MED Student Presents Policy Relevant Research at New York Academy of Medicine

On August 11, third-year BUSM student Leslie Maness, one of six 2014 Margaret E. Mahoney Fellows, presented her summer research project at the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM). The Mahoney Fellowship program of the NYAM provides stipends for outstanding medical, dental, public health, public policy and graduate nursing students to conduct summer research projects on some aspect of health care delivery transformation for vulnerable populations and/or early childhood health and development with an emphasis on policy implications.

Maness conducted her research at New York University School of Medicine/Bellevue Hospital on the impact of low health literacy and limited English proficiency on parent/caregiver medication dosing errors when delivering liquid medications to children. She also participated in workshops on leadership, conflict management and negotiation, the policymaking process, and communications and media. Mahoney Fellows met with health care leaders including Dr. Donna Shalala, former Secretary for Health and Human Services; Dr. Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, New York Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services; Dr. Mary Bassett, New York City Health Commissioner; Dr. Pamela Riley, Assistant Vice President for Delivery System Reform at The Commonwealth Fund; and Dr. Robert Brook, Distinguished Chair in Health Care Services at the RAND Corporation.

“This is quite a unique fellowship, in that it provides graduate health professions students with an introduction to the health policy world and opportunities for engagement with health policy leaders at this formative stage in their education and career,” said NYAM President Jo Ivey Boufford, MD. “It is our hope that the Mahoney Fellows will each build this connection into their career trajectory.”