Student Testimonials
Simon Chernack, MS-HEM ‘11, Cook Children’s Medical Center – Fort Worth, Texas
Simon was recently hired as staff in the Environmental Health and Safety Department and the Department of Emergency Management at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. Simon’s role requires him to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations, manage hazardous materials and aid in the management of the hospital’s emergency operations plan. Simon writes, “The Boston University Healthcare Emergency Management program has given me the skills and confidence to excel in the emergency management environment. The diverse HEM faculty brings their knowledge of law enforcement, military service, fire science, prehospital care and disaster medicine to the classroom, giving students an unparalleled view of emergency management through the eyes of the practitioner. Through its unique blend of rigorous classroom instruction and hands-on fieldwork, the HEM program helped me build highly marketable skills that led directly to finding my dream healthcare emergency management job.”
David Krikorian, MS-HEM ’12, Emergency Management and Homeland Security – University of Alaska, Fairbanks
“I was recently offered and accepted an Emergency Management and Homeland Security Instructor position with The University of Alaska-Fairbanks. My responsibilities will include teaching level 300 courses to undergraduates, conducting research for the Federal government, Alaska State government, and private industry. The BU MS-HEM degree program has helped me facilitate a difficult career change from biotech sales to emergency management, and also bridge a gap between my military experiences and the private industry sector. Further, without the MS-HEM degree, I would not have been able to enter into academia as an instructor at such a young age and for that, I am eternally grateful.”
Laura Harwood, MS-HEM ’10, Office of Emergency Management – Stanford University
“I am currently employed at Stanford University in the Office of Emergency Management as a Program Coordinator. My primary role is to execute a campus-wide seismic mitigation project that will reduce the impact of an earthquake on essential campus operations by securing high value equipment. My MS-HEM is invaluable to this position because it provided me not only with the necessary base knowledge of the field of emergency management, but it also allowed me to tailor my papers and research in each course to my particular interests (which were mostly earthquakes). When I found my current position, it immediately stood out as a great way to apply the work I had done in graduate school to the field of emergency management.”
Jeremiah Kunze, MS-HEM ’11, Santa Clara County Public Health Dept.
Jeremiah Kunze (BU HEM ‘12) was recently hired by Santa Clara County Public Health Department, Santa Clara County, CA as the Public Health Preparedness Manager. The position works to plan, implement, coordinate, direct and monitor the activities of the Public Health Department disaster preparedness programs for Santa Clara County in order to establish and ensure compliance with countywide protocols and plans. In this role, Jeremiah will provide broad oversight in developing and coordinating a long-term strategy for public health and medical preparedness in the event of a man-made or natural disaster affecting the population of Santa Clara County.
Jeremiah wrote about BU HEM: “The BU HEM program provided me with the specialized knowledge of the healthcare system that is required to apply emergency management concepts to the expanding roles of public health.”
JJ Burke, MS-HEM ’11, Sandwich Fire Department
“I entered the HEM program unsure as to what direction I would take once I was in the program. I found that doing research and helping “special” populations would be the area I would concentrate on. I was fortunate enough to have the HEM program sponsor a live webinar that I did on LEAPS TV regarding drive thru vaccinations. The program was picked up by the Indian Health Service, a spoke of the United States Public Health Service. I was invited to consult on a drive thru flu clinic on the Colville Indian Reservation in Nespelem, Washington in September 2009. I was sponsored by the HEM program to go out and assist in the project. The program was a hit and now we are working with all of the Tribal Nations in the three state northwest region to implement this distribution practice. I was also invited to speak at the 2010 US Public Health Service Conference on the Indian Nation drive thru case study.
None of this would have been possible without being in the Healthcare Emergency Management Program!”
Marwan Alkaabi, MD
“The conference was a regional crisis and emergency management conference, held in Abu Dhabi between the 11th and 13th of January. The program included speeches, workshops and gala dinners. It was a great opportunity to meet experts in the field from around the world. While networking with speakers and attendees, I had the chance to speak to them about our program and many showed interest and took details of the program and persons of contacts.”
Conference Website: www.cemc.ae
