It is January 2015. What do you see as the major health policy challenges still facing the nation? Of the 430 students who answered this question in the KaiserEDU.org 2010 Student Essay Contest, one came out on top: Catherine Denver, a baccalaureate student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, won first place in the undergraduate student category.
“By 2015 universal healthcare will be in effect in the United States, mitigating many of the health issues seen in the first decade of this century,” she wrote in her essay. “However, two major issues will remain: a severe shortage of primary care physicians (PCPs); and an obesity epidemic. Both threaten the well-being of our country, now and far into the future.”
A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Denver has always had an interest in the influences that shape the lives of communities and individuals. After finishing her baccalaureate degree this month, she will begin her nursing career at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She plans to earn her master’s degree in the family nurse practitioner program, with the goal of becoming an advanced practice clinician working in underserved communities.
