Evaluating Health Programs
Katherine Ogando (SAR ’07) is interning in the HIV/AIDS bureau at the Department of Public Health.
This summer, Katherine Ogando (SAR ’07) is interning in the HIV/AIDS bureau in the Health Services Department of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Her health science major in Sargent College requires her to complete 120 hours of professional work, designed to provide students with experience in applying the knowledge, values and skills necessary for the field of health care. At the end of the spring semester, Ogando was exploring several different internship opportunities, but when she heard about the opening at the Department of Public Health, she jumped at the chance to work with the state’s largest public health body.
“I was looking to intern at several different places but I decided to go into this one even though it wasn’t paid because I wanted to work with the Department,” said Ogando. “I think that working in the Department, that’s as good as you can get in terms of public health.”
At the bureau, Ogando works with the raw data the organization must interpret in order to assess how well the various programs it funds are performing. Each program entered into a contract with the bureau with the promise that it would achieve certain objectives. As the contract nears its expiration date, the bureau must determine whether it is worth renewal. To do so, they examine several variables, such as the number of patients treated and the quality of care, generating a lot of data that is complex and difficult to interpret. This is where Ogando comes in. “I’m analyzing that data for the past three fiscal years and trying to synthesize it in a way that makes it easier for [the bureau’s directors] to track the progress of each program.”
This number-crunching is an integral part of public health services, but one that few people think about when using the resources these programs provide, such as walk-in clinics. But the administrative aspect of this field is exactly what Ogando hopes to focus her career in. “I’ve been getting a lot of first hand experience in the administrative side,” she said. “I just thought it would be a very interesting and very fulfilling experience to work there and so far I’ve been very right.”