Tag: student blog

Student reflections on U-M’s 2024 Disability Visibility Symposium

Posted on by buckh
CHEPS students seated at a large blue table while attending the 2024 Disability Visibility Symposium.

On Friday, March 22, five CHEPS students attended the 2024 Disability Visibility Symposium put on by U-M Mechanical Engineering and U-M Computer Science and Engineering. There, lightning talks from Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, CAEN, and Robotics representatives addressed the topic of disability and accessibility within engineering education.

Content at the Disability Visibility Symposium closely aligned with CHEPS’s mission to utilize engineering to improve healthcare, a societal pillar essential for all—especially those with disabilities. Symposium speakers shared the work that U-M has been doing to create a more accessible campus through a new “Quiet Room” in the Bob and Betty Beyster Building, modified shop equipment in Mechanical Engineering classes, and increased awareness around the prevalence of ableism. Continue Reading »

U-M IOE graduate student Cynthia Joy reflects on HSPI 2024

Posted on by buckh

My name is Cynthia Joy, and I am currently pursuing my master’s in Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. After finishing undergrad, I felt a pang of regret for not having written a paper or attended a conference. But thanks to the Center for Healthcare Engineering & Patient Safety (CHEPS), I finally got to tick those boxes off my student bucket list!

The Healthcare Systems Process Improvement (HSPI) conference in Atlanta, Georgia was an absolute blast. Arman Getzen, my teammate, and I presented our projects on PATH (Prenatal Plan for Appropriate Tailored Healthcare) and successfully addressed issues with CNT (Central Nurse Triage) FYI notifications. Continue Reading »

CHEPS student attends LGBTQ+ Health Research Network kickoff

Posted on by gabeferr

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than by networking cross-functionally to support LGBTQ+ health research at the University of Michigan?

Wednesday morning, the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI) gathered professionals from Nursing, Michigan Medicine, Public Health, OB/GYN, graduate students, and undergrads to form crucial connections to further the impact of LGBTQ+ health studies at the University.

It was such a privilege to be in the same room as all of these leaders in medicine research and health disparity studies. The passion for the right to health of gender-diverse and queer communities was so palpable that I couldn’t help but be inspired by the conversations going on around me. Continue Reading »

CHEPS: Where Engineering and Healthcare Overlap

Posted on by buckh

Josh Tran, a pre-med student at U-M, shares his experiences as a transfer student, healthcare worker, and CHEPS researcher.

Blue-tinted photo of Josh Tran smiling at a laptop beside another CHEPS student.

When I transferred to the University of Michigan less than a year ago, it felt as if I had jumped headfirst into the middle of a new book. I arrived at U-M halfway through my sophomore year, and my peers had already found their friend groups through the dorms and their student organizations. Meanwhile, I felt like a freshman again stumbling through the unfamiliar campus. While I was trying to adapt socially, I also had to adapt academically: being a pre-med student, I had to balance finding new friends while also taking some of the hardest classes (so far!) Continue Reading »

Laura Ely, Industrial & Operations Engineering Masters – Healthcare Engineering & Patient Safety concentration

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Hi! I’m Prachi Fozdar, a Business and Mechanical Engineering undergraduate working as a communications & marketing intern here at CHEPS. I was recently able to interview Laura Ely, a master’s student studying Industrial & Operations Engineering (IOE) with a concentration in Healthcare Engineering & Patient Safety (HEPS), to find out more about her experience in HEPS.

What did you pursue your undergrad in & how long have you been in HEPS? 
“During my undergrad, I majored in Industrial Engineering at Oregon State University (Go Beavers). I’ve now been in the Healthcare Engineering & Patient Safety Masters concentration through the IOE program for two semesters, with one semester left.” Continue Reading »

Aparna Reddy, Bio/Anthro (Pre-Med) Undergraduate

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Hi! I’m Prachi Fozdar, a Business and Engineering undergraduate working as a communications assistant at CHEPS. I was recently able to interview Aparna Reddy, an undergraduate sophomore currently on the pre-med track in LSA, to find out more about her work at CHEPS. 

How’d you get involved in CHEPS?
“Freshman year I joined another student organization, Blueprints for Pangea, with Kishor and he told me during one of the meetings about how he’s involved in CHEPS. I got really interested, so I researched CHEPS a bit more and then decided to apply.”

What made you want to join CHEPS?
“I’m really interested in the systemic components of healthcare because a lot of the research I did in high school was more computational-based. Continue Reading »

Rachel Zhang, Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate

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Hi! I’m Prachi Fozdar, a Business and Engineering undergraduate working as a communications assistant at CHEPS. I recently got the chance to interview Rachel Zhang, a junior in Biomedical Engineering on the pre-med track. Rachel started at CHEPS this past summer, making this winter her third term. 

Rachel’s story of joining CHEPS is one she describes as “a series of various connections and coincides which led to CHEPS at the same time.” While looking for a capstone project for the engineering honors program, Rachel came across CHEPS. She said, “One of my advisors, Emmett Springer, is a CHEPS alum and knew my interests in healthcare optimization and that I was looking for a capstone, so he referenced me towards CHEPS. Continue Reading »

David Keller, Industrial & Operations Engineering Undergraduate

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Hi! I’m Prachi Fozdar, a Business and Engineering undergraduate working as a communications assistant at CHEPS. I recently had the opportunity to interview David, an undergraduate junior majoring in Industrial & Operations and Engineering and minoring in Computer Science, to find out more about his work at CHEPS.

Keller Student PhotoHow’d you find out about CHEPS and get involved in it?
“So, it was actually during the career fair my sophomore year in the fall. I talked to Jim Molloy from Citi, and he started talking about Professor Cohn, the various classes she teaches and mentioned how CHEPS is a wonderful program to be in. Continue Reading »

Caroline Hirth, Industrial & Operations Engineering Undergraduate

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Caroline Hirth

I actually learned about CHEPS through some family connections. My dad (Hi dad!) works in the School of Public Health at UM and has known Amy Cohn, the Faculty Director of CHEPS, for several years. When my older sister, Lauren (Hey Lauren, too!), started out as an undergrad at Michigan, she met Amy through my dad and discovered the wonderful organization that is CHEPS. As a BME student, she ended up working at CHEPS for several years during her undergrad career and later encouraged me to check it out. 

When I was a freshman in the College of Engineering and my major was undecided (like, very undecided), it was Lauren who convinced me to set up a meeting with Amy to learn more about IOE. Continue Reading »