Student Participates in Health Care Reform

As an undergraduate student, Dorothy Hector (NHS'12), a health care management & policy major, has enjoyed a close-up view of the national debate over health care reform.

For approximately 15 hours each week, Hector, who is originally from Miami, interns at the National Hispanic Medical Association, a non-profit organizations that represents 36,000 licensed Hispanic physicians in the United States and attempts to improve the health of Hispanics and other under-served populations.

In mid-September, she had the opportunity to accompany the association's president to a meeting with Congressional staffers to discuss health care reform proposals.

"It's really exciting," she noted during a recent interview.

Hector said her education at Georgetown has helped her to understand the complexities of the health care system and has given her a "great background" for the internship.

"I feel like I have a good handle on the situation after taking Professor Robin Goldenberg's 'Health Care in America' course," she said. "I really love the program because it is a combination of all of my interests. I am very interested in policy and the business side of health care. I can tie everything we are talking about in our classes to something practical I am doing through my internship."

Aside from the experience on Capitol Hill, Hector said her internship has given her the opportunity to prepare materials for Congressional briefings, as well as help plan two major association events.

Back at Georgetown, Hector is also active with the Georgetown Policy Debate Society, an intercollegiate debating team. Like her classroom experience complements her internship, Hector said her experience at the association has made her a better debater.

"I feel like I have an inside scoop interning at the association because I really understand the health care bill," she said. "This has helped me when we have debated related policy issues."

So far, Hector said she made the right choice in coming to Georgetown.

"I really like that it is a small campus in a big city," she said. "Coming from Miami, I know I love being in a place where there is a lot going on. But I also like that the campus is small and calm. Basically, I can get whatever I need within a 15-minute walk."

And being involved in the health care debate has not been the only exciting part of her time in Washington, she said.

"Seeing the leaves change was so exciting last year," Hector said. "I had never seen that before."