Student Spotlight - Faheem Ul Haq, MD

Faheem Ul Haq is a student in the Yale School of Public Health’s Advanced Professional MPH Program. He is a 4^th-year resident at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., and is taking this year to study in the preventive medicine track of the accelerated program before pursuing further training in cardiology at Bridgeport Hospital-Yale New Haven Health.

He recently presented his work on developing a new HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) training program for staff at the New Haven Department of Public Health as part of the Public Health Practicum class. The City of New Haven runs several clinics and some 100 employees need training in the law, its implementation and practice in their clinics. As the city-run clinics convert to electronic medical records, the risk of privacy leaks or violations grow.

In today’s healthcare system where the focus is on reimbursements and medical checklists, the patient gets lost, says Faheem. Being a huge advocate of patient-centered care, he focuses on each patient as a human. Their individuality, respect, dignity and trust should be the cornerstone of medical profession. “Trust is a fundamental feature of patient-physician relationships. My patients rely on my judgments and decisions – to keep their trust to the best of my ability is my priority in addition to providing the finest medical care. Practicing HIPAA helps me translate my goals into action. Having an opportunity to be an Advanced Professional MPH student enabled me to extent this passion to the New Haven Health Department. This project was close to my heart, allowed me to be patient-centered and provided me with an exceptional experience, which I wouldn't have been able to manage if it hadn’t been for the flexible, congenial and encouraging environment that YSPH provides.”