we are submitting to in the Boston Globe. I also created fact sheets and shorts about various topics relating to health care for the website of MassCare, a group that advocates for single-payer health care on the Massachusetts state level.

Jen Muniak
MD Candidate, Upstate Medical University, Class of 2010
Jennifer.muniak@gmail.com

My introduction to PNHP and single-payer began in my first year of med school, when on a whim I attended a speaker training session hosted by the NY Metro chapter. I was attracted to the mission and people of PNHP because they are a dedicated group of advocates for change that will create a sustainable, ethical health care system that will meet America’s needs.

Encouraged by the vision of the national organization, and wanting to harness the power of the activists in my town, I started up a community chapter of PNHP in Syracuse, NY. We’ve been in existence for less than a year, but already we have made great strides in the fight for National Health Insurance. Our missions include the education of health care personnel and community members, political activism, and gaining local endorsements (primarily from labor and religious groups). We have had successes in all three domains: we held our first annual educational workshop, we met with the Democratic front-runner for Congress, we gained the endorsement of our local AFL-CIO chapter, and had a physician member speak at Grand Rounds for the Department of Pediatrics.

It’s amazing what a little initiative and inspiration will yield when your conscience is in the right place. I’ve been amazed at the amount that my local chapter of PNHP has accomplished, and at how I’ve been able to help move the national movement among medical students. Please contact me if you want to chat or throw around ideas.

Danielle E. Alexander
Applying to Medical School
Danielle.ealexander@gmail.com

Interning for D.C. PNHP was the best internship experience I’ve ever had. As an intern for PNHP in D.C. you get a close look at the powerhouses working toward National Health Insurance. It was inspiring to see activism in action on a national level. And easy to jump right in! I attended health policy conferences and briefings, interviewed and shadowed experienced physician-members of the local group, educated congress people and their staff through lobby visits, wrote op-ed to the Washington Post, led a speaker workshop and developed a tool kit for others, reinvigorated the D.C. chapter listerv, established new D.C.-based speaker and writer bureaus, strengthened partnerships with local medical students among four local medical schools, and more. PNHP activism is about connecting with people and finding common ground to discuss an essential issue. But the resources at PNHP made it easy to start making a difference right away.

Tim Lyon
MD Candidate, University of Kansas Medical School, Class of 2011
tdlyon@gmail.com

I served as an intern at the PNHP office in Chicago during the summer between my first and second years of medical school. The main goal of my internship was to increase the involvement of medical students with PNHP. To do this, we talked to many student activists from across the country and developed a list of activism projects well-suited to students. We compiled educational materials that spoke to the specific questions that medical students had about single-payer, and also worked on making “projects-in-a-box” with the intention of providing students with all the information and resources for a specific activism project in one consolidated place. The culmination of the project was the creation of a student section of the PNHP website, student.pnhp.org, which was designed as a place where students can access the aforementioned information as well as network with other student activists and share ideas. Many thanks to Dave Howell for his invaluable assistance on putting the website together.

Back at KU, I‘m serving as president of our school’s Students for a National Healthcare Plan (SNHP) chapter. Thanks to the outstanding leadership of another KU student activist, Elizabeth Stephens, we have already put on a Medicare birthday party/single-payer rally that was attended by Rep. John Conyers Jr., sponsor of HR 676, as well as local congressman Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. The rally was held at the Harry Truman presidential library, the place of the original signing of the Medicare bill in 1965 by Lyndon Johnson. Future planned events include a single-payer lunch presentation for the preclinical students, a community-based roundtable discussion on health care reform in the weeks leading up to the election, and a single-payer lobby day aimed at one of our local U.S. representatives.

Erica Hinz
MD Candidate, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Class of 2011
ehinz@student.uchc.edu

I am a second year medical student at the University Of Connecticut School Of Medicine. I graduated from the University of Michigan in 2005 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. I first became interested U.S. health care system reform during my work experience after graduating from college. Working with the underinsured in Chicago opened my eyes to the magnitude of the health care crisis in this country. Despite my passion to fix a broken system, I felt helpless as an advocate for change. How can one person with no money and no political power make a difference? As a first-year medical student, I was thrilled to learn that I am not alone in the fight for change. Last fall, I became involved with the Universal Health Care Action team of the American Medical Student Association. Our group formed a student chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program at UConn. We attended the PNHP Annual Meeting and Leadership Training in Washington, D.C. I also attended a Universal Health Care Leadership Training Institute hosted at the University of Connecticut. Through these activities I have enriched my understanding of our nation’s health care policies and how to promote for change in my community and nationwide.

This summer, I worked at the PNHP headquarters in Chicago with Tim Lyon, a fellow medical student from the University of Kansas. The goal of our internship was to create a national network of student activists and to provide them with educational materials needed to promote single-payer health insurance. We created a student section of the PNHP website and a student listserv to help increase awareness and activism of the single-payer option on medical school campuses nationwide. This fall, three fellow UConn medical students and I will be holding a community event to raise awareness about the issues of health care disparities in access, cost and treatment in Hartford, CT. The event will highlight narratives of patients and health care professionals discussing their experiences with the current health care system, their struggles with insurance and medical costs, and also treating patients. The goal is to make this event creative, interactive and effective.

I am very excited to continue in the fight for single payer. With the upcoming election and the changing political tides, this is the time to fight the hardest. With continued awareness and advocacy efforts from students, health care providers, community members and leaders nationwide, I truly believe that a real change can happen.

