Kiran Rachamallu chats with alum Leah Dillard
通过施罗德卫生政策中心的职业聊天项目，我有机会与威廉和玛丽校友利亚·迪拉德（18届）交谈，他是美国研究所（AIR）的研究助理。 迪拉德女士的主要工作包括支持医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心（CMS）的消费者信息和保险监督中心。 She assists in technical assistance, ensuring that health plans are certified to be sold on state and federal insurance marketplaces, acting as a liaison between CMS and state departments of insurance, and coordinating clinical quality measure development and stakeholder engagement on behalf of CMS. AIR employs a talented and diverse group of people who have a range of professional backgrounds and degrees, and Ms. Dillard enjoys that everyone is so passionate about the work they do.
While a student at William and 玛丽, Ms. Dillard studied Public Policy and Public Health on the pre-law track. She noted that William and 玛丽 gave her a great fundamental skill set, particularly noting crisp and clear memo writing skills and presentations. She also benefitted from taking courses in programming and quantitative methods, such as GIS and Quantitative Methods, which she believes helps students get their feet in the door even if they tend to be more qualitative in nature. She had a few different internships during college and after she graduated, including working at a Williamsburg nonprofit Bacon Street Youth & Family Services, as well as with the Arlington County public defender's office in Arlington, Virginia.
When she first arrived at AIR, she explained that her work was mostly administrative, such as scheduling meetings and taking notes, creating slide decks, and attending trainings to learn more about the organization and its work. Since she was promoted to a Research Associate, her work involves report writing, project management, client meetings, and writing summaries. Her work is a mix of consulting and social science research, and everyday can look a little different. She emphasized that in her line of work, it is important to be able to synthesize a lot of information quickly, to communicate effectively and ask the right questions, and to be curious and want to learn more.
As students search for jobs, Ms. Dillard highly recommended they use William and 玛丽’s alumni network. In her own job search, she had a great conversation with a William and 玛丽 alum at AIR who was particularly helpful. She also recommended students utilize the resources at William and 玛丽’s Cohen Career Center for resume and cover letter help. She said that the job search can be time consuming, but starting early and making use of the connections at William and 玛丽 can make a big difference.
In describing how the COVID-19 pandemic affected her as a young professional and the ability to make connections with her colleagues. Ms. Dillard explained how she took advantage of online team bonding activities and made an effort to meet in person for happy hours or coffee. She also tried to keep in touch with colleagues who she had previously met in person and reached out to new people in her organization as well.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with Ms. Dillard, and I think that her experiences as a recent health policy graduate will be a helpful example for William and 玛丽 students.
