Jean-Claude Velasquez Stands on the Human Side of Healthcare

May 13, 2016

In the days leading up to Commencement, the Mailman School website will feature first-person accounts from nine members of the graduating class as they reflect on their singular paths into public health, some of the surprising lessons they took away from their experience at the Mailman School, and their aspirations for the years ahead.

Among others, you’ll meet a former high school teacher who excelled in the lab while working to overcome the “imposter syndrome”; an executive who teamed up with “Jeopardy”-beating technology to improve cancer outcomes; an aspiring physician who hit on the winning formula for compassionate care; and a scholarship-winning MHA grad set on making his mark at the Mayo Clinic; and a Texas native intent on improving the odds for young women’s access to reproductive health in her home state.

Jean-Claude Velasquez is a member of the first Mailman School class to graduate with a Master of Healthcare Administration. As he continues his training at administrative fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, Velasquez explains he will bring both the business skills to help run a large healthcare organization and the individual and community perspective to treat everyone with dignity.

Growing up, I was afforded many opportunities that the average person in a developing country does not have. If you really want to reduce health disparities, you have to look at where healthcare is given, whether that’s a hospital or a clinic. And if the right individuals—who are cognizant of how access to care is shaped by race and class—are sitting at that table, real progress is possible.

After my junior year at Stony Brook, I had the chance to participate in the Summer Public Health Scholars Program, which is funded by the CDC and hosted here at Columbia University Medical Center. It was a really intensive program that helped me understand the connection between policy and people in the community. That was a pivotal moment because it made me realize that I could make a real difference in community health by pursuing a degree in healthcare administration.

The MHA was attractive for me because it’s like the MBA of healthcare. It gave me the strong analytical framework, like how to analyze data to ensure patient safety and satisfaction, which is indispensable for any healthcare administrator. At the same time, I got to see the human element of the business. Every person involved in healthcare delivery serves a purpose, whether it’s the surgeon who operates on you, the nurse who is at your bedside, or the housekeeper who disinfects the hospital room. This MHA program allowed me to combine that interpersonal knowledge with core business foundations. It was the best of both worlds.

During my time at Mailman, I interned with the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, taught English as a second language, and collaborated with immigration attorneys to help legal permanent residents apply for citizenship. As I was completing my summer practicum at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, I learned that I had secured two competitive scholarships—the David A. Winston Health Policy Scholarship and the TransAmerica Retirement Solutions Leader in Healthcare Scholarship.

One thing I loved about being at Columbia was being exposed to many different kinds of people. When I was at the business school, I saw a certain type of business-driven student, and then I’d come uptown to take classes with people who were interested in migration health. It was great to have the opportunity to study healthcare management through two different lenses. There is a world guided by profit, and at the same time, there is also a place for those who want to reach people through policy change. Both perspectives are needed to understand healthcare today.

At the Mayo Clinic, I’m excited for the opportunity to put everything that I’ve learned at the Mailman School into practice. It’s no longer about case studies and talking about strengths and weaknesses in a theoretical sense. This is real life, so I can make a real impact, treating some of the most difficult medical cases both in the United States and around the world.

When I imagine how different the country will look in 30 years, I envision that I will bring a unique perspective to the table, whether it is tackling healthcare management challenges raised by health disparities—which impact an organization's finances—or other initiatives that will help some of the most vulnerable members of society. It’ll be a real privilege to take part in those complex conversations on community health.