As a first-generation American born to South Asian immigrants in a working-class neighborhood in Queens, New York, Adina Singh knew that many in her community were in poor health. It wasn’t until her sophomore year at Hunter College that she realized that many immigrants, especially older people, do not have the same access to health care as others. That’s when she knew she wanted to work toward a solution, which led her to pursue an MPH in Health Care Management at Mount Sinai’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
In the following Q&A, Ms. Singh discusses how her experience at Icahn Mount Sinai prepared her for addressing health care gaps among New Yorkers.
Why an MPH degree?
Living in an immigrant community, I see the health struggles this population goes through, especially our parents and grandparents. They don’t know how to access health care and have not been educated on the importance of going to their doctor’s visits, following up, and doing the things necessary to stay healthy. As a result, they may develop chronic illnesses like diabetes, which affect their quality of life and can become life-threatening. Once I realized the health disparities among New Yorkers, particularly for minorities and immigrants, I knew I wanted to be part of the solution. That’s why I chose public health. By focusing specifically on health care management, I will be able to initiate and implement programs that people can access and also learn how to practice self-advocacy confidently when seeking care.
What were your top achievements as a master’s student?
For my applied practice experience fieldwork, I focused on addressing food insecurity in the neighborhoods surrounding Mount Sinai, including Harlem. I worked with Mount Sinai’s KidsThrive program, which predominantly serves children on public insurance and screens for food insecurity, offers emergency food packages from our onsite food pantry to families in need, and refers them to community-based organizations at the Mount Sinai Pediatric Associates clinic. After seeing their pediatrician, families can go down the hall to the food pantry for an emergency food package. It helps sustain them while we refer them to a long-term program through New York Common Pantry [New York City’s largest community-based food pantry that focuses on underserved communities] for food-related services. There, they receive food packages on a regular basis, among other food-related services.
Through KidsThrive, we went beyond sustenance to focus on the quality of the food packages and their appropriateness for each family. We created recipes that suited each family’s needs, taking into account preparation time, new cuisines they were interested in trying, and more. Additionally, we created a value-based payment proposal for a Medicaid insurance plan that would identify how to measure and track the impact of food insecurity interventions in our pediatric clinic population.
What are the strong points of this master’s program?
Mount Sinai is amazing and what stands out for me is the phenomenal faculty. They’re all busy in the field of public health—as doctors or program coordinators, even as the president of a hospital—and yet they all contribute to the work that students are doing and support us so that we, too, can contribute one day.
They are very approachable. If a student asks for input on a project or career advice, faculty will help. They support you as a person and as a young professional. Our faculty and administration are role models and show us that there are folks who want to leave our community better than they found it. They truly care about their students, even after they graduate. Some graduates come back as course instructors or program managers, and I think that speaks volumes, that folks want to come back to Mount Sinai, which has given them so much.
What’s next?
I want to contribute to the work that’s already being done in New York to promote health literacy and self-management of chronic health diseases within minority populations in New York City. Eventually, I want to add clinical understanding and advocacy to my toolbox by becoming a physician to bridge this gap. I want to look at my patients holistically and not just treat their symptoms, but also look for the root causes. If a child has asthma, you can give them an inhaler. But if there’s mold in the house, or leaking pipes that cause the paint to chip in the walls, you can give them that inhaler, but the root of the problem is not solved. I want to be part of a team that will address these issues.