Chris Fanikos - Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
Career goal: Health Research
Internship outline: I spent my summer at the Division of Pharmcoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics (DoPE) at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. There I primarily conducted an independent research project related to opioid and Opioid-Use Disorder treatment prescribing rates in state Medicaid programs. I also attended a number of lectures and workshops on a range of topics, including machine learning, intellectual property law and more.
Value of experience: This internship pushed me to use many of the skills I gained over my first year at YSPH. For example, my project required data collection, cleaning and analysis; it also required careful, nuanced readings of various state policies and codes. Outside of the project, I also had the opportunity to speak with a number of people in the field about their own experiences and career recommendations.
Best moment/experience: At one point we ran into an issue with suppressed data. As it were, one of the DoPE faculty members is an expert in addressing these issues. I was able to meet with her to work out a solution to that issue. I think that moment spoke to the fantastic resources available to me at DoPE, as well as the Division’s collaborative and collegiate atmosphere.
Funding source: Yale School of Public Health Summer Funding