Press Release
December 28, 2007
Contact: Jerry Carey
Phone: (856) 566-6171
careyge@umdnj.edu
UMDNJ Student Receives Prestigious National Internship
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STRATFORD — Anne Jones, of Ridgefield, a fourth year student at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine, is one of just two osteopathic medical students in the country to be selected for the Osteopathic Health Policy Intern Program (OHPI) in 2008.
“We are extremely proud that Anne was selected for this prestigious and highly competitive internship,” said Dr. Thomas Cavalieri, the interim dean of the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine. “Anne has been a leader in many student organizations and special projects at our school, and has demonstrated a keen knowledge of not only medical practice but also of the challenges America faces in delivering healthcare services to all its citizens.”
During her internship, Ms. Jones’s research will focus on the medical, social and political challenges of providing universal access to healthcare in America. “I see a problem with the fact that almost 50 million Americans are without health insurance,” she said. “From a medical standpoint, I’ve seen how health outcomes can be worsened because of a lack of health insurance, and I’m looking forward to investigating this same issue from a political perspective.”
Each year, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) select two students from among a nationwide pool of applicants to participate in the program. Beginning in February, Ms. Jones will spend one month each in the Washington, D.C., government relations offices of AACOM and AOA, developing an understanding and knowledge of how federal health policy is formulated. During her internship, she will be meeting with policymakers at such federal agencies as the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Education. She will also attend hearings on Capitol Hill related to health policy, conduct research on an area of health policy and prepare a research paper based on that research.
The UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine (http://som.umdnj.edu/) is dedicated to providing excellence in medical education, research and health care for New Jersey and the nation. An emphasis on primary health care and community health services reflects the school’s osteopathic philosophy, with centers of excellence that demonstrate its commitment to developing clinically skillful, compassionate and culturally competent physicians from diverse backgrounds, who are prepared to become leaders in their communities.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.
