Beauty Pageant Is Accompanied by a Public

¶ … beauty pageant is accompanied by a public outcry: "How dare you objectify women." For me however, participation in a recent Asian-American beauty contest was life-affirming. The social-awareness programs that the contestants contributed towards cemented my career goals. I feel today, that I am on the cusp of making significant contributions to a failing and defeatist health care industry. And, I bring to the table educational and work experience, industriousness, motivation and talent. Graduate work leading to a Master's degree in Public Health (MPH) will help fulfill my avocation of making a difference.

I have a Bachelor's degree in legal studies from the University of California at Berkeley, and work experience as a regional account manager at a health-care management institution. I also have experience in dispute resolution, financial and budget management, and marketing, all in health-care and biotechnology. I am very proud of my work with senior citizens for whom I organized typing classes and other social service activities. My sense of community-service was strengthened when I organized outreach programs for the Asian-American community -- a community typically underrepresented and ignored. I recently participated in a Jade-ribbon campaign where I discovered first hand the higher incidence of Hepatitis B and other liver diseases among Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders -- especially recent immigrants. I firmly believe that multicultural health must be included in the larger system of reforms by addressing the linguistic and cultural needs of diverse communities.

America may be the only superpower today. But many millions of its citizens are unable to access even basic health-care. This political football is kicked around between special interests; and as a result, ordinary people are victimized. Working as a health-care auditor and analyst, I learned firsthand of the waste of money due to mismanagement, mishandling and misappropriation. Sometimes hospitals are overpaid; sometimes underpaid. Most often patient- reimbursement (or billing) is delayed (sometimes by years) causing untold hardship. My extensive experience in this field allowed me to work with multi-tiered management and learn different aspects of healthcare operations. My experience has blessed me with a unique perspective. I know the points-of-view of the health-care providers; and, through social work, I have shared the pains of health-care recipients. I know I can contribute effectively. An MPH will allow me to do just that.

As a specialization, "Healthcare Financial and Operations Management" is attractive to me. I have become conscious of the reality of our complex and ineffective healthcare system. In order to provide cost effective healthcare delivery, I believe the process needs to be simplified. The MPH curriculum will provide me with an opportunity to learn the principles and practices of public health planning, research, administration, and evaluation. By working on current public health issues under the close supervision of an experienced faculty, I hope to apply classroom-learning to practical problems; or, improve the approaches that I have already used in my work. I hope to pursue a career that weds multiculturalism and health-practice issues in both rural and urban populations. I am driven towards these goals because I believe that the health-care system has lost its way due to corruption and greed. I want to ensure that "care" is put back into the system.