Samuel O’Brien

I discovered my interest in public health during my first medical mission to Haiti. Our group brought supplies to an orphanage and set up temporary clinics in five villages. We also provided support for a nursing school in Port-au-Prince. During this trip and another later on, I was exposed to the difficulties of providing medical care in a developing country.

During my second year of college I was introduced to the field of health care administration and I decided to pursue a Masters of Health Care Administration and a Masters of Public Health. After finishing the MHA/MPH program at the University of Utah I plan to continue working in Haiti. In addition to helping the nursing school become as accessible and efficient as possible, I hope to work to alleviate some of the logistical challenges associated with providing care in developing areas.

As I was deciding on an undergraduate major, I talked with another student who was a senior in the Health, Society & Policy program. A few months later I decided to declare in Health, Society & Policy; and it was definitely the right decision. HSP introduced me to a wide variety of relevant health care topics, such as the complex social issues surrounding current public health policies like health care reform. The curriculum of the Health, Society & Policy program gave me great exposure the vast field of health care with classes covering topics like: health care economics, health psychology, sociology, epidemiology, ethics, and health care administration. This major gave me an appreciation for the complexities of our current health care system and provided a great foundation of knowledge to build upon in graduate school.