Kaiser Family Foundation

2009 Essay Contest Winners

Congratulations to the following students who were awarded prizes in the KaiserEDU.org 2009 Student Essay Contest. More than 431 students submitted essays to the contest, and after careful consideration, our panel of judges selected these students’ essays as the top graduate and undergraduate entries.

2009 Essay Contest Winners

Graduate Students

1st Place

Jason Wahlman
Jason Wahlman

University of Minnesota School of Public Health: Public Health Administration and Policy

Read the essay

2nd Place

Elizabeth Walker
Elizabeth Walker

University of North Carolina School of Public Health: Health Policy and Management

Read the essay

Undergraduate Students

1st Place

Anne Stake
Anne Stake

Stanford University: Human Biology

Read the essay

2nd Place

Lydia Mitts
Lydia Mitts

Tufts University: Art History and Community Health

Read the essay

2009 Essay Contest Topic

President Obama has stated that reforming the health care system is one of his top priorities, and there is broad interest from policymakers and the public in making a change. During the campaign, he outlined a framework for reforming health care. The essay should cover: what elements of his plan should be prioritized given the current economic crisis, what elements are most likely to garner support and which ones will be most challenging and why?

Review and Evaluation

Finalist entries were judged by a panel of professionals with experience in health policy and politics, including Sheila Burke, M.P.A., faculty member of Harvard University and former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole; Judy Feder, Ph.D., professor at Georgetown University and former health advisor to the Clinton administration; Dean Rosen, J.D., M.S., partner at Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, Inc. and former chief health care advisor to Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist; Drew Altman, Ph.D., Kaiser Family Foundation president and CEO; and Diane Rowland, Sc.D., Kaiser Family Foundation executive vice president. The judges evaluated essays on originality, expression of ideas, strength of argument, and clarity.

Disclaimer

Conclusions or opinions expressed in these essays are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kaiser Family Foundation or the final judges.