Health Policy and Management BSPH Student Highlight
Dorian Ho – Class of 2025
Background
I’m a third-year undergraduate Robertson Scholar majoring in Health Policy and Management on a pre-medical track, originally from New Providence, NJ. I’m interested in the intersection of social innovation and policy design with clinical outcomes. I’ve conducted research in sexual health in southern China and in palliative care in eastern North Carolina, presenting my work at local, state, and national conferences.
Why UNC HPM?
HPM’s student-centered culture stands out most. HPM fosters a welcoming, collaborative environment with faculty mentors who care deeply about student success and feedback. I remember my first conversations with Dr. Melanie Studer, who worked closely with me as an assured admit to expose and integrate me within the department. I can also recall my conversations with Dr. Morris Weinberger, whose sage advice on clinical medicine and health services research changed my perspective on choosing one over the other. Networking with past alumni in HPM led me to my past internship in global health research and innovation at SESH, a UNC research collaborative in Guangzhou, China. There, working alongside several HPM-affiliated faculty on a new means of financing STD test delivery, I saw how UNC’s research apparatus was at the cutting edge of change. Additionally, by volunteering with HPM students at SHAC, UNC’s free health clinic, to provide insurance counseling for community members, I’ve seen the value of service to society in the moral lives of the HPM student body.
In this environment fostering student success, innovation, and service, I know that Health Policy and Management at UNC is the right place for me to thrive as an undergraduate and as an aspiring leader in clinical medicine and health policy.