Alumna Spotlight
Why did you choose Ole Miss?
Growing up in a family of Ole Miss graduates, I knew from a young age that I wanted to attend the University of Mississippi. Ole Miss felt like a home away from home and provided so many unique opportunities to pursue as a student.
One of those opportunities was majoring in Public Policy Leadership within the Trent Lott Leadership Institute. Going into college, I wasn’t really sure on which educational path I would pursue. So, I did some research and came across the PPL major. I was instantly interested.
When and why did you decide to study public policy leadership?
Please discuss highlights of your undergraduate experience.
In the summer of 2017, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be a public policy intern at the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) in Alexandria, Virginia. I learned much more than I could have ever imagined during my time at AMGA, and thanks to this internship, I discovered my love for health policy and passion to advocate for healthcare, solidifying my goal to enter into the health care field as a nurse and to attend nursing school upon graduation.
Please talk about your path since graduation and career goals at this point.
Thanks to my educational journey and various opportunities I had at Ole Miss and in the Trent Lott Leadership Institute, I pursued my Maters of Science in Nursing at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. At Hopkins, I serve as my Cohort’s Class Director in the Student Nurses Association, the Co-Chair of Elections in the Nursing Public Health Network, and I was selected to be a Fuld Fellow, a leadership program that focuses on improving patient safety and quality of care. Additionally, I was selected to attend the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Student Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. in March as well as the National Student Nurses’ Association’s conference in Orlando, Florida. I also enjoyed participating in MedHacks, a medical hackathon and design competition where my team worked to develop an immunization scheduling app called VaxNow.
I now work as a Health and Reimbursement Policy Consultant at Kimbell & Associates in Washington, DC. I regularly advise and educate clients on health policy, reimbursement, and federal health program matters and coverage, coding, and payment parameters.