Student Spotlight – Naimisha Movva

Looking back, Naimisha Movva, always knew she wanted a career where she could make a difference and work with people. A native of India, where she lived until age 8, she is keenly aware of the effects of poverty on the health of a population and was drawn to study public health. Now a second year master’s student in the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, she has just completed an internship with the International Value Based Healthcare Program at Oxford University. That work examines whether a pay-for-performance initiative in England, the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF), actually addresses patient outcomes and if it led to an improvement over time. A similar program in Scotland ended two years ago, due to ineffectiveness. Naimisha’s preliminary results are also not positive. “The experience really highlighted the importance of evaluating programs periodically to ensure that our limited resources are being allocated effectively,” said Naimisha.

Naimisha is president of the Student Association of Yale School of Public Health (SAYPH). She also is a research assistant for Professor Rafael Pérez-Escamilla with whom she worked on a project evaluating how the Women, Infants, and Children supplemental nutrition program uses evidence to change policy. For stress relief, she works at the Yale Daycare, where she gets to enjoy the kids.