‘Life Somehow Takes You Where You Have to Be’.
“It doesn’t matter if you develop the best and most innovative idea—if you do it alone and don’t engage your peers in the process, implementation will be difficult,” says Maria Bustos Márquez (SPH’18), a value communications officer for EMD Serono’s LATAM region based in Bogotá, Colombia.
Márquez’ collaborative work ethic is just one reason she was named the first recipient of the Tramuto Foundation Scholarship. Established in 2013, the scholarship provides support for outstanding international students working to complete their MPH degree. Healthcare entrepreneur and philanthropist Donato Tramuto endowed the $1,500 scholarship to “help students complete their studies and prepare them for a successful career in global public health.”
A former physician who desired to improve the state of health care in Colombia on a broader level, Márquez enrolled in the school’s Pharmaceuticals Program. She credits SPH’s practice-based education and emphasis on group work for providing real-world public health knowledge and strategies that complemented her clinical background.
“In a Strategic Management class, we had to take a client’s proposal just as if we were consultants,” says Márquez, who completed certificates in healthcare management and pharmaceutical development, delivery, and access. “All of my group members had different backgrounds. It was good to learn about others’ perspectives, and also acknowledge your own weaknesses. Being open to that allows you to achieve better skills and better ideas.”
Márquez received the scholarship at the end of her first year in the MPH program, and she said it helped alleviate financial stress during her time in Boston.
“Any financial contribution to my experience at BU was helpful, especially as an international student coming from a country where local currency is highly devalued,” she says.
After graduation, Márquez returned to Bogotá and secured an independent contractor position with EMD Serono’s regional Latin American team. Márquez currently supports the development of e-learning modules to prepare market access and pricing teams for the launch of a new drug to treat multiple sclerosis. The disabling disease is more prevalent among women in Latin America, and, Márquez explains, it can be detrimental to entire families, as Latin American women in the region often serve as heads of household. From a societal value perspective, Márquez highlights the potential impact of novel treatments with a lower monitoring and administration burden than other drugs used to treat diseases that are more prevalent among vulnerable populations.
Márquez also works as an independent researcher for a boutique consulting firm, where she has developed educational workshops on Colombia public health policy and conducted economic efficiency analysis of healthcare institutions, regarding high-cost diseases in the country.
Originally determined to leave Colombia and work abroad permanently, Márquez now anticipates a long professional future in her home country. She says that Colombia is still in a “post-conflict era” after a war that began in the 1950s, and much more public health work is needed to reintegrate ex-guerilla fighters and victims into society and address war-related health conditions, such as mental illnesses and chronic pain.
“Life somehow takes you where you have to be,” says Márquez, whose long-term goal is to obtain a doctorate in public health to pursue roles in leadership and policy. “I thought it was important to come back to my country, and I’m going to see where this path takes me.”