This summer I worked for the National Academy of Medicine on a combined project with the Board on Global Health and the Board on Children, Youth, and Families called the Forum for Investing in Young Children Globally (iYCG). The goal of the forum is to encourage a multi-sectoral approach to improving the lives of children, combining efforts across health, nutrition, education, and social protection in a global setting. Specifically, I was involved in the development of a decision-making tool for policy makers to ensure that decisions for early childhood development (ECD) programs were made based on specific demographic and research data. I helped create an ECD database of relevant research associated with maternal and child health, nutrition, education, and social protection. During my time, I was also able to attend a 4-day workshop in Ethiopia about how family and community investments and acute disruptions can affect the lives of children in the East African region.

Working with the iYCG team this summer was extremely rewarding. My work this summer illuminated the world of public health, and how public health projects can affect larger populations. I was able to meet amazing doctors and public health professionals who were in Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak and who have started numerous programs advocating for the importance of maternal and child health. I worked on teams with many medical professionals, and I found that having a medical background significantly contributed to the impact of their recommendations in the policy world. This realization further piqued my interest in a career at the intersection of medicine and policy. I would highly recommend this program to anyone interested in medicine, public health, and policy.