Jessin Blossom
MD Candidate, Albany Medical College, Class of 2009
blossoj@mail.amc.edu

My first exposure to student healthcare reform activism came through the 2005 AMSA regional convention in Brooklyn, the focus was healthcare reform in a “Healthcare For All” message. Enthused by the energy from the convention, back at my home institution at Albany Medical College, I attended the AMA lobby day. What an enlightening experience. Still not satisfied with AMSA or the AMA’s stance on universal healthcare, I
started to think nationally while acting locally.

I joined the Albany Medical College - Student Perspectives and Activism organization (AMC-SPA), and educated myself with the wisdom of doctors. Erick Cheung, who is a monumental healthcare activist; Andy Coates and Paul Sorum, two of PNHP’s leaders; John Balint, whose name has stood behind progressive bioethics and healthcare reform for decades. Leading the AMC PNHP chapter combined with AMC-SPA resources, we were able to harness the logistical advantage of working in the capitol region of New York State, and being close to the NYC PNHP-Metro chapter. PNHP leaders have helped me to put on numerous local and statewide events ranging from physician meetings, conventions, policy writing, debates, forums, conferences, lobbying, lectures, film viewings, press conferences, media releases, fundraisers, and social gatherings.

The primary goal is educating our peers, the public and creating awareness for the need for healthcare activism to achieve universal healthcare. I have grown as a public speaker, a leader and an organizer. I never imagined when I started on this journey that I would be influencing legislators and hospital CEO’s. I am so grateful to everyone who has been involved in this movement.

My inspiration also comes from a tangible source. As a military scholarship recipient I spend a lot of time in Naval Hospitals. The military is a huge government funded single payer network functioning very well. There are no insurance issues, no access to care issues, no billing issues and no payment issues for my patients. It’s wonderful, and it works.

Liam Sperl
Applying to Medical School
liam.sperl@gmail.com

As a Peace Studies major at St. John’s University I explored various avenues to bring about social justice. I have always felt particularly passionate about the attainment of just healthcare on both a global and domestic level. Throughout my college years I focused on healthcare in both my studies and my work, including a summer canvassing experience for Citizen Action of Wisconsin and a nine month stay in Guatemala working as a medical case manager and a medical/dental assistant.

As an intern for Physicians for a National Health Program, I worked as a satellite organizer. My days consisted of contacting medical students that have shown interest in the organization and the Single Payer System, as well as searching out new recruits in states that PNHP’s presence is still minor. The conversation was simply based around sharing resources that PNHP offers students to become more active on their campuses in support of Single Payer and ways to educate their peers. Additionally, I conducted extensive research and made significant headway in establishing coalitions with SOMA (Student Osteopathic Medical Association) and Osteopathic Medical Schools that have been previously overlooked by PNHP. I am honored to have had the chance to work with PNHP, and more specifically to have been given the opportunity and confidence to work in this untraditional manner.

Jeana Radosevich
MD Candidate, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Class of 2011
jeanarad@gmail.com

Over the summer I worked with PNHP in Boston to support the single-payer campaign in Massachusetts and nationwide. I worked closely with Benjamin Day, the Executive Director of Boston PNHP and Mass-Care (the Massachusetts campaign for single-payer health care). I contributed to several projects during my internship. I did research and wrote numerous web articles about single-payer, including information about disparities in health care today and how single-payer health care can help eliminate these disparities. I attended research meetings at Cambridge Hospital with Drs. David Himmelstein, Steffie Woolhandler, and others, to learn about the research they are doing to support the single-payer movement. I also worked with Dr. Rachel Nardin and Kirsten Austad to start another research project exploring access to specialty care among the uninsured. In addition, I worked with Ben, Kirsten, and others to get a question on the November ballot about single-payer health care. Altogether, I learned a great deal about the ins and outs of single-payer health care and health systems in general. It was educational and I was glad to have the opportunity to contribute to the movement in a positive way.

Igor Gorlach
JD Candidate, Harvard Law School, Class of 2011
igorlach@gmail.com

I am a first year Harvard Law student also doing a joint program with the School of Public Health. I graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas where I was involved in a local group promoting single payer called Health Care for All Texas. There I met Dr. Ana Malinow, the President of PNHP, and over the course of a year, I started giving speeches to community and student groups and signed on to intern for PNHP in August in D.C. In July, I participated in a unique program on international health systems in Denmark. It involved both classroom lectures and visiting physician offices. My internship with PNHP lasted two weeks, during which time I gave 3 talks to the students of Howard, Georgetown, and George Washington medical school.

I have given several speeches on international health care systems to medical students in Washington, DC. While citing statistics and studies has always been attractive to students, the new dimension of the conversation — the real life evidence — turned my role from a scholar to an explorer. The facts were wrapped in anecdotes from abroad, creating a clear picture of what a single payer looks like in other parts of the world. I was providing something that students could not find in a textbook on health policy, and it made a lot of sense. It always does.

Mohsin Vora
Candidate for a Graduate Degree, UCLA Class of 2010
mhsnvora@yahoo.com

I graduated with a bachelor in biology from UIC in 2006. I first became interested in the single-payer movement after reading “Healthcare Meltdown” by Dr. LeBow and volunteering in a free clinic. During my internship at PNHP I was involved in several projects. I compiled an annotated bibliography on international healthcare systems for PNHP members and the overhaul of the corresponding section of the webpage. Also, I worked with Dr. Quentin Young to organize hearings for House Bill 311, which would provide universal health coverage for all residents of Illinois. I was also involved in every aspect of planning including chairing strategy sessions, contacting local politicians, securing locations, and other tasks. I’m attempting to build a coalition comprising hundreds of progressive organizations in support of the bill.