Dharmi Desai (HPM)

Yale Institute of Global Health Leadership Fellow at World Bank, working remotely with the Washington, D.C., office

Career Goal

Dharmi Desai, MPH ’23 (Health Policy & Management)

To work with NGOs [non-governmental organizations], international organizations, and governments toward improving access to primary healthcare and increasing health equity.

Internship Outline

My responsibility was to find relevant data on NCD [non-communicable disease] models of care in Primary Health Care (PHC) in India and compile them into case studies that can be included in the Global Compendium being developed by the World Bank, which includes case studies on NCD models of care in PHC from all over the world.

Value of Experience

Since the project was essentially my own, I was able to work flexible hours which were convenient for me. I was very grateful for that, since I was working remotely with the Washington, D.C., office while being based in India. My supervisor was also very supportive and mindful of my time, and ensured that I didn’t have to attend any meetings at odd hours. I did miss the feeling of being on a team, though. Since the project was essentially mine, I didn’t have to attend any team meetings and only had to report to my supervisor.

This internship is very valuable to me, since it was a very positive working experience on the whole. I come from a medical school background, where working with superiors can often get very toxic, and this was a very nice change of pace from that, and I am very grateful for that!

Best Moment/Experience

The most rewarding aspect of my internship was the fact that the work I have done will be included in the global compendium being developed by the World Bank and people all over the world will be able to access it and read it to learn about the models of NCD care in PHC in India. The most challenging part was being able to figure out how to go about the whole thing because they were doing this for the first time. There was no guidance on how to go about it, so I had to essentially create my own path. The most surprising aspect was how much I enjoyed doing the literature survey for this project, as a person who usually doesn’t really enjoy reading a lot of studies.

Also, I went into this internship with a lot of anxiety and worry about whether I’d fit in in a huge international organization like the World Bank, but everyone I worked with – my supervisor, and a few of her team members – were absolutely amazing and supportive and encouraging. I absolutely loved working at the World Bank.

How did your first year at YSPH prepare you for this internship?

My first year prepared me with the tools to find relevant data quickly and systematically analyze it. I was able to efficiently go through lots of studies and material to find the data that I want.

What would you say to a student who’s considering a similar internship?

I would definitely encourage them to go ahead and take the internship. It is very exciting to work in global health consulting with these international organizations. Not only is it a great experience, but it also looks amazing on your CV!

Funding Source

YIGH funds.